Thursday, March 22, 2007

News of the Day (March 22)

French Presidential candidate calls for boycott of Beijing Olympics over Darfur: Francois Bayrou, candidate of the Union of French Democracy (UDF), made the call durign a rally for Darfur (Boycott 2008) . Bayrou, who polls have in third place, had this to say (Worldwide Standard): "If this drama does not stop, France would do itself credit by not coming to the Olympic Games . . . China decided to bring its protection to the Khartoum regime." If Bayrou were to win (and he is a few points shy of second place, which he would need to make the second round), it would be a sea change from the current, pro-Beijing government of Jacques Chirac. The first round vote is on April 22.

Beijing surrender talks spiked as the cadres insistence that the U.S. ignore money laundering: At first, Stalinist North Korea's decision to end six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program - again (BBC) - seems silly. After all, the money the Stalinists want (and which the Americans are willing to give them) needs time to shift accounts. However, One Free Korea has picked up a deeper problem, courtesy of Russian diplomat Alexander Losyukov: "He said the United States failed to assure the Chinese side that the Bank of China could receive the funds, which were linked to a counterfeiting and money laundering investigation, without fear of facing U.S. sanctions or a 'negative attitude' from the banking community and the U.S. government." Or as OFK put it, the cadres are demanding that we "grant North Korea and the Bank of China advance immunity from our banking, counterfeiting, or money laundering laws." Meanwhile, this entire sorry episode continues to earn scorn (Daily NK, Daily NK again, and the Washington Times).

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: Ernest W. Lefever of the Ethics and Public Policy Center calls for a nuclear-armed Japan to help counter Communist China (Daily Standard). Australia's plans for a free trade agreement with Communist China meets criticism (AAP via Epoch Times). Yu Ling talks to the Washington Times about her plans to battle Yahoo, which helped the cadres arrest her husband Wang Xiaoning. Al Gore advises against trying to force Communist China to cut greenhouse gases (National Review Online - The Corner), despite the fact that the Communist regime is about to pass the United States as the largest carbon emitter on Earth.

Hong Kong march for universal suffrage: Hong Kong is about to "elect" its leader for the next five years. Only 800 members of a special committee are allowed to vote; the overwhelming majority of them were chosen by the Communists. Thousands took to the streets in Hong Kong to protest this (Epoch Times).

Communists on the hunt for "hostile forces": The cadres are using the upcoming Olympics as an excuse to crack down just about anyone who opposes them (Boycott 2008).

On the "white hot" Communist Chinese economy: "Nearly half of those seeking jobs in China will not be able to find work, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported" (United Press Int'l via Washington Times).

No comments: