Woe Canada! Canada is beginning to recognize the depth of Communist China’s espionage in the Great White North. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) mostly rehashed the accounts of Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun regarding Communist overseas spy networks, but added that Hao “says Canada has more spies operating in it than any other country.” Jillian Ye, a resident of Scarborough, Ontario, certainly believes that, after seeing one of the documents Hao smuggled out with him “detailed Ye’s plans to start a communications company” (Epoch Times). No fewer than four members of the opposition Conservative Party, including foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day, deputy leader Peter MacKay (Hansard) Jason Kenney (Hansard) and Helena Guergis (Hansard), pressed the governing Liberals on this issue in Parliament. Meanwhile, the editors of the British Columbian Asian-Pacific Post demanded to know why the Canadian firm Nortel is helping the cadres’ crackdown on cyberdissidents.
I guess the President hasn’t read my letter yet: I turned my call for the U.S. to grant Chen and Hao asylum in the U.S. into an open letter to President Bush; the Epoch Times was kind enough to publish it. Meanwhile, Chen tells the New York Times that when he asked for America’s help, “an Embassy official . . . told him the U.S. could do nothing for him” (Newsmax). Meanwhile, Father Chen Tianquan of the Brisbane Chinese Catholic Church “believes Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun when they claim that they fled China because they could no longer bear the CCP’s disregard for human rights and religious freedom” (Epoch Times). The priest should know due to “the CCP’s inhumane religious persecution of his sister, two brothers, and at least ten other priests and nuns living in Shanghai.”
Video of Shengyou assault released: The group of farmers who managed to withstand a brutal attack by armed thugs likely hired by the cadres to drive them off land coveted by a Communist-owned power plant managed to sneak out a video of the battle (BBC). It was the most visible example of the Communists’ willingness to kill anyone that stands in the way of the electricity-corruption axis since the Hanyuan County massacre.
Huang Qi out of jail: Five years after his arrest for posting anti-Communist articles on his website, Huang Qi was released from prison. During his time behind bars, Huang “suffered many serious illnesses due to the terrible conditions” and “was also severely beaten, resulting in several lost teeth and serious bodily injury” (Epoch Times). His family was so abused by the Communists that his wife gave up their son for adoption to spare him the cadre’s wrath (second item).
EU accuses Communist China of dumping shoes: Less than a week after a much-hyped deal between the two on textiles (sixth item), the European Union is finding Communist China’s deliberately weak currency and lack of independent unions (fifth item, second item) has led to a 700% surge in Communist shoes in Europe (BBC). Perhaps Peter Mandelson’s ribbing of the United States for its willingness to impose unilateral restrictions on Communist imports (fifth item) was a tad premature.
Could Communist China drive down the price of oil? Andy Xie, an economist for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, says Communist China’s shift “to coal for electricity generation” (CNN) will lead to a dramatic fall in the price of oil. Of course, this assumes the coal will solve the chronic shortages of power in Communist China, not something on which this corner would bet.
Hong Kong’s “election” cancelled: The mostly Communist-appointed panel chosen to “elect” the replacement for former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa will not even have to meet, as the only candidate is Communist-backed acting chief Donald Tsang (sixth item). Reports: CNN, BBC
On the Epoch Times: Sherrie Gossett, Accuracy in Media, has high praise for the dissident newspaper (which, full disclosure, has published a number of columns from yours truly) and New Tang Dynasty Television, while lamenting the continuing efforts of the Communists to shut them down (lead item, fifth item).
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
News of the Day (June 15)
Farmers on land wanted by Communist power company attacked by thugs: A group of farmers in Shengyou “resisting official demands to surrender land to a state-owned power plant” (Washington Post) were attacked by hundreds of thugs “armed with shotguns, clubs and pipes.” Six farmers died and at least one hundred others were injured. The farmers, who despite the bloody assault refused to yield, have now “occupied the local headquarters of the ruling Communist Party, where they placed the bodies of six of their slain compatriots” after “party officials abandoned the building and fled town, apparently because they feared they would be blamed for the killings.” Among the many signs that such blame is justified: “Police failed to respond to calls for help until nearly six hours later, residents said, long after the assailants had departed.” Such attacks are becoming a common result of the Communists’ thirst for power (Shanghai has gone to rationing it – BBC) combined with the local cadres lining their pockets and throwing off residents to meet the need. The most dramatic example was last year’s Hanyuan County massacre.
Two more former cadres come forward to stand with Chen and Hao: Zhong Guichun was once a police officer in Communist China charged with monitoring Falun Gong. He soon “felt that Falun Gong was a good practice that could only bring benefits to people and society” (Epoch Times) and became a practitioner. For this he was jailed and sent to a labor camp before escaping to New Zealand. This week, he came forward to tell his story, and stand by his fellow escapees, Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun, and their accounts of overseas Communist spy networks. Meanwhile, Yuan Hongbing, a former Beijing professor, told Australia's ABC wire service (via Newsmax) that Communist China has plans to make Australia a “political colony,” which “means CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will use their ideology to influence Australia's politics and gradually to turn Australia to betray its fundamental principle of freedom and democracy.” He also “says he witnessed the work of the 1,000 spies defecting Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin has spoken about.” Yuan’s protection visa application is still under review in Australia. We now add his name to Chen and Hao in our call for the U.S. to grant them asylum.
On Trade with Communist China: One of the ways the Communists “influence Australia's politics” is through trade and business ties (second item, second item). AAP (via Epoch Times) notes that several of the Australians engaged in business in Communist China “are having to deal with tough ethical dilemmas and not all are up to the challenge.” Meanwhile, Ethan Gutmann, author of Losing the New China, gives a scathing review of how American businessmen in Communist China have become an integral part of the corrupt regime in remarks reprinted by the Epoch Times.
EU plan to lift arms embargo set aside, but Israeli politician defends arms sales: The European Union “put off a plan to lift an arms embargo against China” (Cybercast News). In light of the fact that France’s push to lift the arms bad ran into opposition from several member states – “Even Germany, France's ally in the initiative, began to back away” – this comes as no surprise. However, no such good news came from Israel, where U.S. pressure on its arms sales (third item) to the Communists sparked Yuval Steinitz, chairman of its foreign affairs and defense committee, to insist “Israel must retain a measure of independence from its main ally” (Washington Times, last item).
Will House restore “one child” funding? The House of Representatives “is preparing to vote on an amendement (sic) that would restore U.S. funding for a United Nations agency accused of subsidizing communist China's coercive population control program” (World Net Daily). Said agency, the United Nations Population Fund, was found to “assist government efforts to force married couples to have only one or two children at most, according to an investigation by the Population Research Institute in 2001 and determinations by the U.S. State Department in 2002 and 2004.” The vote could come as early as today. Tell your Representative to vote no.
Majority-Communist committee puts Tsang on greased skids to “election” win: Acting Hong Kong Chief executive Donald Tsang “won 710 nominations from the 800-member group which chooses the territory's chief executive” (CNN), ensuring said panel, largely chosen by Communist China, would “elect” Tsang as the new leader. While most consider Tsang himself a vast improvement over Tung Chee-hwa (BBC), the nature of the “election” was derided by at least one pro-democracy activist as “a farce.”
Oops! AIDS activists still have to battle Communists: Less than twenty-four hours after a Communist vice health minister tried to sound sympathetic to AIDS sufferers (seventh item), Human Rights Watch pointed to the unspoken truth: “people working with Aids patients face intimidation and even imprisonment,” leaving the BBC to comment “China's communist government may be changing its attitude to those with Aids, but it appears it is still deeply hostile to those trying to help.” This corner still awaits the Communists’ new attitude in Henan, where one million still suffer from AIDS due to the cadres’ lack of hygienic standards during a 1980’s blood drive (fourth item).
Bush meeting with SNK dissident makes waves: Peter Baker and Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, examine the fallout from the President’s meetings with prominent dissidents, including former Stalinist prisoner Kang Chol Hwan (eleventh item).
On SNK’s nuclear arsenal: Speaking of “fallout,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Christopher Hill, the Bush Administration’s point man on Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear weapons, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of his confidence that the regime will “give them up” – “The real issue for them is what are the terms” (Washington Times). Beyond that, Hill was maddeningly vague, leading Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) to note that the U.S. “has been paralyzed by internal policy divisions.” Biden was joined in that criticism by Senator Chuck Hagel, (R-Nebraska), the editors of the Washington Times, and this corner, although we stand alone in calling for northern Korea’s liberation. Will they never learn?
Two more former cadres come forward to stand with Chen and Hao: Zhong Guichun was once a police officer in Communist China charged with monitoring Falun Gong. He soon “felt that Falun Gong was a good practice that could only bring benefits to people and society” (Epoch Times) and became a practitioner. For this he was jailed and sent to a labor camp before escaping to New Zealand. This week, he came forward to tell his story, and stand by his fellow escapees, Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun, and their accounts of overseas Communist spy networks. Meanwhile, Yuan Hongbing, a former Beijing professor, told Australia's ABC wire service (via Newsmax) that Communist China has plans to make Australia a “political colony,” which “means CCP [Chinese Communist Party] will use their ideology to influence Australia's politics and gradually to turn Australia to betray its fundamental principle of freedom and democracy.” He also “says he witnessed the work of the 1,000 spies defecting Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin has spoken about.” Yuan’s protection visa application is still under review in Australia. We now add his name to Chen and Hao in our call for the U.S. to grant them asylum.
On Trade with Communist China: One of the ways the Communists “influence Australia's politics” is through trade and business ties (second item, second item). AAP (via Epoch Times) notes that several of the Australians engaged in business in Communist China “are having to deal with tough ethical dilemmas and not all are up to the challenge.” Meanwhile, Ethan Gutmann, author of Losing the New China, gives a scathing review of how American businessmen in Communist China have become an integral part of the corrupt regime in remarks reprinted by the Epoch Times.
EU plan to lift arms embargo set aside, but Israeli politician defends arms sales: The European Union “put off a plan to lift an arms embargo against China” (Cybercast News). In light of the fact that France’s push to lift the arms bad ran into opposition from several member states – “Even Germany, France's ally in the initiative, began to back away” – this comes as no surprise. However, no such good news came from Israel, where U.S. pressure on its arms sales (third item) to the Communists sparked Yuval Steinitz, chairman of its foreign affairs and defense committee, to insist “Israel must retain a measure of independence from its main ally” (Washington Times, last item).
Will House restore “one child” funding? The House of Representatives “is preparing to vote on an amendement (sic) that would restore U.S. funding for a United Nations agency accused of subsidizing communist China's coercive population control program” (World Net Daily). Said agency, the United Nations Population Fund, was found to “assist government efforts to force married couples to have only one or two children at most, according to an investigation by the Population Research Institute in 2001 and determinations by the U.S. State Department in 2002 and 2004.” The vote could come as early as today. Tell your Representative to vote no.
Majority-Communist committee puts Tsang on greased skids to “election” win: Acting Hong Kong Chief executive Donald Tsang “won 710 nominations from the 800-member group which chooses the territory's chief executive” (CNN), ensuring said panel, largely chosen by Communist China, would “elect” Tsang as the new leader. While most consider Tsang himself a vast improvement over Tung Chee-hwa (BBC), the nature of the “election” was derided by at least one pro-democracy activist as “a farce.”
Oops! AIDS activists still have to battle Communists: Less than twenty-four hours after a Communist vice health minister tried to sound sympathetic to AIDS sufferers (seventh item), Human Rights Watch pointed to the unspoken truth: “people working with Aids patients face intimidation and even imprisonment,” leaving the BBC to comment “China's communist government may be changing its attitude to those with Aids, but it appears it is still deeply hostile to those trying to help.” This corner still awaits the Communists’ new attitude in Henan, where one million still suffer from AIDS due to the cadres’ lack of hygienic standards during a 1980’s blood drive (fourth item).
Bush meeting with SNK dissident makes waves: Peter Baker and Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, examine the fallout from the President’s meetings with prominent dissidents, including former Stalinist prisoner Kang Chol Hwan (eleventh item).
