News of the Day (April 4)

I have to start with Harold Meyerson: The Washington Post columnist gets his first Enlightened Comment of the Day honors with a terrific piece on how the Chinese Communist Party brings out the worst in American business. While I recommend one read him in full, Meyerson's final paragraph is nearly perfect:

Admittedly, a few nettlesome issues remain. First, about one-fourth of the global labor force is in China. Opposing steps toward the formation of unions there suppresses the wages of so many workers that its effect is felt worldwide. Second, since authoritarian China remains an adversary of the United States and a backer of some genuinely dangerous authoritarian regimes, blocking even the most modest steps toward the development of a civil society and democratic rights there poses a threat to U.S. security interests. Third, since the Bush administration champions the spread of democracy globally, why hasn't it taken America's leading corporations to task for retarding democracy's growth in China? And fourth, since preserving our national security should require executives at companies such as GE to answer for their conduct, where's the House Un-American Activities Committee now that we really need it?

Where indeed?

Now on to the rest of today's news.

Communist China bans "paid news": No longer can cadres buy favorable stories from media reporters (BBC) - unless of course you're in Zhongnanhai.

CITIC to launch IPO on its bank: The China International Trust and Investment Corporation, a regime-run firms with a long and sordid history, is using its 80% owned CITIC Bank to fleece investors (BBC).

Tibet news: Communist China is unsurprisingly breaking its promises on the treatment of Tibetans (Boycott 2008), while Amnesty International demanded to know the fate of the Panchen Lama, whom the cadres captured a dozen years ago after he was chosen to succeed the Dalai Lama.

Beijing surrender news: The Stalinists will probably miss the deadline to shut down Yongbyon (BBC) and thanks to the Bush Administration, they have a ready-made excuse in the flap over the Macau money (Daily NK). Meanwhile, dovish South Korea (Daily NK) and the United Nations (Captain's Quarters, h/t Small Dead Animals) are caught enabling the Kim Jong-il regime.

Thailand and Laos to mimic Communist China's policy on Korean refugees: I.e., they will send every Korean refugee they find back to Stalinist North Korea (Daily NK and One Free Korea).

More on the the Communists' Korean colony: One Free Korea comments on the back and forth over Stalinist diplomats' children; the U.S.-South Korea free trade deal includes goods made in Kaesung (Daily NK); Sung Joo Han describes life as a citizen of North Korea of whom Kim Jong-il does not approve (Daily NK).