03May2000

CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE

CHINESE COMMUNISTS DENY MEDICAL PAROLE TO TWO ACTIVISTS IN GRAVE HEALTH
Communist China�s courts have flatly rejected Hua Di�s request for medical parole. The Beijing People�s Intermediate Court instead began procedures for a new trial against Hua, a former military scientist for the People�s Republic of China previously sentenced to 15 years for �leaking state secrets.� Three weeks ago, the Beijing Supreme Court ordered a retrial, as reported in our first update. Hua, 64, underwent cancer surgery before visiting the mainland for a family funeral and was scheduled for chemotherapy upon his return. Upon his arrival from the United Sates he was arrested.

Hua had served as an expert at the Central Commission on Military Science, winning a 1978 award for his work on the intercontinental ballistic missile and the satellite launcher programs. In 1989, he denounced the crackdown in Tiananmen Square. With a warrant out for his arrest, he fled to the U.S., where he was about to become a citizen. The court said releasing Hua, even for medical reasons, would be a �disruption to social order.� Communist China also denied medical parole for Zhang Shangguang, a labor activist suffering from lung cancer. His crime was giving information on anticommunist labor unrest to Radio Free Asia.

COMMUNIST CHINA TELLS THE WORLD TO BUTT OUT OF ITS FALUN GONG CRACKDOWN
Communist China once again told the rest of the world not to stand up for millions of Falun Gong followers being persecuted by the PRC government. The Communists were reacting to the U.S. State Department calling on them to end its actions against the spiritual movement. Over 35,000 members have been arrested in the past year; five thousand have been sent to labor camps without trial, and hundreds more sent to mental institutions. Last April 25, over 10,000 Falun Gong protestors descended on Tiananmen Square to demand the Communists stop condemning their group. The Communists proceeded to declare Falun Gong, at the time numbering nearly 70 million, a �cult.� They�ve been arresting practitioners ever since. Last week, as reported here, 100 Falun Gong followers were arrested for attempting to mark the one-year anniversary of the first Falun Gong protest. Members have been arrested almost daily for protesting and practicing their beliefs.

COMMUNIST CHINA RELEASES ONE POLITICAL PRISONER, SENTENCES ANOTHER
In the latest political version of three-card monty, the Chinese Communists commuted the sentence of a 1989 Tiananmen Square protestor on the same day it sentenced a China Democracy Party activist to 10 years in prison. The Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy reported that Beijing�s supreme court had freed Chen Lantao, who had been married just before the protests, after he had served eleven years of his 18-year sentences for �counter-revolutionary crimes.� On the same day the Hangzhou Intermediate People�s Court sentenced Zhu Zhengming, a founder of the China Democracy Party, to 10 years in prison. Agence France Presse confirmed Zhu�s conviction. At least 23 CDP members have been arrested for �subversion.�

�Beijing's supreme court... yesterday freed an important 'June 4' political prisoner in what appears to be China's renewed use of the 'hostage' policy as a method to secure the passage of permanent normal trading status,� the center said regarding Chen�s release. �China has often viewed political prisoners as hostages that can be released at critical moments and used toward certain ends, this in no way means that China is really thinking about making human rights improvements.� The center referred to Zhu as �a new hostage.�

COMMUNIST CHINA SENDS 60 REFUGEES BACK TO NORTH KOREA
The Washington Post reported that Communist Chinese authorities returned 60 refugees to North Korea this week after they rioted in a refugee to protest their lack of food, according to sources in Beijing. The Associated Press reported the riot was due to anger over the repatriation of a North Korean military officer who could have been executed in North Korea; that report was unconfirmed. About 100 members of the People�s Armed Police were called in to put down the riots, injuring many, according to an unnamed Asian diplomat who was the Post�s source. The repatriation of the refugees began on April 19. The diplomat said over 1,000 North Koreans escaping to Communist China have been forcibly repatriated this year.