On SNK’s nuclear arsenal: Speaking of “fallout,” Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Christopher Hill, the Bush Administration’s point man on Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear weapons, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of his confidence that the regime will “give them up” – “The real issue for them is what are the terms” (Washington Times). Beyond that, Hill was maddeningly vague, leading Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) to note that the U.S. “has been paralyzed by internal policy divisions.” Biden was joined in that criticism by Senator Chuck Hagel, (R-Nebraska), the editors of the Washington Times, and this corner, although we stand alone in calling for northern Korea’s liberation. Will they never learn?
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
News of the Day (June 14)
Support for Chen and Hao spreads worldwide: Rallies around the world have been held for defectors Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun (Epoch Times) – the cadres whose fates are still in the hands of the Australian government after they presented (third item, fourth item). Chen, who first presented accounts of the Communist espionage network in Australia, sent a message of thanks to a rally in Sydney (Epoch Times). Hao, meanwhile, gave an interview to the Epoch Times, while his attorney insisted he receive asylum before he divulge any more information about the Communist spy networks (Epoch Times). Meanwhile, Caylan Ford and Jonathan Browde (Epoch Times), summarizes the information Chen and Hao provided, with a tease for what’s next: “How China’s spy networks monitor and harass ordinary Americans.” Meanwhile, the Epoch Times editors call the asylum applications “a test for the free world to show their determination to defend freedom.” Indeed, our call for the U.S. to grant them asylum still stands.
Microsoft-on-Communism: Microsoft has launched its internet service in Communist China – but without the words “freedom,” “democracy,” “demonstration,” “human rights,” and “Taiwan independence” – all blocked by the firm itself “as a concession to the Chinese government” (BBC).
U.S. Ambassador wants Jude Shao free: Clark Randt, U.S. Ambassador to Communist China, is calling for the early release of Jude Shao, “an American citizen serving 16 years in prison on tax-fraud charges that his supporters say were fabricated because he refused to pay bribes to Chinese officials” (Washington Times).
Intel to throw $200 million more into Communist China: Meanwhile, Intel is putting $200 million into a “venture-capital fund to invest in Chinese technology companies developing hardware, software, and services” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times).
European Union tweaks U.S. on Communist China trade: Fresh off its textile import deal with Communist China (sixth item), EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson “criticized the United States for taking what he called a less-than conciliatory approach toward Beijing” (UPI via Washington Times). The U.S. slapped restrictions on Communist textiles to slowdown a major import surge due to the deliberately weak currency and the lack of independent unions (fifth item, second item). Meanwhile, Deliang, Epoch Times, reveals another reason for the surge in exports from Communist China to the rest of the world – Communist-run banks are actually paying to build them.
Resignations approach 2.3 million: Among those joining the “ex-Communist” Party are a slew of northeasterners and a police officer from Dalian so racked by guilt he is even prepared to stand trial for his crimes (both links from the Epoch Times).
Communist China claims to understand AIDS: Communist Vice Health Minister Wang Longde “said discrimination against people with the HIV-Aids virus in China is rife” (BBC) amid reports of a proposed law “to protect those with the virus.” This corner will believe it when help comes to the one million victims in Henan (fourth item).
Communist-owned bank to sell shares in Hong Kong: Bank of Communications – whose biggest stockholder is the Communist Finance Ministry – will sell roughly 13% of itself in a Hong Kong initial public offering (Dow Jones via Yahoo). The IPO is sponsored in part by HSBC (BBC), the bank’s second largest shareholder.
Dalai Lama thinks he’ll be able go back to Tibet: The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leaders, believes Communist China will allow him to revisit his homeland (UPI via Washington Times). He also continued to swear off any ambition for his nation to return to the independence it enjoyed before the Communists conquered it in 1950.
UN envoy criticizes Communist China on SNK refugees: Vitit Muntarbhorn, the United Nations special envoy for North Korean human rights, criticized Communist China for its deliberate policy of returning any refugee from Stalinist North Korea it can find. Muntarbhorn “said at a conference in Malaysia that the fleeing refugees were not “hunger cases” but refugees who feared persecution if returned home” (Cybercast News).
President Bush meets defector from SNK: Kang Chol Hwan, a former Stalinist prisoner and now director of the Democracy Network Against North Korean Gulag, met with President Bush yesterday in “a move that could provoke Pyongyang just as it was reviving stalled nuclear talks” (not trying to slant the story, are you, Washington Post?).
Jenkins back in United States: Charles Robert Jenkins, Army sergeant-turned-defector to SNK-turned-Stalinist prisoner (fourth item, seventh item, last item), is back in the U.S. after forty years to see his mother (BBC).
Kim-Kim summit remembered on fifth anniversary: Roughly 300 South Koreans, including about 40 officials in its dovish government, went north to commemorate the summit between Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il and then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (BBC). Not everyone is so nostalgic; Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, who saw the horrors of Stalinism up-close (fifth item), spoke to Cybercast News about it.
Roh Moo-hyun confident talks will resume: Dovish South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun “sure that multinational negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear programs will resume” (Voice of America via Epoch Times). Then again, he thinks that’s a good thing.
On Stalinist propaganda: T.A. Frank, The New Republic, notes of the day’s bromides.
Will they never learn? Today’s installment comes via the Washington Times, in which Michael O'Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, calls for the U.S. to expand the talks on SNK’s nuclear arsenal and “test North Korea's willingness to reform economically and even politically, Vietnam-style.” Vietnam-style?
Microsoft-on-Communism: Microsoft has launched its internet service in Communist China – but without the words “freedom,” “democracy,” “demonstration,” “human rights,” and “Taiwan independence” – all blocked by the firm itself “as a concession to the Chinese government” (BBC).
U.S. Ambassador wants Jude Shao free: Clark Randt, U.S. Ambassador to Communist China, is calling for the early release of Jude Shao, “an American citizen serving 16 years in prison on tax-fraud charges that his supporters say were fabricated because he refused to pay bribes to Chinese officials” (Washington Times).
Intel to throw $200 million more into Communist China: Meanwhile, Intel is putting $200 million into a “venture-capital fund to invest in Chinese technology companies developing hardware, software, and services” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times).
European Union tweaks U.S. on Communist China trade: Fresh off its textile import deal with Communist China (sixth item), EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson “criticized the United States for taking what he called a less-than conciliatory approach toward Beijing” (UPI via Washington Times). The U.S. slapped restrictions on Communist textiles to slowdown a major import surge due to the deliberately weak currency and the lack of independent unions (fifth item, second item). Meanwhile, Deliang, Epoch Times, reveals another reason for the surge in exports from Communist China to the rest of the world – Communist-run banks are actually paying to build them.
Resignations approach 2.3 million: Among those joining the “ex-Communist” Party are a slew of northeasterners and a police officer from Dalian so racked by guilt he is even prepared to stand trial for his crimes (both links from the Epoch Times).
Communist China claims to understand AIDS: Communist Vice Health Minister Wang Longde “said discrimination against people with the HIV-Aids virus in China is rife” (BBC) amid reports of a proposed law “to protect those with the virus.” This corner will believe it when help comes to the one million victims in Henan (fourth item).
Communist-owned bank to sell shares in Hong Kong: Bank of Communications – whose biggest stockholder is the Communist Finance Ministry – will sell roughly 13% of itself in a Hong Kong initial public offering (Dow Jones via Yahoo). The IPO is sponsored in part by HSBC (BBC), the bank’s second largest shareholder.
Dalai Lama thinks he’ll be able go back to Tibet: The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leaders, believes Communist China will allow him to revisit his homeland (UPI via Washington Times). He also continued to swear off any ambition for his nation to return to the independence it enjoyed before the Communists conquered it in 1950.
UN envoy criticizes Communist China on SNK refugees: Vitit Muntarbhorn, the United Nations special envoy for North Korean human rights, criticized Communist China for its deliberate policy of returning any refugee from Stalinist North Korea it can find. Muntarbhorn “said at a conference in Malaysia that the fleeing refugees were not “hunger cases” but refugees who feared persecution if returned home” (Cybercast News).
President Bush meets defector from SNK: Kang Chol Hwan, a former Stalinist prisoner and now director of the Democracy Network Against North Korean Gulag, met with President Bush yesterday in “a move that could provoke Pyongyang just as it was reviving stalled nuclear talks” (not trying to slant the story, are you, Washington Post?).
Jenkins back in United States: Charles Robert Jenkins, Army sergeant-turned-defector to SNK-turned-Stalinist prisoner (fourth item, seventh item, last item), is back in the U.S. after forty years to see his mother (BBC).
Kim-Kim summit remembered on fifth anniversary: Roughly 300 South Koreans, including about 40 officials in its dovish government, went north to commemorate the summit between Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il and then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung (BBC). Not everyone is so nostalgic; Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, who saw the horrors of Stalinism up-close (fifth item), spoke to Cybercast News about it.
Roh Moo-hyun confident talks will resume: Dovish South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun “sure that multinational negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear programs will resume” (Voice of America via Epoch Times). Then again, he thinks that’s a good thing.
On Stalinist propaganda: T.A. Frank, The New Republic, notes of the day’s bromides.
Will they never learn? Today’s installment comes via the Washington Times, in which Michael O'Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, calls for the U.S. to expand the talks on SNK’s nuclear arsenal and “test North Korea's willingness to reform economically and even politically, Vietnam-style.” Vietnam-style?
Monday, June 13, 2005
News of the Day (June 13)
Charles R. Smith knocks one out of the park: The Newsmax columnist’s piece on the Communist threat to the U.S. is easily good enough to put commentary in front today.
More commentary on Communist China and the United States: Fellow Newsmax columnist Wes Vernon echoes Smith’s warnings. Henry Kissinger does it again (sixth item), this time in the International Herald Tribune. Mark Steyn optimistically predicts the regime’s collapse, without “engagement” naiveté, in the London Sunday Telegraph.
Woe Canada! Ipsos-Reid conducted a poll of American and Canadian attitudes on Communist China – and found a majority of Canadians oppose trade with Communist China (Kevin Libin, Western Standard Shotgun weblog), as do a majority of Americans, again. Meanwhile, Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun, chronicles the long strange journey of Project Sidewinder – the report on Communist penetration into Canada scrapped by Parliament in the 1990s – without making a conclusion on its value (full disclosure: the author of Sidewinder has been a Member since 2004).
Chen Yonglin interview: The Communist consular officer who defected to blow the whistle on Communist overseas spying and persecution of ethnic Chinese communities worldwide talked to the Epoch Times about his inner political journey. Meanwhile, rallies all over Australia were held to support his bid for asylum there (Epoch Times, Voice of America via Newsmax). Help us press the U.S. to grant him asylum.
More Commentary on Communist China: The Epoch Times reprints a detailed examination of Falun Gong persecution central, a.k.a. the 610 Office, from Compassion. Songfa Liu, a Chinese expatriate in Australia, tells the Epoch Times of his family’s firsthand experience with the long arm of Communist tyranny. Edward Cody, Washington Post (via MSNBC), gives the unresolved epilogue to Hauxi’s pollution protests (fourth, eleventh, and sixth items). Jon Speller, former editor of East Europe, predicts the Communist Party will lose power in the number of resignations reaches 4 million (Epoch Times) – the number is now over 2¼ million. Finally, the China Support Network examines the state of pro-democracy movements across Asia.
Trade deficit rises over $3 billion in April, Communist China accounts for half: The U.S. trade deficit “increased to $57 billion in April” (Washington Post), an increase of $3.4 billion from the $53.6 billion recorded in March. Over half of the increase – $1.8 billion to be exact – came from Communist China.
Jackie Chan blames “some people” for flap over Taiwan election: Jackie Chan, who infuriated many Taiwanese by mocking their presidential election last year (twenty-fourth item), blamed “some people who purposefully took certain words from me and developed them without limit, twisted them and arbitrarily put charges on me” (BBC) for it all, and had the audacity to insist he “‘meant well’ to the Taiwanese people” in belittling the vote.
On Stalinist North Korea: James T. Hackett, Washington Times, joins those in praise of UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton for the anti-SNK Proliferation Security Initiative (next to last item). Donald MacIntyre, Time Asia, examines the approaching famine in SNK – although he’s a little weak on why the rest of the world is so reluctant to “help” (fifth, ninth, last, and next to last items) and the continuing disrespect the dovish South Korean government is giving SNK refugees. Robert Litwak and Kathryn Weathersby, of the Woodrow Wilson Center, examine Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il and his father’s obsession with SNK’s survival, and then call for “a credible assurance from the United States that the regime itself is not in danger” (Washington Post). Will they never learn?
More commentary on Communist China and the United States: Fellow Newsmax columnist Wes Vernon echoes Smith’s warnings. Henry Kissinger does it again (sixth item), this time in the International Herald Tribune. Mark Steyn optimistically predicts the regime’s collapse, without “engagement” naiveté, in the London Sunday Telegraph.
Woe Canada! Ipsos-Reid conducted a poll of American and Canadian attitudes on Communist China – and found a majority of Canadians oppose trade with Communist China (Kevin Libin, Western Standard Shotgun weblog), as do a majority of Americans, again. Meanwhile, Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun, chronicles the long strange journey of Project Sidewinder – the report on Communist penetration into Canada scrapped by Parliament in the 1990s – without making a conclusion on its value (full disclosure: the author of Sidewinder has been a Member since 2004).
Chen Yonglin interview: The Communist consular officer who defected to blow the whistle on Communist overseas spying and persecution of ethnic Chinese communities worldwide talked to the Epoch Times about his inner political journey. Meanwhile, rallies all over Australia were held to support his bid for asylum there (Epoch Times, Voice of America via Newsmax). Help us press the U.S. to grant him asylum.
More Commentary on Communist China: The Epoch Times reprints a detailed examination of Falun Gong persecution central, a.k.a. the 610 Office, from Compassion. Songfa Liu, a Chinese expatriate in Australia, tells the Epoch Times of his family’s firsthand experience with the long arm of Communist tyranny. Edward Cody, Washington Post (via MSNBC), gives the unresolved epilogue to Hauxi’s pollution protests (fourth, eleventh, and sixth items). Jon Speller, former editor of East Europe, predicts the Communist Party will lose power in the number of resignations reaches 4 million (Epoch Times) – the number is now over 2¼ million. Finally, the China Support Network examines the state of pro-democracy movements across Asia.
Trade deficit rises over $3 billion in April, Communist China accounts for half: The U.S. trade deficit “increased to $57 billion in April” (Washington Post), an increase of $3.4 billion from the $53.6 billion recorded in March. Over half of the increase – $1.8 billion to be exact – came from Communist China.
Jackie Chan blames “some people” for flap over Taiwan election: Jackie Chan, who infuriated many Taiwanese by mocking their presidential election last year (twenty-fourth item), blamed “some people who purposefully took certain words from me and developed them without limit, twisted them and arbitrarily put charges on me” (BBC) for it all, and had the audacity to insist he “‘meant well’ to the Taiwanese people” in belittling the vote.
On Stalinist North Korea: James T. Hackett, Washington Times, joins those in praise of UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton for the anti-SNK Proliferation Security Initiative (next to last item). Donald MacIntyre, Time Asia, examines the approaching famine in SNK – although he’s a little weak on why the rest of the world is so reluctant to “help” (fifth, ninth, last, and next to last items) and the continuing disrespect the dovish South Korean government is giving SNK refugees. Robert Litwak and Kathryn Weathersby, of the Woodrow Wilson Center, examine Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il and his father’s obsession with SNK’s survival, and then call for “a credible assurance from the United States that the regime itself is not in danger” (Washington Post). Will they never learn?
Saturday, June 11, 2005
News of the Day (June 10)
U.S. intelligence blew it on Communist China: A new intelligence report "concludes that U.S. spy agencies failed to recognize several key military developments in China in the past decade" (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). Among the things Communist China managed to sneak past American intelligence were new missiles, a warship based on stolen U.S. designs, a new submarine, and lots of Russian military technology and weaponry. Sadly, the report doesn’t point the finger where it belongs, at the intelligence groups themselves – in particular the Central Intelligence Agency, which downplayed the Communist threat for a decade.
Australian government hearing it from opposition on Chen Yonglin: As Chen Yonglin resigned from the Communist Party (Epoch Times) and talked about losing his father to the cultural revolution (Epoch Times), Australian Prime Minister John Howard "said in Sydney that Chen's request for a special visa allowing him to stay in the country was ‘not going to be influenced by the amount of iron ore or coal that we sell to China’" (Cybercast News). Howard, whose government originally tried to coax Chen back to the Communists, is getting an earful from opposition parties in Australia. Greens Party Chairman Bob Brown accused him of "putting Australian security at risk by failing to investigate claims made by a Chinese diplomat currently seeking asylum that 1,000 Chinese spies and informants are currently in Australia" (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners took Howard’s Foreign Minister to court for the seizure of pro-Falun Gong signs outside the Communist embassy in Canberra (Epoch Times). This corner’s call for the U.S. to grant Chen asylum still stands.
Hao Fengjun says Canada has 1,000 Communist spies, too: Meanwhile, Hao Fengjun, the former Falun Gong persecutor who saw the light, defected, and backed Chen’s accounts of a massive spy network in Australia, told the Epoch Times that the Great White North "has a similar number of spies as Australia – roughly one thousand." Hao also quit the CCP, and told his story to the paper.
Communist China arrests more "underground" Christians: Of course, the usual persecution goes on. IN a mere three weeks, the cadres of Jilin Province rounded up 40 leaders, and 500 believers, of unofficial Christian churches. In Communist China, the only legal churches are those controlled by the Party. Over 10 million Catholics and at least 4 times as many Protestants are forced to worship in secret – at risk of the same arrests – because they refuse to put the CCP between them and their God. Report: World Net Daily
Resignations from the Party top 2.2 million: The news of the mass exodus from the Chinese Communist Party – and the Nine Commentaries that spawned it – have reached Guangxi and the consulates of Eastern Europe (both stories via the Epoch Times).
European Union and Communist China make textile deal: Communist China has agreed to "limits (of) growth in imports of 10 categories of Chinese made clothing and fabrics - including T-shirts and flax yarn - to 10% a year until 2008" (BBC). The EU pushed for the deal after a currency-devaluation/wage-suppression surge in Communist textile exports (fifth item). The United States, also concerned about this, imposed its own restrictions on Communist textile imports (second item).
China Aviation Oil agrees to pay 54% of what it is owed as ex-CEO is charged: Chen Jiulin, the disgraced former head of China Aviation Oil, faces charges of forgery and insider trading for his role in the Communist-owned firm’s attempt to hide massive losses from investors (twelfth item). Meanwhile, the firm’s creditors, including many of those investors who took it on the chin, "backed a deal which gives them 54 cents of every dollar borrowed over the next five years" (BBC).
On Communist China and the United States: Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online, warns of Communist China’s rise, and predicts it will force many to hate the U.S. quite a bit less. Suzanne Fields, Washington Times, echoes Hanson’s warnings (without the prediction on the rest of the world). Rich Lowry, also in NRO, believes Senator Clinton is being hypocritical on Communist China, but sadly, uses it to knock down all who would rather not trade with the regime. Jim Hoagland, Washington Post, has an excellent column on India and Japan rivaling Communist China as the leading Asian power. Donna Borak (UPI via Washington Times) examines how Japan sees itself vis a vis the U.S. and Communist China. Finally, the Epoch Times reprints yours truly’s remarks at the Nine Commentaries forum in New York City.
Remembering the Tiananmen Square massacre: Li Dong, then a visiting professor at Northern Arizona University, remembered the shock and dismay upon hearing of the carnage, as does then-college student Michelle Brazeau (both accounts via Epoch Times).
Other Commentary on Communist China: Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of the European Parliament, talks to the Epoch Times about what can be done to help the Chinese people liberate themselves from the Communist Party (lifting the arms embargo is not among his suggestions). The paper also reprinted Amalia Rubin’s speech to the Nine Commentaries Forum in Philadelphia about the persecution of Tibet. Gu Qing-er, also in the Epoch Times, details how Communist China’s hideous "one-child" policy, "has brought untold mental agony, physical pain and humiliation to the women of China." On the weak side, Bill Thompson, BBC, recommends giving Communist China rewards for less restriction on internet use – even if it falls short of real freedom.
Presidents Bush and Roh present "united front" on SNK: Dovish South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met with President Bush today, and the two men "presented a united front on getting North Korea to return to six-party talks about Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal" (CNN). Sadly, said "front" does not extend much beyond the desire for the Stalinists’ to return to the overhyped talks (BBC, UPI via Washington Times), which have done little but lead to significant American concessions.
SNK is building more nuclear weapons: Meanwhile, Stalinist North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan told ABC News that his regime "is boosting its arsenal of nuclear weapons" (BBC).
WFP says food situation getting worse: Stalinist North Korea’s food shortage "very much a crisis already," according to UN World Food Program spokesman Gerald Bourke (BBC). However, once again, Bourke did not discuss the issue of the Stalinists hoarding aid to feed their military (fifth item, ninth item) and using food as a political weapon (fifth item). The WFP’s previous refusal to address these concerns led the rest of the world to cut back on aid contributions in the first place (last item, next to last item).
Japan to buy U.S. unmanned planes to protect against SNK: Growing concern about Stalinist North Korea has led the Japanese military to buy American unmanned planes "to strengthen the surveillance of airspace around Japan" (UPI via Washington Times, last item). Japan had planned to build the planes itself, but scrapped that idea for fear it would take too long.
Stalinists holding up film they approved due to slight of Kim Jong-il: In what he calls "a neutral take on North Korea" (Washington Post), Daniel Gordon films the near-perfect propaganda piece, with one exception: "After countless days of hard training by the two girls for the Mass Games – a North Korean spectacle of gymnastics and theatrics to honor Kim – the film shows that Kim did not even turn up to watch the performance." Now, Gordon "still trying to win approval from North Korean officials to broadcast it."
On John Bolton: Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (and one of this corner’s favorites), examines the record of UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton, and gives him the credit he deserves for creating the anti-SNK Proliferation Security Initiative, in National Review Online.
Will they never learn? We have two columns that inspired the angry rallying cry: Edward Lanfranco (UPI via Washington Times) says the Stalinist regime "plays a dicey game testing the friendship and patience of China, its last true friend," while Selig S. Harrison, author of Korean Endgame, calls for a return to bilateral talks for another "freeze," with an American commitment to "peaceful coexistence" (Washington Post).
Australian government hearing it from opposition on Chen Yonglin: As Chen Yonglin resigned from the Communist Party (Epoch Times) and talked about losing his father to the cultural revolution (Epoch Times), Australian Prime Minister John Howard "said in Sydney that Chen's request for a special visa allowing him to stay in the country was ‘not going to be influenced by the amount of iron ore or coal that we sell to China’" (Cybercast News). Howard, whose government originally tried to coax Chen back to the Communists, is getting an earful from opposition parties in Australia. Greens Party Chairman Bob Brown accused him of "putting Australian security at risk by failing to investigate claims made by a Chinese diplomat currently seeking asylum that 1,000 Chinese spies and informants are currently in Australia" (United Press Int’l via Washington Times). Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners took Howard’s Foreign Minister to court for the seizure of pro-Falun Gong signs outside the Communist embassy in Canberra (Epoch Times). This corner’s call for the U.S. to grant Chen asylum still stands.
Hao Fengjun says Canada has 1,000 Communist spies, too: Meanwhile, Hao Fengjun, the former Falun Gong persecutor who saw the light, defected, and backed Chen’s accounts of a massive spy network in Australia, told the Epoch Times that the Great White North "has a similar number of spies as Australia – roughly one thousand." Hao also quit the CCP, and told his story to the paper.
Communist China arrests more "underground" Christians: Of course, the usual persecution goes on. IN a mere three weeks, the cadres of Jilin Province rounded up 40 leaders, and 500 believers, of unofficial Christian churches. In Communist China, the only legal churches are those controlled by the Party. Over 10 million Catholics and at least 4 times as many Protestants are forced to worship in secret – at risk of the same arrests – because they refuse to put the CCP between them and their God. Report: World Net Daily
Resignations from the Party top 2.2 million: The news of the mass exodus from the Chinese Communist Party – and the Nine Commentaries that spawned it – have reached Guangxi and the consulates of Eastern Europe (both stories via the Epoch Times).
European Union and Communist China make textile deal: Communist China has agreed to "limits (of) growth in imports of 10 categories of Chinese made clothing and fabrics - including T-shirts and flax yarn - to 10% a year until 2008" (BBC). The EU pushed for the deal after a currency-devaluation/wage-suppression surge in Communist textile exports (fifth item). The United States, also concerned about this, imposed its own restrictions on Communist textile imports (second item).
China Aviation Oil agrees to pay 54% of what it is owed as ex-CEO is charged: Chen Jiulin, the disgraced former head of China Aviation Oil, faces charges of forgery and insider trading for his role in the Communist-owned firm’s attempt to hide massive losses from investors (twelfth item). Meanwhile, the firm’s creditors, including many of those investors who took it on the chin, "backed a deal which gives them 54 cents of every dollar borrowed over the next five years" (BBC).
On Communist China and the United States: Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online, warns of Communist China’s rise, and predicts it will force many to hate the U.S. quite a bit less. Suzanne Fields, Washington Times, echoes Hanson’s warnings (without the prediction on the rest of the world). Rich Lowry, also in NRO, believes Senator Clinton is being hypocritical on Communist China, but sadly, uses it to knock down all who would rather not trade with the regime. Jim Hoagland, Washington Post, has an excellent column on India and Japan rivaling Communist China as the leading Asian power. Donna Borak (UPI via Washington Times) examines how Japan sees itself vis a vis the U.S. and Communist China. Finally, the Epoch Times reprints yours truly’s remarks at the Nine Commentaries forum in New York City.
Remembering the Tiananmen Square massacre: Li Dong, then a visiting professor at Northern Arizona University, remembered the shock and dismay upon hearing of the carnage, as does then-college student Michelle Brazeau (both accounts via Epoch Times).
Other Commentary on Communist China: Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of the European Parliament, talks to the Epoch Times about what can be done to help the Chinese people liberate themselves from the Communist Party (lifting the arms embargo is not among his suggestions). The paper also reprinted Amalia Rubin’s speech to the Nine Commentaries Forum in Philadelphia about the persecution of Tibet. Gu Qing-er, also in the Epoch Times, details how Communist China’s hideous "one-child" policy, "has brought untold mental agony, physical pain and humiliation to the women of China." On the weak side, Bill Thompson, BBC, recommends giving Communist China rewards for less restriction on internet use – even if it falls short of real freedom.
Presidents Bush and Roh present "united front" on SNK: Dovish South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met with President Bush today, and the two men "presented a united front on getting North Korea to return to six-party talks about Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal" (CNN). Sadly, said "front" does not extend much beyond the desire for the Stalinists’ to return to the overhyped talks (BBC, UPI via Washington Times), which have done little but lead to significant American concessions.
SNK is building more nuclear weapons: Meanwhile, Stalinist North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan told ABC News that his regime "is boosting its arsenal of nuclear weapons" (BBC).
WFP says food situation getting worse: Stalinist North Korea’s food shortage "very much a crisis already," according to UN World Food Program spokesman Gerald Bourke (BBC). However, once again, Bourke did not discuss the issue of the Stalinists hoarding aid to feed their military (fifth item, ninth item) and using food as a political weapon (fifth item). The WFP’s previous refusal to address these concerns led the rest of the world to cut back on aid contributions in the first place (last item, next to last item).
Japan to buy U.S. unmanned planes to protect against SNK: Growing concern about Stalinist North Korea has led the Japanese military to buy American unmanned planes "to strengthen the surveillance of airspace around Japan" (UPI via Washington Times, last item). Japan had planned to build the planes itself, but scrapped that idea for fear it would take too long.
Stalinists holding up film they approved due to slight of Kim Jong-il: In what he calls "a neutral take on North Korea" (Washington Post), Daniel Gordon films the near-perfect propaganda piece, with one exception: "After countless days of hard training by the two girls for the Mass Games – a North Korean spectacle of gymnastics and theatrics to honor Kim – the film shows that Kim did not even turn up to watch the performance." Now, Gordon "still trying to win approval from North Korean officials to broadcast it."
On John Bolton: Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (and one of this corner’s favorites), examines the record of UN Ambassador-designate John Bolton, and gives him the credit he deserves for creating the anti-SNK Proliferation Security Initiative, in National Review Online.
Will they never learn? We have two columns that inspired the angry rallying cry: Edward Lanfranco (UPI via Washington Times) says the Stalinist regime "plays a dicey game testing the friendship and patience of China, its last true friend," while Selig S. Harrison, author of Korean Endgame, calls for a return to bilateral talks for another "freeze," with an American commitment to "peaceful coexistence" (Washington Post).
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Ask the U.S. to grant Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States
One month after this was posted, the Australian government granted protection visas to Chen Yonglin and his family. The case of Hao Fengjun remains unresolved, and as such, regarding him, our call stands.
After examining the events of the last few days in Australia, I have become convinced that more than mere relaying of information is required. When the China e-Lobby began, over five years ago, its raison d'etre was to convince Congress to vote down Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Communist China. Though we did not succeed, we never gave up the willingness to make our views known to public officials.
Given that the brave defector Chen Yonglin has already contacted American officials in Australia regarding his situation, I think we must make our views known to President Bush, Secretary Rice, and acting de facto Ambassador Stanton.
Below is the letter I sent to Mr. Stanton (info@usembassy-australia.state.gov). I sent similar letters to the President (http://www.whitehouse.gov/webmail, there are several steps involved) and the Secretary of State (http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html, much easier) asking them to grant Chen and Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States. While you ceratainly don't have to use my letter, please contact these officials to make your voice heard on Chen and Hao's fate.
As always, I appreciate all your support.
D.J. McGuire
P.S. To international readers: feel free to contact the officials in your own government on this matter. You never know who might step up for Chen and Hao.
Mr. William A. Stanton
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim
U.S. Embassy to Australia
Dear Mr. Stanton,
Many in America, Australia, and especially Communist China have been following the story of Chen Yonglin, the former political consul for the Communist regime now in fear for his life for his willingness to expose that regime's network of overseas spies. Chen has already contacted our consulate for help and safety. I ask you to grant Chen Yonglin and his fellow defector Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States.
Chen and Hao have bravely revealed to Australia how Communist China keeps tabs on its exiles abroad, especially its exiled dissidents. To allow them to suffer even the smallest risk of forced return to Communist China is beneath our character as a nation. As we expend blood and treasure to preserve the human rights of Afghans and Iraqis, how can we not risk so much less by protecting Chen and Hao's rights?
Moreover, this issue goes well beyond Chen and Hao's own human rights and dignity. They are among the few who have intimate knowledge of how the Communists patrol overseas Chinese populations. As you well know, several American cities, including our nation's capital, have large ethnic Chinese communities, and as such, millions of fellow Americans are subject to the same surveillance, intimidation, and fear that Chen and Hao have revealed as the Communists' weapons to ensure overseas silence. Chen and Hao can help fight that far-flung network of Communist watchers here in the United States, and finally let millions of Chinese-Americans experience the full American dream.
However, Chen and Hao's value could go far beyond liberating Chinese-Americans from the long arm of Communist tyranny. They could also help break up the Communist networks in this country that have stolen nuclear secrets, compromised counterintelligence operations, and committed industrial and military espionage. If he were safely in the U.S., Chen and Hao could be invaluable assets in protecting America from espionage on several fronts.
For these reasons, I urge you to grant Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States, not only to remove the danger to them, but to exploit what may be the best counter-espionage opportunity we have had since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Very Truly Yours,
D.J. McGuire: President and Co-founder: China e-Lobby
After examining the events of the last few days in Australia, I have become convinced that more than mere relaying of information is required. When the China e-Lobby began, over five years ago, its raison d'etre was to convince Congress to vote down Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Communist China. Though we did not succeed, we never gave up the willingness to make our views known to public officials.
Given that the brave defector Chen Yonglin has already contacted American officials in Australia regarding his situation, I think we must make our views known to President Bush, Secretary Rice, and acting de facto Ambassador Stanton.
Below is the letter I sent to Mr. Stanton (info@usembassy-australia.state.gov). I sent similar letters to the President (http://www.whitehouse.gov/webmail, there are several steps involved) and the Secretary of State (http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html, much easier) asking them to grant Chen and Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States. While you ceratainly don't have to use my letter, please contact these officials to make your voice heard on Chen and Hao's fate.
As always, I appreciate all your support.
D.J. McGuire
P.S. To international readers: feel free to contact the officials in your own government on this matter. You never know who might step up for Chen and Hao.
Mr. William A. Stanton
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim
U.S. Embassy to Australia
Dear Mr. Stanton,
Many in America, Australia, and especially Communist China have been following the story of Chen Yonglin, the former political consul for the Communist regime now in fear for his life for his willingness to expose that regime's network of overseas spies. Chen has already contacted our consulate for help and safety. I ask you to grant Chen Yonglin and his fellow defector Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States.
Chen and Hao have bravely revealed to Australia how Communist China keeps tabs on its exiles abroad, especially its exiled dissidents. To allow them to suffer even the smallest risk of forced return to Communist China is beneath our character as a nation. As we expend blood and treasure to preserve the human rights of Afghans and Iraqis, how can we not risk so much less by protecting Chen and Hao's rights?
Moreover, this issue goes well beyond Chen and Hao's own human rights and dignity. They are among the few who have intimate knowledge of how the Communists patrol overseas Chinese populations. As you well know, several American cities, including our nation's capital, have large ethnic Chinese communities, and as such, millions of fellow Americans are subject to the same surveillance, intimidation, and fear that Chen and Hao have revealed as the Communists' weapons to ensure overseas silence. Chen and Hao can help fight that far-flung network of Communist watchers here in the United States, and finally let millions of Chinese-Americans experience the full American dream.
However, Chen and Hao's value could go far beyond liberating Chinese-Americans from the long arm of Communist tyranny. They could also help break up the Communist networks in this country that have stolen nuclear secrets, compromised counterintelligence operations, and committed industrial and military espionage. If he were safely in the U.S., Chen and Hao could be invaluable assets in protecting America from espionage on several fronts.
For these reasons, I urge you to grant Chen Yonglin and Hao Fengjun asylum in the United States, not only to remove the danger to them, but to exploit what may be the best counter-espionage opportunity we have had since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Very Truly Yours,
D.J. McGuire: President and Co-founder: China e-Lobby
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
News of the Day (June 8)
Due to an invitation to Friday’s New York forum on the Nine Commentaries, yours truly will be traveling tomorrow, and will not be posting an entry.
Australia retreats from rejection of Chen Yonglin; Hao Feng Jun talks to TV: Hao Feng Jun went public to Australian television backing up Chen Yonglin’s accounts of Communist overseas spy networks. Hao, who defected after working in the anti-Falun Gong 610 office (second item) told Lateline that “China sent out businessmen and students to overseas countries as spies, and also had spies under diplomatic cover in its missions abroad” (CNN). Hao also gave documents “related to the monitoring of Falun Gong and democratic groups in Australia” (Epoch Times) to the Australian government, which is quickly backtracking from its earlier rejection of Chen’s asylum application: “Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said Mr. Chen's bid would be judged on its merit” (BBC). Meanwhile, the Epoch Times had this bombshell: Chen “turned to seek protection from the U.S. on May 31” after the Australians first rejected him. Moreover, “Chen’s action surprised the United States government . . . because the Australian Government had not informed its close ally of this explosive diplomatic and intelligence development even a week after it came to light.” The U.S. is, for now, calling this a matter “for Australia to handle.” That’s not good enough; Australia has already “handled” Chen – and very badly. It’s time Washington grant him asylum. Chen told Sound of Hope Radio that “he felt liberated after speaking openly about China’s spy operations in Australia, despite concerns for his safety” (Epoch Times). Falun Gong practitioners in Australia had high praise for the consul-turned-refugee (Epoch Times). However, the best commentary on the whole thing comes from the Asian Pacific Post, whose editors ripped Australia for its callous treatment of Chen.
More Tiananmen remembrances: The Epoch Times recounts a ceremony in Tel Aviv on June 3 and the account of Chen Qinghua, a resident of Hong Kong and Tiananmen survivor. The China Support Network reviews the various events around the world and reprints remarks from Han Dongfang, another Tiananmen survivor and current editor of the China Labor Bulletin. Meanwhile, the Guardian interviews retired cadre Li Rui, who calls for the Party to “face up to history,” including the Tiananmen massacre, while Isabel Hilton, a columnist for the British paper echoes Li’s call for the truth about Tiananmen.
Communist China says SNK will rejoin talks in “weeks”; U.S. not so sure: Stalinist North Korea will return to the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons “in the next few weeks” (Washington Times). That came as news to the United States, which was not given any such timetable from the Stalinists (tenth item). Also reporting: BBC, CNN
Blogs come under Communist scrutiny: Communist China “announced plans to police web forums, chat rooms and blogs alongside other websites” (BBC). All blogs must now “register their sites and identify the person responsible for each one by the end of June” (Cybercast News). Reporters without Borders ripped the move: “Those who continue to publish under their real names on sites hosted in China will either have to avoid political subjects or just relay the Communist Party's propaganda.”
Cheng Chiong arrest ripped: The Independent Chinese PEN Center “expressed their deep concern over the detention of Ching Cheong” (Epoch Times) – the Straits Times reporter in a Communist jail for trying to acquire a book of interviews with deposed Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was sent to house arrest for opposing the Tiananmen massacre.
Communist China blackmails Haiti to drop Taiwan: Communist China has told Haiti that “a condition to approving a lengthy extension of the U.N. peacekeeping force” (Washington Times) in the shattered nation is an end to its diplomatic ties to Taiwan. The island democracy only has 26 diplomatic allies; the rest follow the “one China” fallacy.
Greenspan calls for flexible Communist currency: The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman said ending the deliberately devalued Communist currency peg “strikes me as very much to the advantage of China and indeed it's something that I am certain they will take on reasonably soon” (Voice of America via Newsmax). At the same forum, Communist central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan threw cold water on the idea. The Communists’ undervalued currency has enabled the regime to greatly damage American manufacturing and crowd out other exporters, including many American allies.
Singapore to press charges against China Aviation Oil swindlers: Chen Jiulin, Peter Lim Tiong Sun, Jia Changbin, Li Yongji and Gu Yanfei – all higher-ups in China Aviation Oil – will be charged for their roles in covering up massive losses in the Communist owned firm prior to a stock sale that left several investors holding the bag (twelfth item). Chen himself was arrested today (BBC).
Resignations from CCP approaching 2.2 million: The Epoch Times has a regional breakdown of the Party members who quit after the Nine Commentaries.
On Communist China and the United States: Economist Hans Sennholz sounds the alarm on Communist China: “they may become the greatest threat ever faced by the West” (Free Market News). Cal Thomas, Washington Times, does the same, while the China Support Network approves of a rhetorical shift in the Bush Administration on the Communist regime, but rightly wants actions to back up the talk.
Charles Robert Jenkins wants to visit his mother at home: Charles Robert Jenkins, an Army sergeant who defected to Stalinist North Korea, regretted it almost immediately, and left for Japan almost forty years later “to face US justice” (BBC), “may return to the United States for the first time in 40 years to visit his elderly mother” (CNN). While in SNK, Jenkins married Japanese abduction victim Hitomi Soga, in large part because of their shared hatred for the regime (fourth item, seventh item).
Australia retreats from rejection of Chen Yonglin; Hao Feng Jun talks to TV: Hao Feng Jun went public to Australian television backing up Chen Yonglin’s accounts of Communist overseas spy networks. Hao, who defected after working in the anti-Falun Gong 610 office (second item) told Lateline that “China sent out businessmen and students to overseas countries as spies, and also had spies under diplomatic cover in its missions abroad” (CNN). Hao also gave documents “related to the monitoring of Falun Gong and democratic groups in Australia” (Epoch Times) to the Australian government, which is quickly backtracking from its earlier rejection of Chen’s asylum application: “Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said Mr. Chen's bid would be judged on its merit” (BBC). Meanwhile, the Epoch Times had this bombshell: Chen “turned to seek protection from the U.S. on May 31” after the Australians first rejected him. Moreover, “Chen’s action surprised the United States government . . . because the Australian Government had not informed its close ally of this explosive diplomatic and intelligence development even a week after it came to light.” The U.S. is, for now, calling this a matter “for Australia to handle.” That’s not good enough; Australia has already “handled” Chen – and very badly. It’s time Washington grant him asylum. Chen told Sound of Hope Radio that “he felt liberated after speaking openly about China’s spy operations in Australia, despite concerns for his safety” (Epoch Times). Falun Gong practitioners in Australia had high praise for the consul-turned-refugee (Epoch Times). However, the best commentary on the whole thing comes from the Asian Pacific Post, whose editors ripped Australia for its callous treatment of Chen.
More Tiananmen remembrances: The Epoch Times recounts a ceremony in Tel Aviv on June 3 and the account of Chen Qinghua, a resident of Hong Kong and Tiananmen survivor. The China Support Network reviews the various events around the world and reprints remarks from Han Dongfang, another Tiananmen survivor and current editor of the China Labor Bulletin. Meanwhile, the Guardian interviews retired cadre Li Rui, who calls for the Party to “face up to history,” including the Tiananmen massacre, while Isabel Hilton, a columnist for the British paper echoes Li’s call for the truth about Tiananmen.
Communist China says SNK will rejoin talks in “weeks”; U.S. not so sure: Stalinist North Korea will return to the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons “in the next few weeks” (Washington Times). That came as news to the United States, which was not given any such timetable from the Stalinists (tenth item). Also reporting: BBC, CNN
Blogs come under Communist scrutiny: Communist China “announced plans to police web forums, chat rooms and blogs alongside other websites” (BBC). All blogs must now “register their sites and identify the person responsible for each one by the end of June” (Cybercast News). Reporters without Borders ripped the move: “Those who continue to publish under their real names on sites hosted in China will either have to avoid political subjects or just relay the Communist Party's propaganda.”
Cheng Chiong arrest ripped: The Independent Chinese PEN Center “expressed their deep concern over the detention of Ching Cheong” (Epoch Times) – the Straits Times reporter in a Communist jail for trying to acquire a book of interviews with deposed Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was sent to house arrest for opposing the Tiananmen massacre.
Communist China blackmails Haiti to drop Taiwan: Communist China has told Haiti that “a condition to approving a lengthy extension of the U.N. peacekeeping force” (Washington Times) in the shattered nation is an end to its diplomatic ties to Taiwan. The island democracy only has 26 diplomatic allies; the rest follow the “one China” fallacy.
Greenspan calls for flexible Communist currency: The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman said ending the deliberately devalued Communist currency peg “strikes me as very much to the advantage of China and indeed it's something that I am certain they will take on reasonably soon” (Voice of America via Newsmax). At the same forum, Communist central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan threw cold water on the idea. The Communists’ undervalued currency has enabled the regime to greatly damage American manufacturing and crowd out other exporters, including many American allies.
Singapore to press charges against China Aviation Oil swindlers: Chen Jiulin, Peter Lim Tiong Sun, Jia Changbin, Li Yongji and Gu Yanfei – all higher-ups in China Aviation Oil – will be charged for their roles in covering up massive losses in the Communist owned firm prior to a stock sale that left several investors holding the bag (twelfth item). Chen himself was arrested today (BBC).
Resignations from CCP approaching 2.2 million: The Epoch Times has a regional breakdown of the Party members who quit after the Nine Commentaries.
On Communist China and the United States: Economist Hans Sennholz sounds the alarm on Communist China: “they may become the greatest threat ever faced by the West” (Free Market News). Cal Thomas, Washington Times, does the same, while the China Support Network approves of a rhetorical shift in the Bush Administration on the Communist regime, but rightly wants actions to back up the talk.
Charles Robert Jenkins wants to visit his mother at home: Charles Robert Jenkins, an Army sergeant who defected to Stalinist North Korea, regretted it almost immediately, and left for Japan almost forty years later “to face US justice” (BBC), “may return to the United States for the first time in 40 years to visit his elderly mother” (CNN). While in SNK, Jenkins married Japanese abduction victim Hitomi Soga, in large part because of their shared hatred for the regime (fourth item, seventh item).
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
News of the Day (June 7)
Rice echoes Rumsfeld on military buildup, but generally makes nice: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Communist China’s military buildup “concerning” (Bill Gertz, Washington Times), but insisted the U.S. would “manage this relationship in a way that increases the chances that China will be a positive, not a negative, force in international politics.” While Rice’s comments were by and large standard State Department fare (Washington Times), it was a far cry from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s earlier comments on the Communist China’s military buildup and lack of freedom (third item). Meanwhile, Administration officials in Washington pointedly refuse to back away from Rumsfeld’s words (United Press Int’l via Washington Times), and Jay Nordlinger (National Review Online) was thrilled by the comments.
Chen Yongli details suppression of overseas media; second ex-cadre steps forward: Chen Yongli, the former political attaché in Communist China’s Sydney consulate who defected last week, accused the Communists of threatening “retaliations” (Epoch Times) against Chinese press overseas that did not toe the Party line on Falun Gong. Meanwhile, Hao Fengjun, also hiding in Australia, exposed to the Epoch Times the tactics of the brutal “610” offices – created exclusively for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Hao would know; he was a 610 officer in Tianjin. He also confirmed Chen’s charges of Communist spying on overseas ethnic Chinese communities. Chen won high praise from the editors of the Epoch Times, but Australia’s incredibly callous treatment of him is still not very well-known (Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute, in National Review Online). Communist China is still in talks to import liquefied natural gas from Australia (UPI via Washington Times, fourth item).
Communist China on nuclear aid to Iran and SNK: Who, us? During an announcement of its plans for future nuclear power production, Communist China denied “any suggestion that they are supplying nuclear technology to Iran and North Korea” (Voice of America via Epoch Times). So what was behind that tributyl phosphate (second item) sale? Or the numerous examples of helping Iran become a nuclear power?
Two more arrests in Communist China: Fang Dan, a computer engineer from Shenzhen, is under arrest for downloading the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party (Epoch Times); Hu Jing “burned the Chinese Communist Party flag in Tiananmen Square on the afternoon of June 4th in support of the movement of withdrawing from the CCP” (Epoch Times). Naturally, he too is now in jail.
Toronto NTDTV office receives death threats: Four death threat letters were sent to Toronto’s office of New Tang Dynasty Television “within two months” (Epoch Times). The last of these, sent last Friday, was covered in a white powder believed to be boric acid. The first letter also contained a white powder that injured the director (tenth item).
Communist real estate bubble may pop: Communist China recently imposed new real estate taxes designed to “stabilize rising real estate prices” (Epoch Times). Instead, real estate prices began what could be a steep fall; that would “worsen the crisis for state-owned banks,” who have underwritten most of the cadre-blessed and corruption-fueled real estate boom (fourteenth item, ninth item, fifth item, and thirteenth item).
Taiwan news: Taiwan’s National Assembly, a body whose purpose is to ratify proposed constitutional amendments, “effectively voted for its own abolition” (BBC) by passing an amendment requiring referenda for all future amendments. Communist China “fears the new policy of referendums to decide the island's constitutional affairs could enable Taiwan's independence-minded President Chen Shui-bian to fast-track measures that Beijing does not like.” Then again, the cadres have never liked listening to the people. Meanwhile, the island democracy also “successfully test-fired a locally developed cruise missile capable of striking southeastern areas of mainland China” (Washington Times, last item). There are presently almost 800 Communist missiles pointed at Taiwan.
More on the Tiananmen massacre of 1989: Bin Wang, Epoch Times, remembers the June 4 massacre, while Zhang Hong, who was a nurse in Beijing hospital that night, recounts the horror to Radio Free Asia (via Epoch Times).
On piracy in Communist China: Anne Stevenson-Yang, U.S. Information Technology Office, laments the mass counterfeiting in Communist China, and lays the blame at the feet of the Communists themselves, before expressing her willingness to capitulate to it – rather than hold the cadres accountable – in Time Asia.
SNK tells U.S. it wants more, but won’t say when, just before dovish Roh visits: Stalinist North Korea held talks with the U.S. at the regime’s UN offices in New York to say “the reclusive nation is committed to returning to stalled negotiations on its nuclear ambitions” (Washington Post). Given the way the talks had been going before they were halted, that should come as no surprise. However, SNK refused to say when it would return to the talks – which included itself, the U.S., South Korea, Communist China, Russia, and Japan – and one unnamed official felt “the session may have been timed to lessen any sense of crisis before President Bush meets later this week with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun.” Roh is easily the most dovish leader in democratic South Korea’s history, and he now has every reason to follow his worst instincts in the talks. Does anyone really think that’s a coincidence? Also reporting: BBC, CNN
Rumsfeld calls report on possible appeal to UN on SNK “mischievous”: After Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refuted comments by a “senior defense official” that the U.S. would consider going to the United Nations regarding Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear weapons (last item), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld himself “found a need to dismiss his aide's pronouncement, calling it ‘incorrect and mischievous’” (Washington Times). Of course, Communist China’s veto power on the Security Council made the United Nations idea a non-starter anyway, but the deeper message – i.e., options outside of talking with the Stalinists remain off-limits – is more than a little troubling.
Chen Yongli details suppression of overseas media; second ex-cadre steps forward: Chen Yongli, the former political attaché in Communist China’s Sydney consulate who defected last week, accused the Communists of threatening “retaliations” (Epoch Times) against Chinese press overseas that did not toe the Party line on Falun Gong. Meanwhile, Hao Fengjun, also hiding in Australia, exposed to the Epoch Times the tactics of the brutal “610” offices – created exclusively for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Hao would know; he was a 610 officer in Tianjin. He also confirmed Chen’s charges of Communist spying on overseas ethnic Chinese communities. Chen won high praise from the editors of the Epoch Times, but Australia’s incredibly callous treatment of him is still not very well-known (Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute, in National Review Online). Communist China is still in talks to import liquefied natural gas from Australia (UPI via Washington Times, fourth item).
Communist China on nuclear aid to Iran and SNK: Who, us? During an announcement of its plans for future nuclear power production, Communist China denied “any suggestion that they are supplying nuclear technology to Iran and North Korea” (Voice of America via Epoch Times). So what was behind that tributyl phosphate (second item) sale? Or the numerous examples of helping Iran become a nuclear power?
Two more arrests in Communist China: Fang Dan, a computer engineer from Shenzhen, is under arrest for downloading the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party (Epoch Times); Hu Jing “burned the Chinese Communist Party flag in Tiananmen Square on the afternoon of June 4th in support of the movement of withdrawing from the CCP” (Epoch Times). Naturally, he too is now in jail.
Toronto NTDTV office receives death threats: Four death threat letters were sent to Toronto’s office of New Tang Dynasty Television “within two months” (Epoch Times). The last of these, sent last Friday, was covered in a white powder believed to be boric acid. The first letter also contained a white powder that injured the director (tenth item).
Communist real estate bubble may pop: Communist China recently imposed new real estate taxes designed to “stabilize rising real estate prices” (Epoch Times). Instead, real estate prices began what could be a steep fall; that would “worsen the crisis for state-owned banks,” who have underwritten most of the cadre-blessed and corruption-fueled real estate boom (fourteenth item, ninth item, fifth item, and thirteenth item).
Taiwan news: Taiwan’s National Assembly, a body whose purpose is to ratify proposed constitutional amendments, “effectively voted for its own abolition” (BBC) by passing an amendment requiring referenda for all future amendments. Communist China “fears the new policy of referendums to decide the island's constitutional affairs could enable Taiwan's independence-minded President Chen Shui-bian to fast-track measures that Beijing does not like.” Then again, the cadres have never liked listening to the people. Meanwhile, the island democracy also “successfully test-fired a locally developed cruise missile capable of striking southeastern areas of mainland China” (Washington Times, last item). There are presently almost 800 Communist missiles pointed at Taiwan.
More on the Tiananmen massacre of 1989: Bin Wang, Epoch Times, remembers the June 4 massacre, while Zhang Hong, who was a nurse in Beijing hospital that night, recounts the horror to Radio Free Asia (via Epoch Times).
On piracy in Communist China: Anne Stevenson-Yang, U.S. Information Technology Office, laments the mass counterfeiting in Communist China, and lays the blame at the feet of the Communists themselves, before expressing her willingness to capitulate to it – rather than hold the cadres accountable – in Time Asia.
SNK tells U.S. it wants more, but won’t say when, just before dovish Roh visits: Stalinist North Korea held talks with the U.S. at the regime’s UN offices in New York to say “the reclusive nation is committed to returning to stalled negotiations on its nuclear ambitions” (Washington Post). Given the way the talks had been going before they were halted, that should come as no surprise. However, SNK refused to say when it would return to the talks – which included itself, the U.S., South Korea, Communist China, Russia, and Japan – and one unnamed official felt “the session may have been timed to lessen any sense of crisis before President Bush meets later this week with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun.” Roh is easily the most dovish leader in democratic South Korea’s history, and he now has every reason to follow his worst instincts in the talks. Does anyone really think that’s a coincidence? Also reporting: BBC, CNN
Rumsfeld calls report on possible appeal to UN on SNK “mischievous”: After Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refuted comments by a “senior defense official” that the U.S. would consider going to the United Nations regarding Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear weapons (last item), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld himself “found a need to dismiss his aide's pronouncement, calling it ‘incorrect and mischievous’” (Washington Times). Of course, Communist China’s veto power on the Security Council made the United Nations idea a non-starter anyway, but the deeper message – i.e., options outside of talking with the Stalinists remain off-limits – is more than a little troubling.
Monday, June 06, 2005
News of the Day (June 6)
Ex-Communist Envoy in Australia defects, cites mass spying on dissidents: Chen Yonglin, formerly the political affairs attaché at China's consulate-general in Sydney, Australia, asked for political asylum after he could “no longer support the CCP’s persecution” (Epoch Times). Chen’s job had been to oversee the Communist surveillance of “the activities of dissident Chinese groups, including Falun Gong practitioners and supporters of Tibet, Taiwan and Uighur separatists in western China” (that’s East Turkestan to you, CNN). Despite the obvious persecution Chen would face by blowing the whistle on this overseas spying – which included “up to 1,000 Chinese spies” (BBC) – the Australian government “tried to persuade him to return to the consulate and had even phoned his superiors” (Cybercast News). Chen promptly went into hiding until last Friday, when he spoke at a Sydney rally marking the anniversary of the massacre of Tiananmen Square (BBC). Meanwhile, many are asking what the Australian government, which denied Chen asylum, was thinking, and are increasingly worried that a future Australia-Communist China free-trade agreement may be the answer (fifth item). This quarter fervently believes the U.S. should step in and grant Chen asylum, now.
Tiananmen Square remembered by anti-Communists and justified by cadres: Hong Kong (BBC, Washington Post) and Washington, D.C. (Epoch Times) held gatherings to remember the brave souls who died for freedom on June 4, 1989. Meanwhile, in the face of an official U.S. request for “a reexamination of Tiananmen” (Cybercast News), Communist China insisted the bloody massacre was the right thing to do, and for good measure, “accused Washington of interfering in another country's internal affairs” (BBC).
Rumsfeld questions Communist military buildup and calls for open government: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly questioned Communist China’s continuing military buildup, and pointedly challenged the cadres regarding its menacing position on Taiwan: “If everyone agrees the question of Taiwan is going to be settled in a peaceful way, why this increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan?” (Cybercast News). Rumsfeld went further, calling on the regime to “embrace some form of open, representative government” (BBC). He also noted that the Communist military budget is the third largest in the world, behind the U.S. and Russia. The one sour note came during Q&A, when he told a cadre that “that the U.S. did not feel threatened by China's rise.”
HK Legislators pressure regime on Ching Cheong: Members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council called for the Communist-appointed city regime “to do all it can to help a Hong Kong reporter detained in mainland China and accused of spying” (Voice of America). Said reporter, Ching Cheong, is currently in jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) – in this case a manuscript of interviews with Zhao Ziyang, the late Communist leader who became a prisoner for his opposition to the Tiananmen massacre.
Dissident released after ten years in prison: Chen Youcai was jailed for forming an opposition party in Guizhou (Central News Agency, Taiwan via Epoch Times).
Power shortages continue in Zhejiang; LNG supply may be affected: Cadres in Zhejiang province are putting together “contingency measures” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times, third item) to combat “the most-severe power shortages in its history.” Several Communist provinces have suffered power shortages in recent years. As a result, the bountiful supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Communist China could vanish quickly (same UPI link, fourth item).
U.S. and Communist China hold talks on textiles: Negotiators from the United States and Communist China are in talks “to try to solve a damaging row over textiles” (BBC). The talks take place amid U.S. restrictions Communist textile exports that have surged recently due to currency devaluation and wage suppression (second item, fifth item).
Ugly Communist exhibit in San Fransisco; support for quitting cadres in San Diego: The Masonic Center in San Francisco (Full disclosure: yours truly is a direct descendant of the founder of the Antimasonic Party of Western New York) hosted an exhibit of 21 corpses sponsored by Communist China. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Communists were less than honest about the source of the bodies for the sickening “World under the Skin” display – and the Masonic hosts “were not allowed to talk about where the corpses came from” (Epoch Times). Contrast this to a public gathering in San Diego to “support for 2 million Chinese who have taken a step towards freedom by publicly withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party” (Epoch Times).
Buy this book now (well after Dragon in the Dark)! Donald Morrison, Time Asia, reviews Mao: The Unknown Story: “Just so you know where they stand, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday declare in the very first sentence of their impeccably detailed biography of Mao Zedong that he ‘was responsible for well over 70 million deaths in peacetime, more than any other 20th-century leader.’ And that's one of the more positive things they have to say about the man” What else do you need to know about the book?
On Communist China and the United States: Radio host Geoff Metcalf, in Newsmax, details Communist China’s threat to the U.S. Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post, agrees that “China's political system is odious, and its arms buildup is menacing,” but maddeningly refuses to consider either point while he defends the Communists’ trade record. Worse still is Azam S. Ahmed (UPI via Washington Times) whose supposed column on Communist China and Taiwan becomes a platform for long-time “engagement” flack Ken Lieberthal. For a more realistic assessment, check out Brad Carson’s Epoch Times report on the comments of Ethan Guttman – author of Losing the New China – and others at the Pasadena forum on the Nine Commentaries.
More on the Nine Commentaries: Xin Fei, Epoch Times, interviewed Li Hongkuan, publisher of the anti-Communist VIP Reference, about the effect of the Nine Commentaries and the over two million withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party.
On the Falun Gong War: Peter Valk is a Dutch national, Falun Gong pracititioner, and for two days was a prisoner of Communist China. He tells his story to the Epoch Times.
On “China’s Spring Chill”: That was the (well-deserved) title Time Asia gave Hannah Beech’s column on the arrests of Ching Cheong and Zhao Yan.
On the danger of investing in Communist China: Lin Dan, Xie Zongyan and Chen Xiuwen (New Tang Dynasty Television via Epoch Times) talked to economist-turned-dissident He Qinglian about the Communist-imposed pitfalls for outside investors. Matthew Forney, Time Asia, examines the mass counterfeiting in Communist China, and the cadres unwillingness to do anything about it.
Rice gently criticizes Defense “official” about Security Council action on SNK: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded to a “senior defense official” who told the Washington Post that “a decision on referring (Stalinist North Korea) to the United Nations would be made within weeks” thusly: “idea that within weeks we are going to decide one way or another is a little forward-leaning.” Given Communist China’s veto power on the Security Council, the UN idea isn’t worth very much anyway.
Tiananmen Square remembered by anti-Communists and justified by cadres: Hong Kong (BBC, Washington Post) and Washington, D.C. (Epoch Times) held gatherings to remember the brave souls who died for freedom on June 4, 1989. Meanwhile, in the face of an official U.S. request for “a reexamination of Tiananmen” (Cybercast News), Communist China insisted the bloody massacre was the right thing to do, and for good measure, “accused Washington of interfering in another country's internal affairs” (BBC).
Rumsfeld questions Communist military buildup and calls for open government: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld publicly questioned Communist China’s continuing military buildup, and pointedly challenged the cadres regarding its menacing position on Taiwan: “If everyone agrees the question of Taiwan is going to be settled in a peaceful way, why this increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan?” (Cybercast News). Rumsfeld went further, calling on the regime to “embrace some form of open, representative government” (BBC). He also noted that the Communist military budget is the third largest in the world, behind the U.S. and Russia. The one sour note came during Q&A, when he told a cadre that “that the U.S. did not feel threatened by China's rise.”
HK Legislators pressure regime on Ching Cheong: Members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council called for the Communist-appointed city regime “to do all it can to help a Hong Kong reporter detained in mainland China and accused of spying” (Voice of America). Said reporter, Ching Cheong, is currently in jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) – in this case a manuscript of interviews with Zhao Ziyang, the late Communist leader who became a prisoner for his opposition to the Tiananmen massacre.
Dissident released after ten years in prison: Chen Youcai was jailed for forming an opposition party in Guizhou (Central News Agency, Taiwan via Epoch Times).
Power shortages continue in Zhejiang; LNG supply may be affected: Cadres in Zhejiang province are putting together “contingency measures” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times, third item) to combat “the most-severe power shortages in its history.” Several Communist provinces have suffered power shortages in recent years. As a result, the bountiful supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Communist China could vanish quickly (same UPI link, fourth item).
U.S. and Communist China hold talks on textiles: Negotiators from the United States and Communist China are in talks “to try to solve a damaging row over textiles” (BBC). The talks take place amid U.S. restrictions Communist textile exports that have surged recently due to currency devaluation and wage suppression (second item, fifth item).
Ugly Communist exhibit in San Fransisco; support for quitting cadres in San Diego: The Masonic Center in San Francisco (Full disclosure: yours truly is a direct descendant of the founder of the Antimasonic Party of Western New York) hosted an exhibit of 21 corpses sponsored by Communist China. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Communists were less than honest about the source of the bodies for the sickening “World under the Skin” display – and the Masonic hosts “were not allowed to talk about where the corpses came from” (Epoch Times). Contrast this to a public gathering in San Diego to “support for 2 million Chinese who have taken a step towards freedom by publicly withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party” (Epoch Times).
Buy this book now (well after Dragon in the Dark)! Donald Morrison, Time Asia, reviews Mao: The Unknown Story: “Just so you know where they stand, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday declare in the very first sentence of their impeccably detailed biography of Mao Zedong that he ‘was responsible for well over 70 million deaths in peacetime, more than any other 20th-century leader.’ And that's one of the more positive things they have to say about the man” What else do you need to know about the book?
On Communist China and the United States: Radio host Geoff Metcalf, in Newsmax, details Communist China’s threat to the U.S. Sebastian Mallaby, Washington Post, agrees that “China's political system is odious, and its arms buildup is menacing,” but maddeningly refuses to consider either point while he defends the Communists’ trade record. Worse still is Azam S. Ahmed (UPI via Washington Times) whose supposed column on Communist China and Taiwan becomes a platform for long-time “engagement” flack Ken Lieberthal. For a more realistic assessment, check out Brad Carson’s Epoch Times report on the comments of Ethan Guttman – author of Losing the New China – and others at the Pasadena forum on the Nine Commentaries.
More on the Nine Commentaries: Xin Fei, Epoch Times, interviewed Li Hongkuan, publisher of the anti-Communist VIP Reference, about the effect of the Nine Commentaries and the over two million withdrawals from the Chinese Communist Party.
On the Falun Gong War: Peter Valk is a Dutch national, Falun Gong pracititioner, and for two days was a prisoner of Communist China. He tells his story to the Epoch Times.
On “China’s Spring Chill”: That was the (well-deserved) title Time Asia gave Hannah Beech’s column on the arrests of Ching Cheong and Zhao Yan.
On the danger of investing in Communist China: Lin Dan, Xie Zongyan and Chen Xiuwen (New Tang Dynasty Television via Epoch Times) talked to economist-turned-dissident He Qinglian about the Communist-imposed pitfalls for outside investors. Matthew Forney, Time Asia, examines the mass counterfeiting in Communist China, and the cadres unwillingness to do anything about it.
Rice gently criticizes Defense “official” about Security Council action on SNK: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded to a “senior defense official” who told the Washington Post that “a decision on referring (Stalinist North Korea) to the United Nations would be made within weeks” thusly: “idea that within weeks we are going to decide one way or another is a little forward-leaning.” Given Communist China’s veto power on the Security Council, the UN idea isn’t worth very much anyway.
Friday, June 03, 2005
News of the Day (June 3)
Commemorations of the Tiananmen massacre are today (China Support Network).
Ching Cheong was eyeing manuscript claiming support for Tiananmen protestors: The Christian Science Monitor uncovered the real reason Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong is sitting in a Communist jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) – he was on the trail of “an unpublished manuscript titled Conversations with Zhao Ziyang Under House Arrest.” The work contained this bombshell: “the demand by students for greater openness and democracy was the same demand being made by wide swaths of mid-level and high-ranking party members in Beijing.” As the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre approaches; it can be easily seen by Hu Jintao et al didn’t want that getting out.
Zhao Yan case in prosecutor’s hands: Meanwhile, Communist China’s Foreign Ministry announced that the case of Zhao Yan – the reporter forced out of China Reform for his anti-corruption zeal (eighteenth item) and now in jail for, you guessed it, “leaking state secrets” while at the New York Times –Beijing prosecutors. Just yesterday, the cadres added fraud to the list of charges in order to keep him in jail without trail longer. Zhao’s attorney “said he had been unable to visit his client since he was arrested and has not been informed of what evidence the investigators have” (Washington Post).
Communist China still tight-lipped about epidemics: Amid reports that Communist China is trying to hide a foot-and-mouth outbreak outside Beijing (seventh item), the Epoch Times finds that the cadres are also trying to block news of a bird flu outbreak.
As Communist China rips U.S. textile quotas, India probes possible silk dumping: Communist China “attacked the US for imposing new restrictions on textile imports” (BBC) in response to a currency-devaluation/wage-suppression surge in Communist textile exports (second item, fifth item). Perhaps it was hoping to divert attention from the news that India “is charging 100 Chinese exporters with dumping products valued at US$180 million” (Epoch Times). The products in question were “silk and satin.”
Committee to Try Communists for Crimes against Humanity in the works: A number of unnamed activists are coming together to form an International Judicial Committee for Bringing the Chinese Communist Party to Trial (Epoch Times). This corner was asked to sign up as a supporter of the effort, and cheerfully did so.
Henry Kissinger remains his usual unhelpful self: In a speech largely focusing on energy, former Secretary of state Henry kissinger felt the need to rip those of us hoping an India-U.S. alliance can help keep Communist China in check: “India will be concerned with its own security and independence and should not be part of an American desire to counterbalance China” (Financial Times, UK, via MSN). Thanks, Henry.
On the Cultural Revolution: Edward Cody, Washington Post, details how a retired cadre is trying to reveal the truth about the Mao’s last bloody avdenture against his own people, and how the Party is subtlely trying to stop him.
Other Commentary on Communist China: Lev Navrozov of Newsmax – every bit the opposite of the aforementioned Mr. Kissinger – shifts his view to the Communist China’s trade relationship with the U.S., and is justifiably alarmed. Cameron Stewart, in the Australian, examines Communist China’s espionage activities in Australia.
Stalinist North Korea advancing in cyberwarfare: The ability of the Stalinist regime to disrupt American communications now includes “an elite hacking unit of 600 soldiers” (United Press International via Washington Times, second item) which is “now able to seriously interfere with U.S. military networks” on the Korean peninsula.
Rumsfeld to meet Japanese and South Korean counterparts: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “will meet with defense ministers from across the region” (Cybercast News) at an Asian security meeting. Rumsfeld will meet, among others Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno and South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung. Stalinist North Korea “is expected to take center stage” as a topic.
SNK demands apology from Cheney, praises Bush: The Stalinist regime continued to blast Vice President Dick Cheney for his criticism of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il (next to last item, last item), and is now saying “it will not return to the nuclear bargaining table unless the United States apologizes for disparaging remarks about its leader” (UPI via Washington Times). Oddly enough, SNK went on to give “a rare positive appraisal of US President George Bush, welcoming his use of the title ‘Mr.’ when referring to leader Kim Jong Il” (The Scotsman, UK), and said it may come back to the talks after all.
Bad column on SNK: Susan E. Rice, assistant secretary of state during the Clinton Administration, calls for “intense bilateral diplomacy” with the Stalinists to convince them to end their nuclear weapons program. While Rice’s Washington Post piece does include some sober realization of Communist China’s real interests on the subject, her “three options” for the U.S. do not include the only one that will work: liberation.
Ching Cheong was eyeing manuscript claiming support for Tiananmen protestors: The Christian Science Monitor uncovered the real reason Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong is sitting in a Communist jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) – he was on the trail of “an unpublished manuscript titled Conversations with Zhao Ziyang Under House Arrest.” The work contained this bombshell: “the demand by students for greater openness and democracy was the same demand being made by wide swaths of mid-level and high-ranking party members in Beijing.” As the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre approaches; it can be easily seen by Hu Jintao et al didn’t want that getting out.
Zhao Yan case in prosecutor’s hands: Meanwhile, Communist China’s Foreign Ministry announced that the case of Zhao Yan – the reporter forced out of China Reform for his anti-corruption zeal (eighteenth item) and now in jail for, you guessed it, “leaking state secrets” while at the New York Times –Beijing prosecutors. Just yesterday, the cadres added fraud to the list of charges in order to keep him in jail without trail longer. Zhao’s attorney “said he had been unable to visit his client since he was arrested and has not been informed of what evidence the investigators have” (Washington Post).
Communist China still tight-lipped about epidemics: Amid reports that Communist China is trying to hide a foot-and-mouth outbreak outside Beijing (seventh item), the Epoch Times finds that the cadres are also trying to block news of a bird flu outbreak.
As Communist China rips U.S. textile quotas, India probes possible silk dumping: Communist China “attacked the US for imposing new restrictions on textile imports” (BBC) in response to a currency-devaluation/wage-suppression surge in Communist textile exports (second item, fifth item). Perhaps it was hoping to divert attention from the news that India “is charging 100 Chinese exporters with dumping products valued at US$180 million” (Epoch Times). The products in question were “silk and satin.”
Committee to Try Communists for Crimes against Humanity in the works: A number of unnamed activists are coming together to form an International Judicial Committee for Bringing the Chinese Communist Party to Trial (Epoch Times). This corner was asked to sign up as a supporter of the effort, and cheerfully did so.
Henry Kissinger remains his usual unhelpful self: In a speech largely focusing on energy, former Secretary of state Henry kissinger felt the need to rip those of us hoping an India-U.S. alliance can help keep Communist China in check: “India will be concerned with its own security and independence and should not be part of an American desire to counterbalance China” (Financial Times, UK, via MSN). Thanks, Henry.
On the Cultural Revolution: Edward Cody, Washington Post, details how a retired cadre is trying to reveal the truth about the Mao’s last bloody avdenture against his own people, and how the Party is subtlely trying to stop him.
Other Commentary on Communist China: Lev Navrozov of Newsmax – every bit the opposite of the aforementioned Mr. Kissinger – shifts his view to the Communist China’s trade relationship with the U.S., and is justifiably alarmed. Cameron Stewart, in the Australian, examines Communist China’s espionage activities in Australia.
Stalinist North Korea advancing in cyberwarfare: The ability of the Stalinist regime to disrupt American communications now includes “an elite hacking unit of 600 soldiers” (United Press International via Washington Times, second item) which is “now able to seriously interfere with U.S. military networks” on the Korean peninsula.
Rumsfeld to meet Japanese and South Korean counterparts: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “will meet with defense ministers from across the region” (Cybercast News) at an Asian security meeting. Rumsfeld will meet, among others Japanese Defense Minister Yoshinori Ohno and South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung. Stalinist North Korea “is expected to take center stage” as a topic.
