News of the Day (May 1)

Can the Communist regime survive? Bill Kirby seems to think so, due in part to the repressive system in which "Mao would feel right at home" (National Review Online - The Corner). Conversely, Paul Richardson cites the repression as evidence the regime will not maintain itself long-term (Between Heaven and Earth).

Population "control" still a major standard by which Beijing judges local cadres: Whatever the higher-ups in the capital say to appease foreigners, enforcement of the hideous "one child" policy is still "one of the two main yardsticks by which the performance of local bureaucrats — and hence their prospects for advancement — are judged" (Time)., i.e., don't expect an end to stuff like this.

Communist China is the largest espionage threat to Canada: Jim Judd, head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told a Senate committee that the Communist regime "accounts for about half of the attention his agency gives to foreign intelligence-gathering efforts and foreign interference in Canadian activities" (Canadian Press via CANOE). Judd specifically cited Communist espionage efforts "to collect information, both public and private; to meddle in Canadian affairs; or to foment trouble within ethnic communities" (CP via BH&E).

Canadian Foreign Minister refuses to drop Huseyin Celil case: According to the Toronto Star's account, Minister Peter MacKay "forcefully" pressed the issue with his Communist counterpart.

Taiwan news: Communist China once again cowed the World Heath Organization into blocking the island democracy's admittance - even as an observer (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). The tiny Caribbean nation of St Lucia, by contrast, resisted the cadres' threats (BBC). Meanwhile, analyst Liu Kuan-teh called for stronger Taiwanese condemnation of Communist China as the 2008 Olympics approach (Taipei Times via BH&E).

Enlightened Comment of the Day: Kevin Steel (Western Standard) compares India to Communist China, and finds the democracy has many advantages against the over-hyped tyranny.

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: Richard Hollaran examines Communist China's naval program (Real Clear Politics). A protest in Calgary calls for a Beijing Olympic boycott (Calgary Herald). A lawyers' group in America honors Gao Zhisheng (Epoch Times). The authors of Survey of Chinese Peasants - banned in Communist China - visit New York (Epoch Times). Finally, the Communist regime is so intransigent at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that it rips the "black hat" right off President Bush's head (BBC).

With America neutralized by the Beijing surrender, Stalinist North Korea focuses on Japan: The State Department waters down the Stalinist regime's terrorist history (One Free Korea), so the Stalinists are looking to "break the Abe Administration’s hard-line policy" (Daily NK). Meanwhile, the Stalinists are looking to move - not take - the $25 million that was never supposed to be part of the deal in the first place (Daily NK).