Communist China returns any refugee from North Korea � a 50-year ally � that it can find, calling them all �economic migrants.� North Korea is in the throes of a six-year famine, and the international aid it receives is earmarked only for those loyal to the Communist ruler, Kim Jong Il. The paper reported interviews revealed North Korea beats, tortures, and sometimes executes those who are sent back across the border.

PROTESTANT RELIGION FALLS VICTIM TO COMMUNIST CHINESE CRACKDOWN
State-run media reported that Communist authorities in Anhui province have arrested 47 followers of the Full Circle Christian Church. The Jianghuai Morning Daily reported that the church members were arrested for �illegal assembly,� but provided no details. The Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy, based in Hong Kong, said the church, also known as the Weepers, routinely held services in private homes, a common custom for Christian faiths. The church has reported a membership of about 500,000.

Xu Yongzi, founder of the Full Circle Church, is scheduled to be released from a three-year prison term soon. Frank Lu, a spokesman for the center, said Xu�s release �could have been one of the reasons for the heavy repression against the group.� Communist China routinely labels popular, unsanctioned religions as �cults� to do an end-run around the constitutional �guarantee� of freedom of religion. This has meant crackdowns against a number of Protestant and Catholic churches, including the execution of many church leaders.

TOKYO GOVERNOR SAYS CHINA IS FIGHTING NEW �COLD WAR�
Using language heard previously only among China e-Lobby members, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said his country is in a state of �cold war� against Communist China according to the Financial Times. �Since the Soviet empire has gone, China is the only empire left that still believes in expansionism - this is how the Communist party is trying to hold on to power,� he said. �Japan now feels a crisis over China - we are in a state of cold war, which in some ways is more dangerous than the old cold war. If Japan gives way in the face of this expansionism, this will spread throughout Asia.�

Ishihara is a long-time critic of Communist China, who has used his position as governor of the Japanese capital prefecture to offer vocal support to opponents of the Chinese Communists in Tibet and Taiwan. He is the first elected official in Asia, if not the entire developed world, to describe relations between his country and the PRC as a cold war. Despised by the Chinese Communists, he is widely popular with Tokyo residents.

COMMISSION ON RELIGIOUS RIGHTS STRONGLY OPPOSES PNTR FOR COMMUNIST CHINA
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, created in 1998 by Congress to monitor religious freedom throughout the world, said that Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for Communist China should be rejected until �substantial improvement in respect of religious freedom� is seen in the PRC.

The report, the Commission�s first in an annual series, recommends five areas in which Communist China must improve before PNTR is justified. They include: the release of all religious prisoners, granting the commission and other groups �unhindered access� to religious leaders in jail, detention, or under house arrest, and responding to inquiries on religious leaders and followers who have disappeared after last being seen in Communist Chinese custody. The group was particularly critical about Communist China�s appointing of bishops in the �Patriotic Catholic Church� � the Roman Catholic Church is illegal in the PRC� and the a new Reti Lama without the Dalai Lama�s approval. The Reti Lama recognized by the Dalai Lama fled to India.

PNTR, which is expected to sail through the Senate, was what the PRC demanded in exchange for the trade concessions to the U.S. that will get it into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The vote on PNTR in the House, scheduled for the week before Memorial Day, is still in doubt, with both sides claiming they have the momentum. Even if the House passes PNTR, Communist China can�t enter the WTO without reaching an accord with the European Union.

COMMUNIST CHINA AND EUROPEAN UNION TO HOLD TRADE TALKS IN MAY
Speaking of the European Union, Pascal Lamy, Trade Commissioner for the EU, and Shi Guansheng, Communist China�s Foreign Trade Minister, have agreed to resume negotiations for a trade agreement beginning the week of May 15 in Beijing. Communist China said it hopes to resolve their differences and remove the last major obstacle to entering the WTO.

�Chinese leaders attach great importance to the talks between China and the EU and hope the two sides can reach an agreement at an early date,� said foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi. �Such an agreement conforms with the interests of both the Chinese and the EU side.� The EU has been less optimistic. Lamy�s spokesman, Anthony Gooch, said earlier that without movement on both sides would be no deal. Europe is pushing Communist China to allow foreigners majority control over telecommunications and financial companies in the PRC. The Communist Chinese, not exactly eager to lose veto power over its mammoth state-run enterprises in general, or firms in those sectors in particular, have consistently balked.

The EU may wonder about the business acumen of the PRC as well. In a rather stunning admission of gross inefficiency, Communist China also acknowledged this week to have over $60 billion in excess, unused equipment owned by state enterprises. The excess capital accounts for more than 6% of its nearly $1 trillion economy. Also the state-owned behemoths are expected to lay off over 11 million workers this year alone. Such information should give a number of outside investors pause.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY GLICKMAN SELLS PNTR FOR COMMUNIST CHINA
Dan Glickman, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said the U.S. must �engage� Communist China while he finished his �fact-finding� mission to the PRC with four U.S. Congressmen. Glickman also criticized American opponents of Communist China. The trip is part of the Administration�s efforts to win enough votes in the House of Representatives for granting (PNTR) to the PRC.

�The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of misconceptions at home about China, Chinese people, Chinese consumers,� said Glickman. He continued the pitch in Hong Kong with a rather interesting comment about American history. "When the United States had second-class status was when we were disengaged from the world,� he said, apparently not remembering the U.S. hasn�t been �disengaged� in that fashion in decades.

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO COMMUNIST CHINA SAYS ALL IS LOST WITHOUT PNTR
In what might best be described as the Chicken Little theory of international relations, Joseph Prueher, U.S. Ambassador to the PRC, told Congress on Friday that if they did not give PNTR to Communist China, the sky would fall. Whatever the issue, Taiwan, weapons technology, human rights, etc., they would all fall victim to a spurned Communist China in PNTR is defeated by the House.

�U.S. businesses will suffer, the non-proliferation dialogue won't resume and the United States will be perceived as an unreliable partner,� said Prueher. �China would open up its businesses to European and Asian businesses and U.S. businesses would get stiffed. There's no doubt about that.� The Washington Post reported that giving the Communists PNTR was a �a precondition to moving forward on improving American ties with Beijing,� in Prueher�s view. The Post also reported this in its article: �Economists note, however, that U.S. enthusiasm and backing for a deal don't always mean profits for American firms.�

OTHER PNTR NEWS
House Republicans, most of whom support PNTR for Communist China, have indicated their support will not be threatened by the proposal. However, the three Republican point men on PNTR, Bill Archer (TX), Dick Armey (TX), and David Dreier (CA) all warned that if the �underlying bill� granting PNTR to the PRC was changed, they would back away. The proposal, which is currently being written by Rep. Sander Levin (D-Michigan), was enough to win support from Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a previous opponent of trade with Communist China. Still, Republican Frank Wolf (VA), who eloquently explained the case against PNTR in the piece sent on Monday, said the anti-PNTR forces are doing better than everyone thinks. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released plans for better and faster monitoring of the PRC�s implementation of the trade deal with the United States on the WTO. It included plans for gathering information and resolving disputes, but had nothing on enforcement. It also had no provisions of human rights or national security.

COMMUNIST CHINA�S �ONE CHILD� POLICY WEAKENED BY CORRUPTION AND TRADITION
According to the Washington Post, Communist China�s infamous �one child� policy is slowly dying in the rural interior thanks to the persistence of tradition and the spread of corruption. The paper reports that in farm communities and villages, a number of officials will look the other way for a price. Also, many families have more children due to the Chinese tradition of desiring a male heir. Unfortunately, the policy is still enforced ruthlessly in many urban areas. Forced abortions still occur frequently, as does coerced sterilizing. As the paper reported ominously, �10 million people are sterilized each year � not all of them volunteers.�

THREE GORGES DAM PROJECT IN MAJOR CORRUPTION SCANDAL
The gigantic Three Gorges Dam, the Yangtze River project that will dislocate over a million people and could cause heavy ecological damage, has been subject to a major embezzlement scandal. The South China Morning Post reported that manager Jin Wenchao hid over $122 million in overseas accounts, made by selling official posts and embezzling from state-owned lending firms for six years, before he disappeared.

