News of the Day (February 28)

Communist China’s power continues to grow: Communist China is using its rapid economic growth to project its power in Asia – much to the concern of the neighbors. Retiring Admiral Thomas Fargo (Washington Times) and Japan (Washington Post) and other Asian nations are getting increasingly worried. As Abdul Razak Baginda of the Malaysian Strategic Research Center put it, "We have to accept some degree of Chinese leadership, particularly in light of the lack of leadership elsewhere" (emphasis added).

Meanwhile, the Communists released report claiming that its economy was “about 100 years” (Taiwan’s Central News Agency via Epoch Times) behind that of the U.S. While this could be an attempt to play the put-upon nationalist card, or lull outsiders into a false sense of security, the fact that such an economy can still manage to close that gap with the U.S. on military matters is deeply troubling, but a critical indicator of how determined the Communists are to expand their geopolitical power no matter what the consequences.

Japan’s new support of Taiwan continues to make waves: Speaking of Japan, its “de facto alliance” (Time Asia) with the island democracy of Taiwan is still reverberating and leading many to believe Japan is looking to flex its muscles in Asia. Among those not pleased was ex-Congressman and Newsmax columnist John LeBoutillier: “Why is Japan suddenly butting into the Taiwanese affair?” Gee, John, perhaps because we asked them to do so? The Singapore Times was similarly nervous (via Washington Times).

“Anti-secession” law opposed by Taiwanese, ignored by Clinton: Supporters of formal independence for Taiwan “have launched a campaign to highlight public opposition to plans by China to introduce an anti-secession law” (BBC). Many in the island democracy “fear it could provide Beijing with the legal basis for an attack on the island.” Former President Bill Clinton, who visited elected President Chen Shui-bian, made no mention of the “law” as he preached avoiding “destructive patterns” (BBC) and publicly rebuked his hosts with his vocal support for the idiotic “one China” policy.

Then there’s Europe: Michael Elliot, Time Asia, examines the European Union’s plans to lift its arms embargo against Communist China, and wonders – what is Europe thinking? Nils Blythe, BBC, stumbles upon the answer while accompanying British Chancellor Gordon Brown, who completely missed “the ‘other’ China” where “600 million people . . . survive on less than about two dollars a day.”

Nine Commentaries spawn over 45,000 resignations from CCP: The Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party has led to 40,000 party members and over 5,000 Youth League members resigning in response. Report: Epoch Times

Communist China may move against baby gender detections: Communist China’s rubber-stamp parliament is planning “to make it a crime for doctors to detect an unborn baby's sex for nonmedical reasons, in a bid to combat the abortion of female fetuses” (Washington Post). No move was made against the primary culprit of the dangerous lack of girls in Communist China – namely, the cadres’ hideous “one child” policy.

Tung Chee-hwa rejoins “advisory body”: The leader of Hong Kong left the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – another rubber stamp motley crew of cadres when a Communist-appointed panel “elected” him to his post in 1997. Report: BBC

Falun Gong case against Jiang Zemin reaches Supreme Court: The suit practitioners filed against the former leader of Communist China and author of the brutal crackdown against that community of faith may be heard later this spring. Report: Epoch Times

News of the Day (February 25)

Huawei Technologies involved in Iraq cellular contract scandal: A scandal over the awarding of contracts regarding cellular phones in liberated Iraq is the focus of Charles R. Smith’s latest Newsmax column. The beneficiaries from a nefarious network that includes Saddam Hussein henchman Nadhmi Auchi and would-be Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafferi include Huawei Technologies, the Communist Chinese firm that integrated Saddam’s air defenses in 2001 (American-Related News). Huawei is now “a principle supplier of Iraqi communications hardware for the current cellular contract.”

EU Trade Commissioner warns of Communist Chinese “flood” of textiles: Peter Mandelson, the European Union Trade Commissioner, asked Communist China to impose more restrictions on its textile imports to assuage “increasing alarm over a surge in Chinese clothing exports since global textile quotas expired at the end of last year” (Guardian, UK). Mandelson also noted that such a move would “will allow us to feel confident” about the plans to end the EU’s arms embargo against Communist China.

Visiting cadre hit with lawsuit for Falun Gong persecution: Guo Chuanjie, a leading cadre at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was served with a lawsuit while visiting New York for his role as second-in-command of the CAS “610 office” – the department that handles persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Upon receiving the summons, “Guo threw the papers on the park bench and said he would call the police” (Epoch Times). You’re in the wrong country for that, Guo.

Communist China wants more flights to Taiwan: Fresh off the Lunar New Year experiment, Communist China “has encouraged Taiwan to consider more direct flights between the two countries.” Have the Communists noticed that the BBC just labeled the island democracy and the Communist regime as “two countries?” That could get ugly.

Dovish South Korean President speaks on Stalinist nuclear boast: For the first time since Stalinist North Korea boasted to having nuclear weapons, dovish South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun addressed the issue, saying, “We will be flexible, but won't lose our principled stance” (BBC). Just what that “principled stance” is was left undefined. Roh has previously served as an apologist for Kim Jong-il – saying the Stalinist was , all evidence to the contrary, genuinely interested in reform (Other Republic of Korea (“South” Korea) News) and later having the audacity to claim Kim’s fake evidence of dead Japanese abductees “could have been an honest mistake” (International News).

News of the Day (February 24)

Practitioners rail against Communist cell phone hate campaign: Falun Gong practitioners met at the New York Press club to note and condemn the Communist crackdown against their faith, which has expanded to include “the wave of hundreds of calls” (Epoch Times) aimed at cell phones of practitioners abroad (seventh item).

Zhao Ziyang’s children defend him: Their father refused to support the Tiananmen Square massacre, and for that he was deposed as Communist General Secretary and put under house arrest for fifteen and a half years, until the day he died. His children stand by his decision in a letter published by China E-weekly and reprinted by the Epoch Times.

Real estate in Communist China very profitable, because it’s corrupt: The Epoch Times noted a Gong Ming Magazine survey which listed real estate as the most profitable industry in Communist China. The paper noted these reasons: “the Chinese government has a land monopoly that it manipulates to benefit the wealthy few within the real estate industry at a heavy cost to the rest of the nation’s people”; “real estate industry took a huge amount of land from farmers with little to no compensation”; and “tax evasion.”

Bill Clinton to meet Chen Shui-bian: Former President Bill Clinton, arguably the friendliest president to Communist China, will meet with Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian next week. Communist China is already registering its disapproval (Newsmax).

Chen meets with James Soong: Chen’s meeting with one of the leading opposition figures led to “a joint declaration saying Taiwan would not rule out any kind of relationship with Beijing if China's leadership expressed goodwill” (BBC). That was vague enough to please Soong, who opposes formal Taiwan independence and is leader of the “pan-blue” People First Party. If Chen can manage to split Soong from his Nationalist Party allies, it could give him a majority in the elected Taiwanese legislature.

What is the Chinese Communist Party? That is the question Li Shun – whose father was a victim of the Cultural Revolution – asks in the Epoch Times. The answer Li came to was: “inhumane and immoral.”

Eric Pfeiffer responds

In a response to a different post on Pfeiffer’s “Beltway Buzz” blog, I noted my disapproval of his Beijing Review column (seventh item). He sent this response:

“I hear you on the Beijing Review. It's a conundrum for me. On one hand, it's not a good feeling writing for fascists. On the other hand, it was the first time they were seeking input from a western, conservative writer, so I hoped to do more good than damage. Needless to say, now that I'm with NR, won't be doing it again.”

Well, we all make mistakes (yours truly backed NTR and its precursor, MFN, with Communist China until 1998!). He also said he’d check out our humble piece of the blogosphere. What was that Bogart line about the beginning of a friendship?