SNK demands apology from Cheney, praises Bush: The Stalinist regime continued to blast Vice President Dick Cheney for his criticism of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il (next to last item, last item), and is now saying “it will not return to the nuclear bargaining table unless the United States apologizes for disparaging remarks about its leader” (UPI via Washington Times). Oddly enough, SNK went on to give “a rare positive appraisal of US President George Bush, welcoming his use of the title ‘Mr.’ when referring to leader Kim Jong Il” (The Scotsman, UK), and said it may come back to the talks after all.
Bad column on SNK: Susan E. Rice, assistant secretary of state during the Clinton Administration, calls for “intense bilateral diplomacy” with the Stalinists to convince them to end their nuclear weapons program. While Rice’s Washington Post piece does include some sober realization of Communist China’s real interests on the subject, her “three options” for the U.S. do not include the only one that will work: liberation.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
News of the Day (June 2)
Commemorations of the Tiananmen massacre will be held around the world tomorrow, including in Washington, D.C., from 11:30 AM to 2PM (China Support Network).
Communists add fraud to trumped-up charges against New York Times staffer: Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher already in jail for the catch-all charge of “leaking state secrets,” now has “fraud” (Washington Post) charges against him, meaning “he can be held another seven months without trial.” Zhao came to the Times after his exposures of Party corruption led the cadres to force him to quit China Reform (eighteenth item).
Communist China ignoring resignations; Rumsfeld supports them: Communist China is actually claiming membership in the Party has increased over the last year (Epoch Times), a claim attacked almost immediately by internet users. Of course, the Party made no mention of the two million members who have left in response to the Nine Commentaries, including Yan Zhengxue, a “celebrated painter and director of the Yuanming Palace Atists’ Village Museum in Beijing” (Epoch Times). However, awareness of the mass exodus was spreading in both Canada (Epoch Times) and the U.S., where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld showed his support (Epoch Times).
Communist China gets another chunk of Canadian resources: The Communist-run oil firm Sinopec “took a 40% stake in a $4.5-billion Alberta oilsands project” (Edmonton Sun). The acquisition “comes after China National Offshore Oil Corp. bought a 17% stake in MEGEnergy Inc. of Calgary for $150 million in April” and as Communist-owned Minmetals is in talks to buy out Noranda – Canada’s third largest mining firm.
The Falun Gong War’s effect on children: Ming Hui Schools (via Epoch Times) reveals the harrowing plight of seventeen children orphaned by the Communist China, who killed their parents because they refused to renounce Falun Gong.
PSI blocked two SNK shipments: The Proliferation Security Initiative, an international coalition launched by the U.S. two years ago to stop the terrorist trade in weapons of mass destruction components (fourth item) has already stopped Stalinist North Korea – the PSI’s prime target – from “receiving materials used in making chemical weapons” (Yonhap via Korea Times) and “a material useful in its nuclear programs.” The virtually unknown PSI has become one of the few examples of Administration success on SNK.
SNK calls Dick Cheney a “bloodthirsty beast,” shut down MIA recovery operation: The Stalinist regime blasted Vice President Dick Cheney for his criticism of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il (next to last item), calling Chency a “cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast” (BBC). The regime also blasted a recent U.S. sale of F-117 stealth fighters to democratic South Korea, and accused Cheney of “little short of telling the DPRK [North Korea] not to come out for the talks” (if only that were true). Meanwhile, SNK also announced it would “totally dismantle” (CNN) its part of the effort to recover Americans missing in action from the Korean War. The U.S. suspended its efforts there due to the Stalinists’ restrictions on its activities, which made real progress impossible (last item).
Communists add fraud to trumped-up charges against New York Times staffer: Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher already in jail for the catch-all charge of “leaking state secrets,” now has “fraud” (Washington Post) charges against him, meaning “he can be held another seven months without trial.” Zhao came to the Times after his exposures of Party corruption led the cadres to force him to quit China Reform (eighteenth item).
Communist China ignoring resignations; Rumsfeld supports them: Communist China is actually claiming membership in the Party has increased over the last year (Epoch Times), a claim attacked almost immediately by internet users. Of course, the Party made no mention of the two million members who have left in response to the Nine Commentaries, including Yan Zhengxue, a “celebrated painter and director of the Yuanming Palace Atists’ Village Museum in Beijing” (Epoch Times). However, awareness of the mass exodus was spreading in both Canada (Epoch Times) and the U.S., where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld showed his support (Epoch Times).
Communist China gets another chunk of Canadian resources: The Communist-run oil firm Sinopec “took a 40% stake in a $4.5-billion Alberta oilsands project” (Edmonton Sun). The acquisition “comes after China National Offshore Oil Corp. bought a 17% stake in MEGEnergy Inc. of Calgary for $150 million in April” and as Communist-owned Minmetals is in talks to buy out Noranda – Canada’s third largest mining firm.
The Falun Gong War’s effect on children: Ming Hui Schools (via Epoch Times) reveals the harrowing plight of seventeen children orphaned by the Communist China, who killed their parents because they refused to renounce Falun Gong.
PSI blocked two SNK shipments: The Proliferation Security Initiative, an international coalition launched by the U.S. two years ago to stop the terrorist trade in weapons of mass destruction components (fourth item) has already stopped Stalinist North Korea – the PSI’s prime target – from “receiving materials used in making chemical weapons” (Yonhap via Korea Times) and “a material useful in its nuclear programs.” The virtually unknown PSI has become one of the few examples of Administration success on SNK.
SNK calls Dick Cheney a “bloodthirsty beast,” shut down MIA recovery operation: The Stalinist regime blasted Vice President Dick Cheney for his criticism of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il (next to last item), calling Chency a “cruel monster and bloodthirsty beast” (BBC). The regime also blasted a recent U.S. sale of F-117 stealth fighters to democratic South Korea, and accused Cheney of “little short of telling the DPRK [North Korea] not to come out for the talks” (if only that were true). Meanwhile, SNK also announced it would “totally dismantle” (CNN) its part of the effort to recover Americans missing in action from the Korean War. The U.S. suspended its efforts there due to the Stalinists’ restrictions on its activities, which made real progress impossible (last item).
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
News of the Day (June 1)
This Friday, commemorations of the Tiananmen massacre will take place throughout the world, including in Washington, D.C., from 11:30 AM to 2PM (China Support Network).
Muslim teacher arrested in East Turkestan: Ainishahan Mannaiqi, a teacher of Islam in occupied East Turkestan (called “Xinjiang” by the Communists ever since their 1949 invasion of the country), is now in jail for her teaching, and her husband was placed “under surveillance for practicing Islam, and he has since disappeared without a trace” (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). Communist China’s persecution of the East Turkestani people during the half-century-plus occupation has been beyond brutal. Additionally, Communist China has falsely smeared the East Turkestani people as supporters of Osama bin Laden – a charge exposed by several reports as complete bunk (second through fourth items, third item, second item, second item, and second item).
U.S. “concerned” over arrest of Ching Cheong: State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was “concerned about the reports” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times) of the arrest of Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong, who is in jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) in this case transcripts of interviews with Party leader-turned-Tiananmen massacre opponent-turned political prisoner Zhao Ziyang.
Hong Kong march commemorates Tiananmen: Fourteen hundred people joined a Hong Kong Alliance-sponsored march marking the upcoming anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators (Epoch Times).
Communist China to keep drilling for gas in disputed areas: Communist China “refused a Japanese request to suspend work on natural gas fields in a disputed portion of the East China Sea” (Washington Post, third item), after talks on competing claims in the sea collapsed (sixth item). The refusal comes amid the continuing fallout over the cadre-inspired anti-Japan riots and other territorial disputes (twenty-sixth item, third item).
Communist China tells U.S. and EU to back off on textiles: Using their lead propaganda newspaper, China Daily, the cadres “urged the U.S. and European Union to be more flexible in order to resolve an escalating dispute over Chinese textile exports” (Cybercast News). The Communists were referring specifically to U.S. tariffs on Communist textile exports (second item) and European threats of the same (fifth item) after the end of worldwide trade restrictions ended this past January (fifth item) led to massive increases in textile exports from Communist China. The damage done from Communist China’s combination of prison labor, a complete lack of independent unions, and a deliberately undervalued currency, is not limited to U.S. and European producers – several developing nations have been crowded out of the worldwide textile market.
Speaking of the Communist currency, Zhong Wen, Epoch Times, examines why the Communists are so determined to maintain its devalued currency level: to preserve the “false myth of ‘Chinese high economic growth.’”
Newsweek does it again: This time, the magazine that missed the Nine Commentaries (second item) discussed the state of affairs at the Communist-run CCTV. Reporter Sarah Schafer cites “provincial stations” as CCTV’s lead competition. Has no one there heard of New Tang Dynasty Televsion (sixth item, third item, eighth item, second item)?
CCP persecution – one victim’s tale: Wang Xiaohang talks to the Epoch Times about the Communists persecution of her father, and the painful impact on her childhood.
Stalinists try crude comedy against U.S. officials: Stalinist North Korea added
a new method to their propaganda – crude comedy. The regime has chosen to depict Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a hen and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a rooster. The ensuing attempt at a comic skit was panned by South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo as something “that more enlightened societies would consider manifestly sexist” (BBC).
Muslim teacher arrested in East Turkestan: Ainishahan Mannaiqi, a teacher of Islam in occupied East Turkestan (called “Xinjiang” by the Communists ever since their 1949 invasion of the country), is now in jail for her teaching, and her husband was placed “under surveillance for practicing Islam, and he has since disappeared without a trace” (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). Communist China’s persecution of the East Turkestani people during the half-century-plus occupation has been beyond brutal. Additionally, Communist China has falsely smeared the East Turkestani people as supporters of Osama bin Laden – a charge exposed by several reports as complete bunk (second through fourth items, third item, second item, second item, and second item).
U.S. “concerned” over arrest of Ching Cheong: State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was “concerned about the reports” (United Press Int’l via Washington Times) of the arrest of Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong, who is in jail for “obtaining state secrets” (second item) in this case transcripts of interviews with Party leader-turned-Tiananmen massacre opponent-turned political prisoner Zhao Ziyang.
Hong Kong march commemorates Tiananmen: Fourteen hundred people joined a Hong Kong Alliance-sponsored march marking the upcoming anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators (Epoch Times).
Communist China to keep drilling for gas in disputed areas: Communist China “refused a Japanese request to suspend work on natural gas fields in a disputed portion of the East China Sea” (Washington Post, third item), after talks on competing claims in the sea collapsed (sixth item). The refusal comes amid the continuing fallout over the cadre-inspired anti-Japan riots and other territorial disputes (twenty-sixth item, third item).
Communist China tells U.S. and EU to back off on textiles: Using their lead propaganda newspaper, China Daily, the cadres “urged the U.S. and European Union to be more flexible in order to resolve an escalating dispute over Chinese textile exports” (Cybercast News). The Communists were referring specifically to U.S. tariffs on Communist textile exports (second item) and European threats of the same (fifth item) after the end of worldwide trade restrictions ended this past January (fifth item) led to massive increases in textile exports from Communist China. The damage done from Communist China’s combination of prison labor, a complete lack of independent unions, and a deliberately undervalued currency, is not limited to U.S. and European producers – several developing nations have been crowded out of the worldwide textile market.
Speaking of the Communist currency, Zhong Wen, Epoch Times, examines why the Communists are so determined to maintain its devalued currency level: to preserve the “false myth of ‘Chinese high economic growth.’”
Newsweek does it again: This time, the magazine that missed the Nine Commentaries (second item) discussed the state of affairs at the Communist-run CCTV. Reporter Sarah Schafer cites “provincial stations” as CCTV’s lead competition. Has no one there heard of New Tang Dynasty Televsion (sixth item, third item, eighth item, second item)?
CCP persecution – one victim’s tale: Wang Xiaohang talks to the Epoch Times about the Communists persecution of her father, and the painful impact on her childhood.
Stalinists try crude comedy against U.S. officials: Stalinist North Korea added
a new method to their propaganda – crude comedy. The regime has chosen to depict Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a hen and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a rooster. The ensuing attempt at a comic skit was panned by South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo as something “that more enlightened societies would consider manifestly sexist” (BBC).
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