News of the Day (January 18)

Communist China tests anti-satellite weapon: The U.S. military discovered that the Communist regime "performed a successful anti-satellite (asat) weapons test at more than 500 mi. altitude Jan. 11 destroying an aging Chinese weather satellite target with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile" (Aviation Week & Space Technology via Worldwide Standard). Jeffrey Lewis, a man in a profession I rarely quote (arms control analysis) had this to say on his Arms Control Wonk blog: "the Chinese will simply not be credible partners in efforts to keep space peaceful."

More on Communist China and the United States: Charles R. Smith (Newsmax) provides the details of Chang Feng, the Communist-owned firm looking to sell SUV's here. The Communist roots run so deep "that Mr. Li JianXin, chairman of company, was elected the 10th deputy to the Communist National People's Congress in 2003." Meanwhile, revelers in San Francisco celebrate the 17 million CCP members who have quit in disgust (Epoch Times).

European Union arms embargo to stay in place: Both the Brussels bureaucracy (BBC) and the German Prime Minister, who will hold the EU's rotating Presidency until June (Voice of America via Epoch Times), expressed their support for the arms ban.

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: John Derbyshire (National Review Online, and Member since 2002) examines Communist China's growing economic and political influence on the continent. Wu Baozhang, formerly of Radio France International Chinese program, calls the Chinese Communist Party a "key obstacle to peace" (Epoch Times).

South Korea offers weak apology after SNK refugees under its care captured by Communists: Nine refugees from Stalinist North Korea came to the South Korean consulate in Shenyang asking assistance. The consulate so thoroughly botched the thing that the refugees were caught by the Communists and sent back. The dovish South Korean government offered a laughably weak apology (BBC), which led One Free Korea to wonder if something more sinister is afoot.

More on Communist China's Korean colony: Daily NK provides two examples of how the Stalinist regime tolerates absolutely no dissent. U.S.-SNK talks end with a promise of more (VOA via Epoch Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times) - and no, that's not a good thing. The commander of American troops in South Korea criticizes the efforts of South Korea's dovish government to take overall command of the defense against SNK (United Press Int'l via Washington Times). The Stalinists rip the hawkish South Korean opposition (OFK).

More from the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Between Heaven and Earth has respective posts on Communist propaganda on Canadian TV, the flap over New tang Dynasty Television's New Year's Event, and the reality of Communist China's impoverished rural interior.

Ignorant Comment of the Day: Cato's Ted Galen Carpenter calls on the Bush Administration to "negotiate with more sensible elements of Iran's governing elite" (UPI via Washington Times), while ever mentioning who these supposedly "sensible elements" are.

More on Middle Eastern Proxy Number One (Iran): Bush Administration critic Lawrence Wilkerson is highlighting a "package of concessions" (BBC's words) offered the United States four years ago by the mullahs - why he assumes that the regime would be "more transparent" about a nuclear weapons program it has refused to acknowledge to this day was left unanswered. Meanwhile, the Administration's tough talk on Iran's interference in Iraq wins praise (Newsmax) and, possibly, quick results (Strategic Intel). Israel wants tougher sanctions against the mullahs (Cybercast News). Michael Rubin has the rest of the news on Iran (The Corner).