News of the Day (February 23)

Europe still snubbing U.S. (and Japan) on Communist China: The Washington Times took note of President Bush’s opposition to the European Union plans to lift its arms embargo on Communist China (see also second item), but also reported Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura supporting the President. Machimura, “in a recent telephone conversation with Javier Solana, secretary-general of the Council of the European Union . . . said lifting the arms ban ‘would seriously affect the security of not only Japan, but also other countries in the East Asian region.’” Such comments are why many, including this quarter and Tom Donnelly of The Daily Standard (Weekly Standard online), are seeing a far stronger friend to the U.S. in Tokyo than in ant European capital. Of course, there was a time when Europe, Britain in particular, was forced to see the Communists for who they really were, as Mike Strobel of the Toronto Sun noted.

Communist Chinese port in Pakistan soon to open, India and U.S. are worried: Pakistan is weeks away from opening a deep-sea port in Gwadar, “near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and some 250 miles from the Strait of Hormuz” (Cybercast News), built largely with funds from its ally – Communist China. The port “will give China a crucial economic and strategic foothold in the Arabian Sea” and as such “has set off alarm bells in the U.S., where China's military buildup is warily watched; and in India, a major Asian rival to China and a longstanding foe of Pakistan.”

Communist China to join fight against money laundering (try not to laugh): Of course, the Communists will mainly focus on “domestic corruption and economic crimes” (Epoch Times), not “international efforts to prevent terrorist organizations from amassing funds” – e.g., al Qaeda, which Communist China helped launder money.

Liaoning Vice Governor bounced over mining disaster: A mining explosion that killed 214 workers has led panicked Communists to suspend Liaoning Vice Governor Liu Guoqiang. Liu “was in overall control of industrial safety in Fuxin” (BBC), where the explosion took place. However, as noted yesterday (fifth item), the miners are facing bigger problems that the Communists have no intention of fixing.

Zhao mourner sues Communists over subsequent imprisonment: Lin Mu former aid to reformist General Secretary Hu Yaobang (forced out in 1987, died in 1989) and spokesman for the Funeral Arrangement Committee for Mr. Zhao Ziyang is suing the Xi'an City Public Security Bureau for imprisoning him for 15 days after he “participated in the activities commemorating Zhao Ziyang, on January 17, 2005” (Epoch Times).

Justice Department investigating Anti-Falun Gong hotel: “During an October 2002 visit to Houston by Chinese president Jiang Zemin, 72 Falun Gong practitioners were denied accommodations in the Homestead hotel next door to where Jiang was staying” (Epoch Times). That earned Homestead a Justice Department probe into its practices.

National Review’s Beijing Blogger: This hurts, because I’m apparently one of the few anti-Communists who still holds National Review in high regard (despite their support for PNTR), but National Review Online has added a “Beltway Buzz” blog written by Eric Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer also writes on occasion for the Communist-run Beijing Review, and if this column is any indication, this was a disastrous move by NRO.

The State of the Workers in the Workers’ State: The Epoch Times recounts the tale of the Zhao Zhi and his wife Guo Xiuying, who were forcibly moved in Tianjin. Guo – who had her electrocardiogram and intravenous unit disconnected – did not survive the ordeal.

Woe Canada! John Crosbie, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and current Toronto Sun columnist, rips Prime Minister Paul Martin for his pathetic visit to Communist China (sixth and seventh items) and has high praise for opposition MP Jason Kenney, who visited Zhao Ziyang’s home to pay his respects.

On the North Korean refugees: Claudia Rosette, Wall Street Journal, rips the United Nations Human Rights Commission for turning its back on the hundreds of thousands fleeing Stalinist North Korea and forced to live as nonpersons in Communist China, which sends back any refugee it finds despite the near-certain death that awaits in SNK.

Speaking of Stalinist North Korea, the U.S. is more than willing to restart the six-party talks in its nuclear weapons program, despite the fact that they have led to no movement by the Stalinists themselves. Reports: CNN, BBC

News of the Day (February 22)

Due to the four-day weekend, this one is rather long.

Japan joins U.S. on Taiwan: As reported of Friday (second item), the United States and Japan jointly included Taiwan as a “common strategic objective” (Time Asia). It is the first time the U.S.-Japan alliance has produced any statement on Taiwan, and was warmly received by the island democracy (Cybercast News). Communist China, of course, was livid (Voice of America via Epoch Times), in part because the joint statement also called on the Communists to be more transparent about their current military buildup. They were joined in criticizing the move by Niels de Groot in a bizarre Newsmax column. James Hackett, Washington Times, is much more clear-headed in his analysis.

Chirac and Gordon Brown continue European idiocy on Communist China: While Japan was coming to grips with the Communist threat, Europe continued to stick its collective head in the sand. French President Jacques Chirac flatly told President Bush that the European Union arms embargo on Communist China is “no longer justified” (BBC). That was vehemently challenged by Frank Gaffney, Jr., of the Center for Security Policy (Washington Times) and Daniel Blumenthal and Thomas Donnelly of the American Enterprise Institute (Washington Post). Also reporting: VOA via Epoch Times

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) revealed his ignorance on Communist China with this line: “While others may wish to see China and globalization as a threat, I see the rise of China and the new stage of globalization not as a threat but as an opportunity” (BBC). As part of this “opportunity,” Brown vowed to “do everything possible to secure a tie-up between MG Rover and China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp” (BBC), a merger which will effectively turn the British carmaker into a subsidiary of Communist China.

Cadres’ Reaction against Nine Commentaries Goes Overseas: In their desperate attempt to stem the continuing strength of the Epoch Times’ Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist regime have harassed and threatened exiles in the U.S. – and their families back home – in a crude and clumsy attempt to silence them.

The Falun Gong War: Qin Yue interviews Dai Xuewu, a Shanghai-based anti-Communist who spent three years in prison and “met many Falun Gong practitioners and witnessed the physical and mental torture of the practitioners at the hands of the police.” Meanwhile, Li Xiuping gives a painful account of a young girl whose father was killed by the Communists when she was fifteen months old, “because he refused to renounce his belief in Falun Gong.” Both links come from the Epoch Times.

Unsafe mines likely to continue without independent unions: Austin Ramzy, Time Asia, probes the underlying reasons for the continuing slew of mining accidents in Communist China, and finds the following: the ban on independent labor unions “leaving miners with few outlets to press for reforms,” and – get this – “mine owners who do double-duty as government-workplace safety inspectors.”

Communist economy slows down, but corruption heats up: Communist China saw a fall in producer price inflation to 5.8%, which the regime took as a sign its “campaign to rein in economic growth by limiting investment is gradually working.” Not so successful is its battle against corruption, which is now so widespread among cadres taking pilfered funds to casinos “that bilingual wags began calling them ‘ganbu-lers’ a pun on the Chinese word for party cadre.” Both links came from the Washington Post.

Three Gorges firm scores huge profit; ecology in Communist China deteriorates: The Communist-owned firm that built the ecological disastrous Three Gorges Dam “said its profits more than doubled in 2004” (BBC) due to “power shortages (that) have hit cities and provinces across the country.” That shortage comes from overdevelopment no free market would tolerate, and that has led to terrible consequence for the environment in Communist China – including the drying up of grassland and the pollution of myriad rivers (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times).

Amid falling population, HK cadre calls for more children: The BBC has already dubbed it the “three child policy”: Hong Kong Chief Secretary Donald Tsang called for all families to have at least three children “to try to stem the territory's falling birth rate.” Making the issue more troubling for the cadres in HK is the fact that a sluggish economy has led to a fall in migration to the city from the mainland (Time Asia).

Can CAFTA counter the threat from Communist China? That’s the theory Naotaka Matsukata tries to advance in the Washington Post. Although Matsukata focuses on economic rather than geopolitical issues, it still makes for interesting reading.

Some bad advice on Communist China and Stalinist North Korea: The Age (Australia), calls on the U.S. to “learn a little from the quieter diplomacy of the Chinese” (via Washington Times). Meanwhile, Duncan Currie, Weekly Standard, sees the potential for the collapse of the Stalinist regime, but only by convincing Communist China to abandon sending back any SNK refugee it finds.

SNK and Iran cooperating on missile tests: According to an unnamed U.S. official cited by Time Asia, the mullahcracy of Iran “is giving North Korea telemetry and other data from its missile tests” and “North Korea is using the data to make improvements in its own missile systems.” In other words, the Stalinists are using Iran to get around their much-ballyhooed ban on missile testing.

Stalinist North Korea could have as many as 15 nuclear weapons: The myriad estimates on the exact number of nuclear weapons possessed by the Kim Jong-il regime had a new “high end” (Newsday): 15, according to an unnamed Defense Intelligence Agency source. The Stalinists boasted having nuclear weapons a week and a half ago.

Stalinists now say talks back on if U.S. would “move”: Stalinist North Korea told visiting Communist Chinese envoy Wang Jiarui “that talks could resume if the United States ‘would show trustworthy sincerity and move (its stance)’” (CNN). The Stalinists were responding to a supposed ultimatum from their Communist allies to return to the talks. SNK asserted it had “never opposed the six-party talks but made every possible effort for their success” (BBC). That’s news to rest of the world. Lest anyone give the Communists too much credit, it should be noted that three previous rounds of talks have led only to U.S. concessions. The Stalinists also reversed course on bilateral talks with the U.S. – now they oppose them (BBC). Also reporting: Cybercast News

SNK claims Japan wants to invade Korea: Meanwhile, the Stalinist regime fired some rhetorical shots at the U.S. and Japan, which jointly called for it to return to the talks (BBC, VOA via Epoch Times). SNK accused Japan of having ‘joined with the United States’ ‘vicious hostile policy’ toward North Korea” (CNN). The regime went so far as to drop the “co-prosperity sphere” label – the term used by Japan as a cover for their brutal reign over Korea and parts of China before and during World War II.

More commentary on Stalinist North Korea: David H. Hackworth, World Net Daily, calls for a larger military force to enable the U.S. to deal properly with the Stalinist threat. CNN, meanwhile, seems more worried about Japan’s future weapons than SNK’s present one. Glenn Kessler (Washington Post via MSNBC) notes how the Stalinists use a fine-toothed comb on American policymakers’ statements. Donald McIntyre (Time Asia) examines the recent twists and turns in the selection of Kim Jong-il’s successor.

News of the Day (February 18)

Anti-“one China” resolution introduced in House: Representative Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican has introduced a resolution in the House “calling for the Bush administration to scrap its ‘one China’ policy and resume full, formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan” (World Net Daily). Tancredo ripped the “one China” policy – in which the U.S. has diplomatic relations with Communist China but not Taiwan – as “intellectually dishonest and antiquated.” Four fellow Congressman – Republicans Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida), Mark Souder (Indiana) and John Shimkus (Illinois), and Democrat Edolphus Towns (New York) joined Tancredo in sponsoring the resolution (Cybercast News).

Japan and U.S. to join forces on Taiwan: For the first time, Japan will join the U.S. in calling Taiwan “a mutual security concern” (Washington Post via MSNBC), or as the joint document will call it, a “common strategic objective.” The move will officially come in Washington tomorrow when Japan’s Foreign and Defense Ministers meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Japan is also ready to “take a greater role in conjunction with U.S. forces both in Asia and beyond.” The island democracy was thrilled to hear the news. Also reporting: BBC

Officials react to Goss on Communist China: CIA Director Porter Goss’s dramatic shift in how the Agency views Communist China caught the attention of Bill Gertz (Washington Times) and was echoed by Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also noted Communist China’s military buildup – particularly its Navy, although saying “we hope and pray” the Communists do not act in a hostile manner left yours truly very cold.

Amnesty International blows hole in Communist PR move: Communist China “will soon release 56 political prisoners,” according to Amnesty International. While the human rights group was thankful for this gesture, it called on the Communists not to “play the game of detaining and releasing, thereby placing more dissidents and religious adherents into prisons, forced labor camps and mental hospitals” (AI via Epoch Times). The “game of detaining and releasing” is indeed a ploy commonly used by the Communists, who always ensure the releases get more attention than the detainments.

Other Commentary on Communist China: Newsmax’s Lev Navrozov takes note of the U.S. trade deficit with Communist China (a record $162 billion) and the lack of an American response to the Communist investment in nanotechnology for possible military use. Shi Shan, Epoch Times, rips to shreds a Communist “safety. The editors of the Washington Post ask President Bush to call Communist China’s bluff on Darfur.

Communist envoy to visit Stalinist North Korea: Communist envoy Wang Jiarui will visit Stalinist North Korea this weekend, apparently to “press the North to resume six-nation talks on the nuclear stand-off” (BBC). SNK pulled out of the talks – which have largely produced only American concessions – when it boasted it had nuclear weapons.

Kim Jong-il turns 63: The London Telegraph noted of the choreographed celebration.

News of the Day (February 17)

Our new hero – Porter Goss – brings sanity to the CIA’s view on Communist China: One of the most annoying things in Washington in recent years has been the soft touch on Communist China from the Central Intelligence Agency. Porter Goss has taken a lot of flak for his bare-knuckles approach to changing the Agency, but his first annual report on Communist China came out today, and here, the change is clearly for the better. Gone were foolish references to “engagement in areas of mutual interest” (Cybercast News) and “our shared fight against terrorism.” In its place was: “Improved Chinese capabilities threaten U.S. forces in the region . . . Beijing's military modernization and military buildup could tilt the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait.” Here’s to Director Goss!

PTNR repeal introduced in House: Representative Bernard Sanders, Vermont Socialist, has introduced legislation repealing Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Communist China. Sanders, a longtime opponent of PNTR, has roughly 45 Democratic and 17 Republican co-sponsors, and is looking for more. As yours truly begins the mammoth task of fixing the China e-Lobby House e-mail list, please find your Congressman’s web site and see if they are a co-sponsor (lists of co-sponsors are here and here). If they’re not on the list, ask them to sign on; if they are on the list, be sure to thank them. This may be an uphill battle, but the more support for the bill, the more publicity for the issue, and the more aware the American people become of the $160 billion trade deficit, which funds the Communist military twice over.

Communist China now largest consumer of numerous goods: Communist China “is now the world's largest consumer of grain, meat, coal and steel,” according to the Earth Policy Institute. One other ominous fact the BBC added involves stolen wood: “Chinese factories process one stolen Indonesian log every minute of every working day.” As a result, “Indonesia is now . . . losing a wooded area the size of Switzerland every year.”

Italian wine maker hands Communist China $58 million: The money comes from Illva Saronno, which is buying a stake in Changyu, a winery owned by “a government agency in the north-eastern city of Yantai” (BBC) – i.e., the cadres who run the city.

Goss on Stalinist North Korea: Goss was just as good on this subject, noting that the Stalinists are building the Taepodong II missile, which is “capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear-weapon-sized payload” (Cybercast News). Goss also warned about the regime’s “active chemical weapons and biological weapons programs” (CNN).

Viewpoints of the Stalinist regime: Jack Wheeler tells World Net Daily the U.S. should demand SNK prove it has nuclear weapons (he thinks it doesn’t really have them); Ivan Eland, of The Independent Institute, says the U.S. should give the regime what it wants (Newsmax); Frank Gaffney Jr., of the Center for Security Policy, includes a call for liberation in his Washington Times column.

News of the Day (February 16)

A throwaway line that must be challenged: Harlan Ullman, a Washington Times columnist, includes a throwaway line in his column about Osama bin Laden that notes his supposed calls for “the end of U.S. support in the oppression of Muslims by Russian, Chinese, Indian and other governments.” As the author of a book on Communist China and terrorism, yours truly would have quite a bit to say about bin Laden’s demand for an end to Communist China’s persecution of Muslims. There’s only one small problem: contrary to the conventional wisdom – encouraged in no small part by the Communists in their desperate attempt to tie any dissident of Muslim faith to bin Laden: Osama bin Laden has never criticized Communist China for its treatment of Muslims.

In the interests of full disclosure: I have a number of friends in the largest community of Communist-persecuted Muslims, known as the Uighurs. Many of them are in the East Turkestan government-in-exile. However, this is more important than my friendships. The more people believe Communist China’s lies about battling Islamic terrorism, the less they pay attention to the Communists’ ties to real Islamic terrorists – the mullahs in Iran, Saddam Hussein, Syria (International News), even the Taliban and al Qaeda itself. Thus, as we deal with the “front-line” threats such as bin Laden, Hussein, etc., it is imperative that we also deal with the Communist regime. That requires facing and learning the truth about the regime and its ties to terror. Ullman’s throwaway line obscures that truth, and thus it cannot go unchallenged.

FBI Counterspy head asks for Wall Street help against Communist spies: FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence David Szady made “a rare public appearance Thursday to ask American business to help stop the theft of U.S. business and technology secrets” (CNN). First and foremost on his mind was Communist China’s use of “students, delegations, researchers, visitors ... and false-front companies” for espionage. A fellow senior FBI official (who was not named) “was more blunt. ‘The Chinese are stealing us blind,’ he said. ‘The 10-year technological advantage we had is vanishing.’” Sdazy put the number of Communist front companies at “about 3,000.”

On the EU arms embargo: Helle Dale, Washington Times, notes the danger of the European Union’s plan to lift its arms embargo with Communist China, and includes a reminder of how the French government is more interested in “the Euro-Chinese strategic partnership” than its fifty-plus year American ally.

National Review Online on Stalinist North Korea: William F. Buckley’s column is terrible; Jonah Goldberg’s suggestion that Japan should become a nuclear power, while a defensible policy, doesn’t quite deal with the problem. Both are silent on liberation.

From the mouths of babes: An elementary school in Taesung, a South Korean town right at the demilitarized zone “in full view of impoverished North Koreans just meters away” (BBC), graduated two students. One of them, 13-year-old Kim Na-young, had this to say: “I never want to go to North Korea. I can see them farming with ox ploughing the fields. It looks very primitive.” Now if she can next be assigned this . . .

News of the Day (February 15)

The North Korea Conundrum: Yours truly concludes his Epoch Times series on Stalinist North Korea (here’s Part I, Part II, and Part III) with an explanation why the solution lies with not just an end to the Stalinist regime, but to its Communist Chinese ally as well.

U.S. insists Stalinist North Korea will get no concessions for talks restart: The United States repeated its insistence that the Kim Jong-il regime return to six-party talks on the latter’s nuclear weapons program without any new concessions. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher put it this way: “the North Koreans shouldn't be rewarded for causing difficulties in the reconvening of talks” (Fox News). This statement was made as Christopher Hill, currently ambassador to democratic South Korea, was named the new U.S. point man for future rounds (if there are any) of talks, which include South Korea, Japan, Russia, and Communist China (Cybercast News). Also reporting: CNN

As U.S. takes aim at SNK’s illicit money streams, South Korea goes dovish, again: The London Telegraph reported that the U.S. “has secretly agreed a package of measures aimed at severing North Korea's illicit funding from counterfeiting, drugs trafficking and missile sales in an attempt to halt the Stalinist regime's nuclear weapons programme.” The paper noted, citing unnamed U.S. officials, “While the measures are not seen primarily as a means to bring about regime change in North Korea, it might have that beneficial side-effect.” Boucher himself noted the U.S. plans, but without mention of the potential side-effect (Washington Times). Meanwhile, the dovish government of South Korea reverted to form, as Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon “said his country wants to intensify diplomacy with North Korea” (BBC).

Another call for North Korean liberation: Claudia Rosette, Wall Street Journal (subscription is usually required, please let me know if you have difficulty with this link), also includes in her column a plea for the refugees from SNK, and some well-deserved verbal slaps at Communist China and the toothless United Nations.

Parade’s Worst Dictators – Kim Jong-il, Number 2; Hu Jintao, Number 4: Parade magazine compiled a list of the ten worst dictators in the world (Daily Times, Pakistan). Omar al-Bashir of Sudan nudged out Kim Jong-il of North Korea for the top spot, but Communist Chinese leader Hu Jintao was as high as number 4 (the Burmese junta was ahead of him). While we can’t be sure what led to this unusually sober view of Hu (the story itself will be available on line next Monday), perhaps Parade caught wind of the Hanyuan County Massacre?

On the Falun Gong War: Attorney Guo Guoting writes to the Epoch Times about the plight his client, jailed practitioner Qu Yanlai, has suffered.

More on Zhao’s treatment by the Party: Lin Di, Radio Free Asia, spoke to Open Magazine (reprinted by the Epoch Times) about the Communists’ treatment of Zhao Ziyang – the party boss deposed for opposing the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Communist Central Bank issues warning about Shanghai real estate: Communist China’s central bank “warned financial institutions to pay attention to the possibility of risk shifting from the real estate market to banks” (Epoch Times). The central bank cited Shanghai in particular – of note because it was showered with goodies when its patron – Jiang Zemin – was running the show.

BBC TV goes to Communist China: BBC TV will be airing an episode of Question Time from Shanghai. Among the panelists will be Chris Patten, the last UK-appointed Hong Kong Governor who brought democracy to the city. The BBC is priding itself on this: “People in Shanghai, residents or visitors, will be able to apply to join the studio audience and to put forward any questions they like on the most important political issues in China today.” Sounds like the “breakthrough” host David Dimbleby says it is, except for one problem: the BBC website is blocked in Communist China. Oops!

News of the Day (February 14)

Happy Valentine’s Day: David Frum, National Review Online and American Enterprise Institute, offers this advice for Valentine’s Day: “if you want to do a good deed, give a thought to the many lonely people around you: the divorced, the widowed, the unlucky.” Yeong Ching Foo is neither divorced nor widowed, but the fiancée of U.S. citizen and jailed Falun Gong practitioner Charles Lee (Epoch Times) certainly meets Frum’s criteria. On this day, “give a thought” to this suffering couple. Meanwhile, Curry Kenworthy, China Support Network, has his own Valentine’s Day wishes.

The North Korea Conundrum, Part III: Although yours truly wrote this before Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear boast, its points are even more valid now (Epoch Times).

U.S. and Russia want Stalinist North Korea back at the talks: After the Kim Jong-il regime announced it had nuclear weapons and was out of the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program, the U.S. still focused on pushing the regime “to return to multi-party talks” (BBC), and rejected the Stalinists’ demand for bilateral talks (Epoch Times, Washington Times). Russia also ripped the Stalinists for the move (BBC), although that may be because it would really like to be in the room for any talks.

Communist China, South Korea, and UN are far less forceful: Communist China refused to publicly criticize its Stalinist ally, and left it to its Xinhua mouthpiece to announce its pledge to “push North Korea to return to six-party talks” (CNN). South Korea’s dovish government had high praise for the Communists’ weak statement (BBC), and followed it with a pledge not to take any action against the Stalinists (Cybercast News). This enraged the opposition Grand National Party, which has repeatedly called for a more sober policy toward the Stalinists. Then again, the folks supporting dovish President Roh Moo-hyun seem more interested in lampooning past anti-Communists (Washington Post) than worrying about Kim Jong-il.

Meanwhile, the United Nations envoy to the Korean Peninsula, Maurice Strong (Canadian members, call your offices!), uttered idiotic platitudes about how this could all be settled if the Stalinists’ “necessary security requirements are met, and some of the restrictions against their full participation in the international economy be lifted” (United Press International via Washington Times).

Reaction all over the map: The Stalinists’ boast to having nuclear weapons led to analyses from several angles. South Korea’s press was not happy (BBC), but offered little in terms of solutions (to be fair, they weren’t alone). The Washington Post editors were similarly lacking in decisiveness: “Maybe there is no way to neutralize this threat,” as was Time Asia’s Bill Powell. Jasper Becker, author of Rogue State: The Continuing Threat of North Korea, has a much better view of things in his Time Asia column, although his call for “persuading China, Russia and especially South Korea to help North Koreans end the worst tyranny of our time” is quite naïve about the Communists. James Hackett, whose call fro regime change says nothing about convincing Communist China of anything, is better still in the Washington Times.

Speaking of Communist China, William C. Triplett II, author of Rogue State: How a Nuclear North Korea Threatens America, has an excellent analysis of the Stalinists’ ally’s reaction to all of this in the Washington Times. Eric Baculinao, NBC via MSNBC, parrots the conventional wisdom (i.e., wrong) point of view.

Meanwhile, in case anyone wonders what Communist China meant when it said it treats refugee from SNK in a “most humanitarian” manner, check out this report from the Washington Times (last item): “As many as 70 North Korean defectors were executed in public last month after being forced back home from China.”

One sign of hope from SNK: Donald MacIntyre, Time Asia, finds hope in what he calls “entrepreneurialism in flower” in Stalinist North Korea – because the Stalinists have nothing to do with it (this makes the piece far batter than it initially appears).

FBI tracking 3,000 Communist front companies: Communist China’s espionage network in the U.S. is “staggering,” as Time Asia put it. The FBI is currently “keeping tabs on more than 3,000 companies in the U.S. suspected of collecting information for China” (Hmmm, where did I see that number before?). Naturally, Silicon Valley is “a hotbed of activity.” The counterintelligence effort is growing apace: “We have almost more assets than we can deal with,” said one FBI agent.

Communist China shut down over 12,500 internet cafes in three months: This number (12,575 to be exact) came directly from Communist China itself, which claimed “most of the net cafes were closed down because they were operating illegally” (BBC). In Communist China “operating illegally” usually means letting users access information the Communists don’t want their own people to see.

Pro-Communist Parties link up in Hong Kong: The deliberately misnamed Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong “is to merge with the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance” (BBC), the party of elite Communist sympathizers, in order to “bolster the pro-China vote against a strong pro-democracy opposition.” The pro-democracy forces won 60% of the last free vote for the city’s Legislative Council, but Communist China only let half the seats be directly elected, and thus twisted the overwhelming majority of votes into a minority of seats.

Communist power companies defying order to shut down dams: After a lot of positive publicity about the Communists’ effort to shut down the construction of thirty dams for environmental concerns (sixth item), the truth is seeping out: the dam builders – guided by Tiananmen butcher Li Peng – aren’t listening (Epoch Times).

Falun Gong practitioners protest Associated Press story: Falun Gong practitioners continued a vigil that has lasted for days at the AP headquarters in New York (Epoch Times). The news agency ran a story on the “self-immolation protest” of January 2001 which ignored the mounting evidence that the event was a Communist hoax (sixth item).

Zhao Ziyang’s Daughter Speaks: Wang Yannan, daughter of Zhao Ziyang, spoke to the Voice of America (via Epoch Times) about the life her father lived while in house arrest for fifteen years for his refusal to support the Tiananmen crackdown of 1989. According to his daughter, the deposed party chief refused to accept many visitors for fear the meeting “that visiting him would negatively affect their futures,” enjoyed listening to VOA, and never regretted his decision to “to be responsible to history.”

Stratfor predicts Communist China decline, Japan rise: The intelligence consulting firm Stratfor “released a 10-year geopolitical forecast” (Cybercast News) which predicted Communist China would suffer major capital flight and “‘social upheavals’ because of the gulf between rich and poor.” This will lead to Japan becoming “the principal Asian power” and Taiwan growing closer to it. Let’s hope Stratfor is right!

On Communist China and the democratic world: Dr. Frank Tian Xie, a professor at Drexel University, reveals why the Communist must lie and kill to preserve power and predicts a dire future for the Party at a Nine Commentaries seminar (Epoch Times).

On Australia and Communist China: David Broder, Washington Post, finds Australia worried about a “flare-up of tension between the United States and China,” the latter now a major Australian trading partner. Broder says a conflict between Communist China and the U.S. and “would test the U.S.-Australian ties like nothing else in modern history.”

Analyst Mentions Liberation (sort of)

As yours truly was putting today’s blog entry together, S. T. Karnick, senior editor of the Heartland Institute, threw in his own two cents about Stalinist North Korea in National Review Online. His solution: “The U.S. must simultaneously assure Pyongyang that we have no intention whatever of bringing down their government but that if North Korea does not suspend development of nuclear weapons we will indeed bring down their government.” This quarter would prefer he stick to liberation as the advised policy rather than tie himself in knots, but it’s a start.

News of the Day (February 11)

World Reacts to Stalinist North Korea’s nuke boasts, demands for one-on-one talks: The world’s reaction to Stalinist North Korea’s boast of having nuclear weapons was disappointing. Communist China had its usual boilerplate about “the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” (CNN), without a single word of criticism against its Stalinist ally. Japan and South Korea all but begged SNK to return to the talks (BBC). U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the Stalinist boast “worrisome” (Voice of America via Epoch Times), but also said “he does not necessarily believe North Korea's claim.” South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo expressed outrage, though no solution.

Why the Stalinist made its statement now, which more confirmed suspicions than broke news (BBC) was a subject of debate. Sarah Buckley, BBC, saw distraction from the reports of Stalinist uranium sold to Libya as a possible motivation for the regime. Other analysts assumed the Stalinists are merely posturing for more concessions (Cybercast News). The Stalinists themselves demanded bilateral talks with the U.S. (MSNBC). The most intelligent analysis came from the Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler and Anthony Faiola (via MSNBC), noted the U.S. has made several concessions already, only to have them rejected by the Stalinist regime which “appears to be gambling that the United States and its allies will ultimately accept the idea of a nuclear North Korea.” For those keeping count: the number of references to liberation as a solution was exactly zero.

On SNK refugees: Jeremy Kirk, Washington Times, has a good piece on the plight of Stalinist refugees and the ungodly callousness of the dovish South Korean government.

Communist China faces coal shortage: Communist China appears headed for a major shortage in usable coal – there is plenty of coal, but no one can get to it because “foreign capital in energy-related enterprises . . . is now generally withdrawing” (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). The projected shortage is 100 million tons.

Almost half the fireworks in Communist China unsafe: The cadres admitted that “nearly half of the fireworks and firecrackers made in China fail to meet basic safety standards” (VOA via Epoch Times). This comes as no surprise to Jiangxi Province, where an elementary school that doubled as a fireworks factory (yes, you read that right – see Follow Up) exploded in 2001, killing at least sixty.

Exile’s books cast spotlight on Inner Mongolia: The plight of Inner Mongolia – either Communist China’s northernmost province or occupied territory, depending upon who’s talking – is not very well known. Yuan Hongbing, an Inner Mongolian native, is now in exile in Australia for his two books highlighting the Communist cruelty that “killed millions of Inner Mongolians” (Epoch Times): Wen Shang and Freedom at Sunset.

