| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JANUARY 3, 2001 TOP STORY: ROC ESTABLISHES �MINI-LINKS� WITH COMMUNIST CHINA WIDELY FLOUTED BAN ON TRAVEL AND TRADE WITH PRC PARTIALLY LIFTED A small boat left the island of Matsu yesterday, ending a 50-year ban on travel with Communist China. The ROC lifted the ban on trade, travel, and mail with and to Communist China for residents of Matsu and Kinmen (a.k.a. Quemoy). The ban is still in place on main island of Taiwan, according to the BBC. Link: BBC The People�s Republic of China gave the so-called �mini-links� little fanfare. CNN quoted one Communist policy analyst called the move by the ROC �utterly inadequate,� although the Communist newspaper it cited did call the event a �milestone.� Agence France Presse reported the links could be expanded by the end of the year. Links: CNN, AFP Within Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian is winning praise for the mini-links, which partially lifted a ban many got around through Hong Kong and Macao in the past. Taiwan�s Central News Agency reported that Chen had made �a virtue out of necessity,� and that the move shows a desire to ease cross-strait tensions. AFP reported the U.S. also praised the move. Links: CNA, AFP THE WAR AGAINST FALUN GONG: FOUR MEMBERS DIE; HUNDREDS MORE ARRESTED The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported, via the BBC, the death of four more Falun Gong practitioners. Families of Lou Aiqing and Xu Bingyuan took pictures of the beaten bodies, only to have their film confiscated. The Communists said they died of heart disease. Xia Shucai was also beaten to death. Su Qinghua died after falling from her sixth-floor apartment as police were arresting her. Link: BBC BBC also reported the arrests of dozens of Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen Square, presumably during the Communist New Year celebrations. Hundreds of Falun Gong followers took part in the protest, which was broken up by �severe beatings.� Meanwhile, police in Singapore arrested Falun Gong members for holding a demonstration in support of their fellow followers fighting the violent Communist crackdown. Link: BBC FOLLOW UP: �ONE CHILD� POLICY A MESS; BABY DROWNING OFFICIALS FACE TRIAL As the three officials who drowned a newborn in the city of Wuhan face trial, AFP analyzed the state of Communist China�s �one child� policy. What they found was not surprising, forced abortions, beatings, and arrests. Even the case of the baby drowning is typical, except for the Communists determination to punish them. A husband of one of the three officials said his wife was �following orders from the county leaders.� Link: AFP FOLLOW UP: HENAN GOVERNOR RESIGNS AFTER LUOYANG CHRISTMAS FIRE FUNERAL RESTRICTIONS FOR VICTIMS LEAD TO PROTEST IN CITY STREETS AFP reported that Li Keqiang, Governor of Henan province, resigned in reaction to the Luoyang Christmas nightclub fire that killed over 300. The building that burned down was one of the forty most dangerous in the province for three years. BBC reported that several hundred protesters marched on the city government to protest restrictions on paying respects to the dead. The city soon relented to avoid a public relations disaster. Links: AFP, BBC OTHER REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS ROC MILITARY SAYS COMMUNIST ATTACKED CAN BE THWARTED, BUT ONLY UNTIL 2005 A defense ministry report to the cabinet declared that Taiwan �can keep its military superiority up to the year 2005 because of a quality edge.� AFP made no mention of what might happen after 2005. The report did not that the Communists could launch a missile attack, completely paralyzing the ROC, and the threat of �China's 300 short-range ground-to-ground missiles, a fleet of 60 submarines and 50 Russian Sukhoi fighters.� Link: AFP OPPOSITION GIVES GUARDED PRAISE TO PRESIDENT CHEN�S NEW YEAR ADDRESS President Chen, in his New Year address, said that the issue of �one China� was �not a question under the Constitution of the Republic of China.� Those words won him praise from local opposition leaders such as Nationalist Taipei Mayor Ya Ming-jeou and New Party chief Hau Lung-pin. Link: CNA via BBC FRANCE AND UAE REPORTED TO HAVE AGREED ON PILOT EXCHANGE WITH TAIWAN In an extraordinary development, France and the United Arab Emirates have apparently agreed to a military pilot exchange program with Taiwan, the first in over 20 years, according to AFP. The exchange, first noted in Taiwan's Liberty Times, was slammed, as expected, by Communist China. Link: AFP HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS COMMUNISTS BAN DISSIDENT SPEECH ON THE INTERNET; SCREEN NEWS REPORTS Attempting to give their despicable practices legal cover, Communist China's legislature passed a law banning, in their words, "Using the Internet to . . . incite the overthrow of state power, topple the socialist system or incite the separation of the state and destroy national unity." As usual, the language applies to just about every form of dissent imaginable. Link: AFP Communist China also granted to web sites, sohu.com and sina.com, permission to transmit news to internet users in the PRC. However, Communist China is still maintaining control of the news its people sees. As AFP put it, �China's Ministry of News will allow SOHU.com and SINA.com to carry news items first screened by the government.� Link: AFP DISSIDENT CALLING FOR TIANANMEN REMEMBERANCE GETS FOUR YEARS IN JAIL Jiang Qisheng, a dissident activist arrested last year for an article that asked for people to remember the Tiananmen Square massacre, received a four-year jail sentence last week. BBC reports that Jiang was convicted of "attempting to subvert state power." His wife blasted the Communists for holding him well over a year before sentencing, and refusing to let her contact him. Link: BBC Wang Dan, an exiled dissident, also had harsh words for the Communists over Jiang�s sentence. Wang told AFP, via the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, that the sentences �is an indication of the deteriorating human rights situation in China,� and asked the international community not to �turn a deaf ear.