News of the Day (September 7)

Bush kicks Communist airline out of U.S.; parent firm sold missile parts to Iran: The Bush Administration "has imposed new sanctions against a Chinese army-owned company" (Newsmax) for having "provided support to weapons proliferators." The firm, Great Wall Airlines, can no longer deal with any American citizen. While the Administration would not name the "weapons proliferators" involved, GWA's parent firm - the Communist-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation - has a history of supplying missile parts and dual-use items to the Communist-backed mullahcracy of Iran.

More on the Middle East proxies: Felice D. Gaer and Nina Shea, both from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, have some questions in the Washington Post for Mohammed Khatami (second item); current mouthpiece Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may come to New York to address the United Nations (Cybercast News and Newsmax). Kathryn Jean Lopez (National Review Online) highlights the case of Nazanin Fatehi, an Iranian woman who may be executed for killing a would-be rapist. Meanwhile, a former Israeli intelligence commander says Hezbollah "needs 'at least two years' to rebuild the capabilities it lost in the war with Israel which is why it is holding fire now" (United Press Int'l via Washington Times).

Enlightened Comment of the Day: Today's winner is Ben Kaminsky (Epoch Times), who details Communist China's extensive ties to terrorism.

ECOD Runners-up: Newt Gingrich has annoyed yours truly in the past - particularly when he loudly defended PNTR for Communist China. However, I must give credit where it's due: "we should make clear our goal of replacing the repressive dictatorships in North Korea, Iran and Syria, whose aim is to do great harm to the American people and our allies" (Wall Street Journal, emphasis added). Peter Worthington (Toronto Sun) has an excellent column on the plight of the Uighurs of occupied East Turkestan.

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: The Korea Liberator examines the propaganda value of sports, possible futures of Northeast Asia, surveys South Korea's newspapers and has the latest Stalinist North Korea news.

More on the Communists' Korean colony: Daily NK examines what the Stalinist famines have wrought. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill sees SNK as reluctant to talk about its nuclear weapons program (UPI via Washington Times, second item).

Communist China tries to blackmail Zambian voters: The people of Zambia are being strong-armed by Communist China into voting against chief opposition Presidential candidate Michael Sata (BBC). The Communist Ambassador himself threatened to pull Communist investment money out of the country is Sata - who has criticized Communist firms for their treatment of Zambian workers - defeats President Levy Mwanawasa on September 28. The latest poll has Sata trailing Mwanawasa by nine points (Stratfor).

Japanese media says Shanghai karaoke bar is a spy haven: The Mainchi Daily News is cited an unnamed magazine report that "Japanese diplomats and Defense Force officers have leaked out classified national secrets to Chinese women working in a karaoke bar" (Epoch Times).

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: The founder of Zhong Gong dies in a car crash - and some are suspicious (Epoch Times). Jaya Gibson (Epoch Times) has the latest from the Falun Gong trial in Singapore (last, third, and tenth items). Martin Andrew, retired from the Australian Defence Force, notes Communist China's plans to upgrade its military "into an organization that is capable of operating beyond its borders" (China Brief, emphasis added).

On the fate of Chen Shui-bian: The campaign to convince him to resign gathers strength, but opposition to it may have, too (BBC).

AIDS activist arrested; crackdown suspected to be linked to Olympics: Hu Jia (sixth, eleventh, twenty-first, seventeenth, second, ninth, and tenth items), one of the leading activists for AIDS victims in Communist China, is back in jail (BBC). It is part of a larger crackdown against human rights activists throughout Communist China, due to the cadres "clearing the decks of potentially embarrassing dissenters before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games in the summer of 2008" (Time Asia). So much for the Olympic Games improving Communist behavior.

More on human rights abuses in Communist China: John Pomfret, formerly of the Washington Post, has an excellent column on what the average Chinese person must do to survive under Communist rule. Meanwhile, Willy Lam (China Brief) reveals how Hu Jintao beat Jiang Zemin's faction - by joining it.