Lev Navrozov, Newsmax, repeats his endless – and necessary – warning about Communist China’s lead in the nanotechnology arms race.

News of the Day (February 10)

Stalinist North Korea boasts having nuclear weapons, says talks are off: Kim Jong-il’s regime issued a statement (reprinted by BBC) ripping the United States for “a new ideological stand-off aimed at a ‘regime change’” (if only it were true) The regime also announced “that it already has nuclear weapons – to protect itself from the United States” (Cybercast News), and that it would “stay away from talks on its nuclear programme for an ‘indefinite period’” (BBC). In response, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice still tried pushing for resumption of the talks (MSNBC), despite their past history of failure. Meanwhile, Representative Tom Lantos (D-California), recommended bringing in Communist China to use its “leverage” (Fox News) on its Stalinist ally (he obviously hasn’t read Part I of yours truly’s SNK series). Also reporting: World Net Daily, CNN

On the North Korea Conundrum: Speaking of yours truly’s four-part series on what should be done about Stalinist North Korea, Part II is in the Epoch Times today.

Japan 2, SNK 1: MSNBC has more on the match’s ramifications (last item).

Rice visits EU HQ to push arms embargo; hosts ignore her: Secretary Rice also discussed the European Union arms embargo with Communist China, telling the EU leadership in Brussels, “All that we can ask is that the European Union is aware of our concerns, understands them fully and takes them fully into consideration in any decision that is made” (Cybercast News). In response, EU top dog Jose Barroso basically told her to get lost: “the European Union is moving to lift the arms embargo.” The good news is that all 25 EU members must agree to the embargo being lifted, or it remains in place. The Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Sweden have rejected past efforts to lift the embargo. Also reporting: BBC, Bill Gertz, Washington Times

Legislators call for an end to PNTR: Three members of the House of Representatives – North Carolina Republican Walter Jones, Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio, and Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders – called for an end to permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Communist China. All three cited American job losses, although Sanders also noted the danger of “making China the economic superpower of the 21st century” (CNN).

Falun Gong “self-immolation” was Communist hoax: The Epoch Times includes in its column on the outrage a United Nations report “saying the alleged Tiananmen self-immolation incident was ‘staged by the government.’” Meanwhile, Newsmax has this report on the Communists’ anti-Falun Gong “Cold Calls” (see also seventh item).

On the Communist military-industrial complex: Softwar has an excellent primer on the holdings of Communist China’s military (courtesy Kevin Steel, Western Standard).

More Commentary on Communist China: Wang Zhen, Epoch Times, details the Chinese Communist Party’s hammerlock on its “government.” Meanwhile, exiled professor Cheng Xiaonong talks with the Epoch Times about the late Zhao Ziyang, and how Deng Xiaoping seized power from him to order the Tiananmen Square massacre.

News of the Day (February 9)

On the North Korea Conundrum: Yours truly has tried for three years to squeeze the answer to this question into one column: what should be done about Stalinist North Korea? Unfortunately, it took a series of four columns. Here’s the first (Epoch Times).

Hong Kong Legislative Candidate details persecution in Communist China: Alex Ho - nominated by Hong Kong’s Democratic Party for last year’s Legislative Council elections before the Communists sent him to jail on the false charge of soliciting prostitution (The Velvet Crackdown) - is back home. He adamantly denied the charge, and says the Communists forced him to sign a false confession (Epoch Times).

Exile author fears for his life: Chen Yuansen, an exile in Canada, spoke to the Epoch Times about what has happened to him since he wrote The Campaign to Incite Hatred in Fo-Huai Village. The book “depicts the massacre of two million landlords and analyzes the main reasons why the CCP launched the land reform, which were to destroy the countryside’s morals, to eliminate rural gentry to set up the communist regime, to plunder people’s properties to prepare for the Korean War and to recruit sufficient cannon fodder.” One can only imagine how the cadres reacted to this.

Horoscopes banned: Communist China has now added horoscopes to its ever expanding list of what is unacceptable to speak or print. Report: BBC

Survivors of Tiananmen Square massacre pay respects to Zhao Ziyang: This past weekend, six survivors of Tiananmen Square, “who had been under house arrest” (Epoch Times) before and during the funeral of Zhao Ziyang visited his family to pay their belated respects to the man who opposed the massacre.

Chinese Christian details torture by Communists: Liu Xianzhi, a member of the underground South China Church, spoke of how she was tortured into “into falsely testifying that the pastor of the South China Church, Gong Shengliang, ‘raped’ her” (World Net Daily). Over 8,000 South China Church followers are now in jail. Over 10 million Catholics, and 40-70 million Protestants, refuse to put the Chinese Communist Party between themselves and their God, and as such risk fates similar to Liu and Gong.

Rumsfeld to go to Communist China; Bolton rips cadres: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “agreed to visit China this year and the Pentagon is discussing the creation of a telephone hot line to the Chinese military” (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). Meanwhile, Undersecretary of State John Bolton, whose days at the Bush Administration may, sadly, be numbered (third item), blasted the Communists for having “ignored U.S. appeals to help halt Chinese companies from transferring arms to nations such as Iran, including proliferation activities by the China North Industries Corp.” For more on North Industries, a.k.a. Norinco, see here and here.

Japan 2, Stalinist North Korea 1: The World Cup qualifier had, understandably, quite a bit of baggage (both links from BBC).

News of the Day (February 8)

Yesterday’s blog entry had the wrong date (the 5th instead of the 7th); apologies to all.

Falun Gong lawsuit reaches Supreme Court: A lawsuit by Falun Gong practitioners against former top Communist Jiang Zemin for “torture, crimes against humanity, and genocide in connection with the persecution of Falun Gong he initiated in July 1999” (Epoch Times), has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, after being dismissed in lower courts. At the heart of the matter is this question: do the cadres have the legal right to call political torture and murder “official, legitimate functions of the state”?

Amid growing worries back home, MG Rover deal hits snag: British carmaker MG Rover’s plan to save itself by becoming part of the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation ran afoul of cadre regulators “annoyed by Rover's decision to talk publicly about the deal and the intense speculation which has ensued about what it will mean for Rover's future” (BBC). When MG Rover revealed the deal to the public (International News), it hoped its UK facilities would be saved by the Communist-owned auto firm. No such luck: “The Observer reported on Sunday that nearly half the workforce at Longbridge could be under threat if the deal goes ahead.” Nice job, fellows!

Hutchison Whampoa inks another “partnership”: Hutchison Whampoa, the firm that controls two Panama Canal container ports, almost bought out Global Crossing, and is run by pro-Communist tycoon Li Ka-shing, announced a new “partnership” with Skype Technologies to “promote internet telephone services in Hong Kong through their joint ‘HGC-Skype’ portal” (BBC). The Communist-backed rich get richer . . .

What Communism has done to China: Former Communist professor and current exiled dissident Yuan Hongbing lambastes the CCP for the damage it has done to his homeland during a Sydney (Australia) seminar on the Nine Commentaries (Epoch Times).

What Communism has done to Google: Zhang Tianliang, Epoch Times, laments the search engine’s willingness to submit to Communist demands for internet censorship.

News of the Day (February 5)

Communist China and Iraq: I doubt there is any issue out there more capable of splitting the membership (and the anti-Communist movement in general) like a ripe melon than the Iraq war. For that reason, I have held my tongue on Iraq, except to make note of the Communists’ ties to Saddam Hussein (here, here, and here). Well, my silence is now broken, thanks in part to the Epoch Times, which ran my column on how Iraq’s future is, in my opinion, tied to the Second Cold War (Communist China versus the U.S. – for the new visitors here). The China e-Lobby as an organization has not had, does not have, and will not have an official position on the Iraq war. Support for the American military operation in Iraq has never been and never will be an anti-Communist “litmus test” to this quarter. However, I did feel strongly enough about this to write the piece, and have it run. All I ask of my friends and allies who do not support that war is to read the column with an open mind. Now, we move on to the other news (which is plentiful).