� Link: AFP POLICEMEN GET THREE YEAR TERMS FOR BEATING CONFESSION OUT OF A STUDENT A rare shaft of light shone through the Communist judicial system today when two policemen received three years apiece in jail. They were convicted of beating a man into falsely confessing to solicitation of prostitution and forcing him to pay a fine. AFP reported the officers were prosecuted after the student was proven innocent. Link: AFP AFP reports Luoyang officials loosened restrictions on funerals, which ended the protests. The Vice-Mayor of Luoyang offered a rare apology for �loopholes and errors� by government officials �causing harm to victims and their families.� Link: AFP ZHONG GONG FOLLOWERS GIVEN FOUR YEARS IN JAIL FOR SUBVERSION Communist China continued its crackdown on the Zhong Gong spiritual sect by sending four followers to prison for "attempting to overthrow state political power," according to AFP. The four each received four-year sentences. Zhong Gong is similar to Falun Gong in several ways, including being victims of a massive Communist crackdown against "cults." Link: AFP PRC LEGISLATOR ADMITS ILLEGAL DETENTIONS AND FORCED CONFESSIONS Hou Zongbin, chairman of the Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs under the National People's Congress � the PRC's legislature � openly admitted forced confessions and illegal imprisonment "exist in many places." More surprisingly, AFP got the story from the Communist-run Xinhua news agency. Link: AFP MORE PROTESTS OF STATE-OWNED FIRMS FOR LACK OF COMPENSATION Two cities witnessed protests by laid-off workers in state-owned firms, according to AFP. The lack of promised unemployment compensation sparked the protests in Wuhan and Chongqing. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said the Wuhan protest lasted three days. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS TWO MAYORS ARRESTED IN $12 BILLION TAX EVASION SCANDAL The mayors of Chaoyang and Puning, cities in Guangdong province, are currently under arrest for their role in a plot to fraudulently obtain over $12 billion in tax rebates. The scandal immediately became the largest in the country, passing by over a billion the Xiamen smuggling ring in terms of tax revenue lost to the Communist government. Link: The Sun, via AFP COMMUNIST �RECLAMATION� MAY WIPE OUT LAKES Citing the Communist China Daily, AFP reported that the Communist policy of over-development might lead to the drying up of major lakes. Ma Fu, a Communist forestry official, said the reclamation of land is so rampant that Dongting Lake, the PRC�s second largest, may disappear in less than 300 years. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS PREPARE FOR �WAR� ON TRIADS, BLAME THEM FOR ALMOST EVERY DISSENTER AFP reported that the Communists are publicly announcing a �war� on triads, criminal organizations much like the American Mafia. The Communists are blaming the triads for corruption, and nearly form of dissent in the country, from Falun Gong to Tibet to the independence movement in Xingjiang/East Turkestan. Link: AFP COMMUNIST POLICE AMONG SEVERAL ARRESTED FOR DRUG RING AFP reported the arrest of �several senior officials in Inner Mongolia,� for their role in an amphetamine syndicate. The local Communist head of security, Li Zhongyuan, was apparently the liaison between the traffickers and pliable officials. Link: AFP SEVEN COUNTERFEITERS HEADED FOR EXECUTION AFTER APPEALS FAIL Seven counterfeiters' lost an appeal in Guangdong province to reduce their death sentences to prison terms, according to AFP. Link: AFP ANOTHER DEPUTY MAYOR ARRESTED ON CORRUPTION CHARGES Communist police arrested Ye Defan, a deputy mayor of Hangzhou, for taking massive bribes. Citing the Communist Liberation Daily, AFP reported Ye's arrest was part of a growing scandal in Hangzou that has led to 20 arrests. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS MULLING TOUGHER LAW AGAINST ADULTERY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION After noticing several officials turn to corruption to keep mistresses financially well off, Communist China is considering tougher penalties against what Time Asia called "concubinage." Link: Time Asia BEIJING ASKS FOR �FAIR PLAY� IN 2008 OLYMPIC SELECTION Liu Qi, mayor of Beijing, asked for �fair play� among the five cities, including his own, vying for the right to host the 2008 Olympic games, according to the BBC. As Beijing tries desperate to remake itself as a modern, cleaner city, many are wondering whether letting Communist China host an Olympiad is such a good idea. Link: BBC AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS COMMUNISTS MAY APPOINT FRIEND OF BUSH FAMILY AS U.S. AMBASSADOR AFP reports that Communist China is considering naming Yang Jiechi, a friend of the Bush family, the new Ambassador to the United States. The PRC was mum on the possibility, but several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times are speculating the Communists would appoint Yang. Link: AFP INTERNATIONAL NEWS CUBA AND COMMUNIST CHINA SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT Communist China signed an accord of "military cooperation" with Cuba, according to AFP. The deal was signed by General Fu Quanyou, commander of the People's Liberation Army, as part of his four-day trip to Cuba, during which he also met with Fidel Castro. Link: AFP HONG KONG AND MACAO NEWS HONG KONG POLICE CHIEF ACKNOWLEDGES FORCE IS UNDER GAMBLING INVESTIGATION Tsang Yam-pui, the new chief of police in Hong Kong, admitted there was a probe into his department for officer involvement in an illegal gambling ring. Citing an unnamed �widely-circulated local newspaper,� the BBC reported the number of officers under investigation at roughly one hundred. Link: BBC TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST RATCHETING UP CULTURAL GENOCIDE William C. Triplett II, in a Washington Post op-ed piece, details the efforts by Communist China to destroy the Tibetan culture by any means necessary. This includes violence, destruction of cultural landmarks, and a massive internal colonization of the region by ethnic Chinese, who, it should be noted, are usually forced to go. Link: Washington Post Except perhaps for the Communist tirade against the triads (see Other Mainland News), no news regarding Xinjiang/East Turkestan was reported this week. 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