Communist missiles aimed at Taiwan tops 700: Chen Shui-bian, elected President of Taiwan, announced last week that Communist China now has 706 missiles pointed at the island democracy. Yours truly took the opportunity to remind President Bush to “re-issue his 2001 pledge to defend Taiwan, and back it up with a greater military presence in East Asia. Anything less will be taken by the Communists as, at best, a delayed green light to conquer and destroy the island democracy” (China Support Network).

Keep a wary eye on Koizumi: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is suffering a decline in popularity, in part due to his refusal “to take a stronger stand against North Korea, despite the rogue state's nuclear ambitions and its refusal to discuss the fate of Japanese citizens abducted in the 1970s and '80s” (Time Asia). Analyst Takao Toshikawa says the beleaguered PM will probably try “another diplomatic surprise” to rescue himself: “this one may involve mending relations with China.” Uh oh.

The editors of the Washington Times notice the geopolitical ambitions behind Communist China’s forays into international trade: Better late than never, but somebody needs to brief London Mayor “Red Ken” Livingstone (BBC).

Communist China sets the tone on human rights? The much-maligned (and deservedly so) United Nations Human Rights Commission has placed Communist China on its agenda-setting subcommittee. The five member committee, called the Working Group on Situations, includes two of its abusive allies – Communist Cuba and Zimbabwe. At this point, words fail me. Report: Cybercast News

Communist China releases prisoner info: Speaking of the UNHRC, just as the Bush Administration “weighing whether to sponsor a resolution criticizing China's human rights record at a U.N. meeting next month” (Washington Post via MSNBC), the Communists suddenly handed over “a list of 51 political prisoners who have been granted sentence reductions or are being considered for early release.” While the list includes names of previously undisclosed prisoner, it should be noted that none on the list have actually been released early at present.

The Falun Gong War – death toll zooms up; phones get Communist propaganda: Meanwhile, Communist China continued its bloody and wide-ranging crackdown against Falun Gong, killing over 200 practitioners in just the last three months, and calling cell phones around the world (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S.) with pre-recorded hateful propaganda against the community of faith (both links from the Epoch Times).

Communist China’s poverty line “far below” global line: Communist China’s supposed success against domestic poverty suffers from more than mere phony statistics. According to the Asia Times (via Epoch Times), the cadre’s definition of poverty line income “is approximately one-thirteenth the standard set by the World Bank.”

On the State of the Workers in the Workers’ State: Dong Xin wanted a union for himself and his fellow Beijing cab drivers. What he got was the Communist-run sham “union,” which promptly fell in line with his cadre-owned taxi firm and crushed his vision for a real union. Report: Washington Post

On Zhao Ziyang: The Communists’ shabby treatment of the late party leader who defied his fellow cadres and opposed the Tiananmen Square massacre continues to reflect badly on the Chinese Communist Party. Yours truly called it the Tenth Commentary. Li Tu commented on how Zhao’s death spread the cause of anti-Communism around the world. Zhang Guanghua, Voice of America, spoke to some attendees at the Communist “funeral.” Chen Yizi, a former advisor to Zhao, relays his former boss’s comments on how the Party is “doomed to decaying and corruption.” Finally Guan Cha (nom de cyber) details the reaction of ordinary Chinese (linked columns from the Epoch Times).

“Intelligence, honesty, and CCP membership cannot occur together.” Zhang Tianliang, Epoch Times, says it all with this opening (which he admits he borrowed).

Bad advice on Stalinist North Korea: Brookings Institute Fellow Kongdan Oh (Time Asia) and University of Tokyo Professor Young C. Kim (Washington Times) naïvely believe talks with the Stalinists can be successful, past failures notwithstanding.

Stalinists rip Bush speech, but South Korea likes soft SNK words: President Bush’s State of the Union address, in particular his “absence of saber rattling” (United Press International via Washington Times) gave hope to the dovish South Korean government, which was “expecting a positive response from North Korea.” The Stalinists didn’t take long to disappoint: “Bush trumpeted that ‘fire of freedom will reach dark corners of the word . . . This is nothing but a plot to . . . rule it by imposing a freedom based on power” (BBC). The President’s lack of hostility in the State of the Union won nary a mention.

U.S. would send 690,000 troops to protect South Korea: According to a South Korean Defense Ministry White Paper: “About 690,000 U.S. troops along with 2,000 military aircraft and 160 warships would be mobilized to defend South Korea in the event of a war on the Korean peninsula” (Korea Times).

News of the Day (February 4)

Refugees from SNK on one side, Communists and South Korea doves on the other: The desperate people escaping northern Korea are getting caught in a terrible diplomatic pincer movement between Communist China and democratic South Korea’s dovish President Roh Moo-hyun (Cybercast News). Given that nearly everyone in East Asia recognizes that the refugee flow is both a symbol and accelerator of the Stalinist regime’s collapse, the Communists’ willingness to send back any refugee they find, forcing refugees lucky enough to reach Communist China to live as nonpersons, is no surprise.

What’s more shocking is the behavior of the Roh’s government, which has decided being nice to the Stalinist regime is more important than the well-being of their fellow Koreans. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young even went so far as to drop this stunner on Korean media: “It is not desirable for anyone to organize defections, intentionally bringing people out of North Korea.” Thankfully, the notion that it’s better to let the people of northern Korea starve to death under Kim Jong-il, earns the government, which added insult to injury by dropping the “enemy” label from SNK (BBC), repeated and well-earned blasts from South Korea’s opposition and several human rights groups.

Industrial Espionage in Detroit: Fuping Liu, accused of “being part of a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars worth of trade secrets from two Metro Detroit auto suppliers” (Detroit News) and sell them to a Communist Chinese firm (Chongqing Huafu Industry Company), was transferred from jail to a Detroit halfway house by a federal magistrate.

Engineer from Communist China can’t go home due to his beliefs: Gui Yubin, an engineer and graduate from Shanghai Jiaotong University, is stuck in South Korea with no job, wife, or family – all because the Communists are certain to arrest him if he comes home because he is a Falun Gong practitioner. He told his story to the Epoch Times.

Parade in California bans Falun Gong under Communist pressure: The organizer of the San Gabriel Valley Annual (Lunar) New Year Parade, bowing to pressure from Communist China, has told Falun Gong it cannot join the parade, saying the community of faith was too “controversial”. It was another example of the long arm of Communist repression reaching across the Pacific (the Epoch Times details several more).

On the Communist treatment of Zhao Ziyang: Yan Jiaqi “was one of Zhao’s advisors for China’s political reform” (Epoch Times) before Zhao was forced out as Party General Secretary and placed under house arrest for opposing the Tiananmen Square massacre. He notes that even Mao Zedong, author of the genocidal “Great Leap Forward” and the Cultural Revolution, had more concern for his internal opponents than Hu Jintao (ouch!), and predicts that the Chinese Communist Party is headed for deep trouble because of this.

Lenovo profits hit the wall: Profits for Lenovo grew only 1% for the October-December 2004 period, as revenue for the Communist-owned firm actually fell. The news comes as Lenovo’s bid to acquire IBM’s personal computer branch remains under scrutiny from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment (tell them to nix the deal). Report: BBC

News of the Day (February 3)

Willy Lam says “Zhao Ziyang fiasco” could hurt Hu Jintao the most: Willy Lam, formerly of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (resigned after they demoted him for being too independent-minded) and now with the Jamestown Foundation and CNN, has always been renowned for his sources within the Chinese Communist Party. Almost no one is better at gauging the factional scuffles within the party. In his Epoch Times column, he says the Party treatment of late Party boss, Tiananmen massacre opponent, and house detainee Zhao Ziyang was so cold and cruel it “could cost him the support of the CCP's liberal faction, which remains a force to be reckoned with despite its much-reduced political fortune.” Lam makes pointed reference to all of those “reform” noises Hu and Communist Premier Wen Jiabao made over the past two years, and how much the “Zhao Ziyang fiasco” undermined all of it. Lam also noted Hu’s “series of tough crackdowns on bourgeois-liberal intellectuals since last autumn” – although he skipped the Hanyuan County massacre – as another sign of the bloom coming of Hu’s rose.

More on Zhao and Hu: Jiao Gambia, Associate Professor at Peking University, for now (an anti-Communist paper he published was blacklisted and he has been de facto suspended) spoke to the Epoch Times about the Party, its treatment of Zhao, and its lack of concern for humanity. Exile Liu Binyan, who also talked with the Epoch Times, believes the shabby treatment of Zhao says more about Hu than many realize: “Hu Jintao is still clinging to Mao Zedong’s leg and wants to drag China back to the Era of Mao.”

American citizen Charles Lee begins third year in Communist jail: Charles Lee, naturalized American citizen and Falun Gong practitioner, began his third year in prison for his beliefs last month. Lee’s fiancée, Yeong-Ching Foo, led a rally by “Friends of Charles Lee” on Saturday in San Francisco calling for his release. California House Democrats Tom Lantos and Anna Eshoo also wrote to Communist Ambassador Yang Jiechi demanding Lee, who was “beaten minutes after his flight landed in southern China on January 22, 2003” (Epoch Times), be set free and allowed to return home.

Communist stock markets hit 21st Century low: Just days after this quarter took note of Communist China’s structurally weak stock markets (twelfth item) the Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes both hit new lows for the century. The Epoch Times analysis of the problem was, if anything, even more pessimistic than Time Asia’s: “Chinese economist Wu Jinglian attributes the bubble stock price and investors’ losses to the government’s taking money from the market. He believes that the market is specially designed to finance state-owned enterprises, creating intrinsic drawbacks in the system.”

On the EU arms embargo: William R. Hawkins, of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, rips the European Union nations hoping to lift the EU arms embargo against Communist China, and calls on the U.S. to adopt this response: “Any EU firm that contributes to China's military capability should be denied the right to bid on U.S. military contracts or have access to American technology” (Washington Times).

News of the Day (February 2)

EU plans to lift arms embargo are “the wrong signal”: That’s how Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice characterized the efforts by the UK, France, Germany, et al to end the EU arms embargo (second item, fifth item), which was imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre (BBC). She was joined in that criticism by Ellen Bork, Deputy Director of the Project for the New American Century, who was far more eloquent in her remarks to the American Enterprise Institute.

U.S. and Communist military hold “official policy dialogue”: The subjects at hand were “counterterrorism, regional security, and rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait” (Voice of America via Epoch Times). For the Communists, naturally, the last issue was most important. Yours truly doesn’t like talks between the two militaries at all, but if they must exist, we could have done a lot worse than “official policy dialogue.”

Congressmen ask State to stop delaying arms sale to Taiwan: Seven Members of Congress and one Delegate (from Guam) called upon the State Department to “deliver the necessary congressional notification” (Washington Post) to move forward the $18 billion arms sale to Taiwan first approved by the Bush Administration four years ago. To be fair, Taiwan’s Parliament has been unwilling to approve the deal lately, but additional, artificial roadblocks are hardly necessary.

Communist China worming itself into the new Yukos: The BBC is reporting that Communist bank lent Roseneft $6 billion to buy the firm that swallowed up Yukos. Meanwhile, Communist-owned China National Petroleum Company signed “a long-term oil supply deal” with Roseneft, and paid up front – you guessed it – $6 billion.

Pro-government MP says old regime sold missiles to Communist China: Hrihory Omelchenko, a member of Ukraine’s Parliament allied to incoming Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, accused the government of outgoing President Leonid Kuchma of selling six Ukranian nuclear-capable missiles to Communist China (Newsmax).

Friends of Falun Gong rips Associated Press for account of “self-immolation”: The international group of supporters of the persecuted community of faith cited the evidence that the entire event was staged by the Communists, who still claim five Falun Gong practitioners burned themselves in 2001 (one to death). Falun Gong has insisted none of the five were practitioners, and has presented evidence to back up the claim.

Communist Party’s grip on Chinese economy to increase: Anybody still foolish enough to think Communist China has a free-market economy should take note of this report from VOA via Epoch Times: “Chinese leaders recently emphasized strengthening the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to play a leading role on industrial and commercial enterprises on a large scale,” moving away from the supposed “private” enterprises – which were really controlled by former cadres, relatives of cadres, and friends of cadres – pushed by Hu’s predecessor, Jiang Zemin.

Canadian Prime Minister upbraided by MP who paid respects to Zhao: Canadian MP Jason Kenney (Conservative – Alberta) used Parliamentary Question Hour to demand why Prime Minister Paul Martin did not pay his respects to the late Zhao Ziyang – the former Chinese Communist Party leader deposed and placed under house arrest for over fifteen years because he refused to support the Tiananmen Square massacre. The beleaguered PM hit upon an odd response: accusing Kenney – who did visit Zhao’s home to pay his respects (sixth and seventh items) – of skipping a meeting with members of the rubber-stamp National People’s Congress “where he could have made his point” about human rights (Canadian Press). Why Kenney should be criticized for avoiding this waste of time with cadres certain to turn a deaf ear is a complete mystery to this quarter.

Kenney also struck a nerve by noting the possible role of “the narrow corporate interests of Canada Steamship Lines and (Martin’s) very close friends and business partners at Power Corp. (in Montreal)” in the PM’s geopolitical decision-making. Canada Steamship Lines is under control of the Martin’s sons. Kenney’s concerns were echoed (somewhat) by Edmonton Sun columnist Mindelle Jacobs – although she neglected to mention Zhao’s resistance to the Tiananmen Square massacre.

More On the late Zhao Ziyang: The death of Zhao Ziyang is still reverberating (the Epoch Times reprinted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s remarks from Saturday’s Washington memorial). The editors of the Washington Times conclude that the Communist reaction to Zhao’s death “means that Communist China remains a fundamentally flawed state destined to join its brethren on the ash heap of history,” an assessment seconded by dissident Zhang Lin (Epoch Times). Meanwhile, Epoch Times columnist Yang Tianshui had high praise for Zhao’s refusal to support the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Zhao himself blasted CCP before he died: Xiong Yuanjian, one of the leaders behind the American commemorations to Zhao, told the Epoch Times “that Zhao Ziyang, in an interview with a friend before he died, said that there is ‘no cure’ for the CCP.”

Three Gorges Corp chooses to pay fines rather than shut down: The enterprise building the Xiluodu dam and the power plants tied with the Three Gorges Dam “is refusing to obey a government order to stop construction of one of its giant dams” (BBC). Of course, the firm – which also built the disastrous Three Gorges Dam itself (Other Mainland News) – insists it is acting “in accordance with the law.”

U.S. says Stalinist North Korea gave uranium to Libya: This is actually eight months old, but it’s news to the Washington Post via MSNBC and the New York Times (BBC), and it’s still a compelling reason to liberate northern Korea, so we’ll say it again: the uranium hexafluoride Libya handed over the United States in 2003 likely came from Stalinist North Korea. Stanley Kurtz, National Review Online, presented this as evidence the liberation of Iraq was justified (on the assumption of Gadhafi could get his hands on this stuff, Saddam Hussein certainly could), not once, but twice.