While this is the first major new incident since the e-Lobby began, corruption at the project is not news. Last January, Dai Lansheng, a high ranking executive in Three Gorges Industrial Company, was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars slated for the purchase of new equipment. The Post reported Dai had bought second-hand machinery and pocketed the difference. Auditors reported over $57 million in stolen project funds last year alone, and over 100 officials have been arrested since the report was published. In an editorial on the matter, the Post noted �from the outset, there appears to have been a calamitous lack of professionalism, organization or comprehensive checks on expenditure.� The paper also said the dam �threatens to become an economic disaster and a major embarrassment to the (China's) central government.�

The dam was the brainchild of Li Peng (the point man in the Tiananmen Square massacre), who had hoped to end the Yangtze�s unpredictable flooding and provide electricity to the Chinese interior. Many believe the dam, which would be the largest hydroelectric plant, will cause major environmental damage. So much land will be submerged that 1.2 million people will be forced to relocate. The project cost is $2.2 billion, for now.

In other corruption news, Meng Wenteng, a tax official on the island of Hainan, was sentenced to death for hiring six men to kill a local prosecutor. Meng was angry that prosecutor Huang Chonghu had disciplined him for corruption. Agence France Presse reported that three of the hired hit men were also sentenced to death on Saturday, while two received prison terms and one had a death sentence suspended.

EX-JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROSECUTOR SAYS HEAD OF LORAL SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROBED
Charles LaBella, former head of the Justice Department�s probe of 1996 campaign fund-raising, told a congressional committee on Tuesday he recommended an investigation of the relationship between President Clinton on Bernard Schwartz, head of Loral Space and Communications. Schwartz personally donated over $1.5 million to the DNC. Loral exported to Communist China, without license, expertise on satellite launchers that also improved the PRC intercontinental ballistic missile capability. According to the U.S. House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, Loral knew full well that licenses were required for militarily useful technology information. Schwartz was donating to the DNC throughout this period, but he has denied any connection. Attorney General Janet Reno denied LaBella�s request for an independent counsel investigation.

TAIWAN NEWS
President-elect Chen Shui-bien rejected Communist China�s demand that he agree to their version of �One China,� which basically means the Republic of China must accept being absorbed into the Communist-controlled PRC. Chen said the ROC had been backed into a corner by the stringent demand.

�If I accept, how can Ah-bian be qualified to be the president of the Republic of China?" He asked rhetorically to supporters on Thursday. �Ah-bian� is the President-elect�s nickname. Chen accused the Communists of reneging on a 1992 agreement of �One China, several interpretations,� which said the two governments can have different visions of what that One China is. Communist China denies any such agreement existed. "This is the beginning of distrust," Chen said regarding the issue. "In future, how can we believe what is said when and by whom?"

Meanwhile, Communist China is increasing combat readiness in regions opposite Taiwan, according to Hong Kong media. While the ROC military said they noticed no change in the PRC�s military readiness, Communist China did intercept an American surveillance plane in international waters it was monitoring large-scale Communist Chinese military exercises in the south. Communist China has been building up their missile strength on the southern mainland since last year. During Taiwan�s first free presidential election in 1996, Communist China lobbed missiles over Taiwan as a show of force and to scare voters away from incumbent President Lee Teng-Hui. Lee won in a landslide

Communist China�s foreign ministry spokesman, Sun Yuxi, warned of �disaster� if Taiwan rejects the �one China� policy. Chen is prepared to discuss the PRC�s �One China� at the talks, but not as a precondition. "Our profile has been very low to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," Chen said to supporters on Thursday. "But the opposite side of the Strait has been tough. We have been forced into a corner and are not allowed to breathe. We will die if we don't breathe."

TIBET NEWS

The Metropolitan Police in London admitted that the taking of flags and banners from pro-Tibetan protestors during Communist Chinese President Jiang Zemin�s visit to the UK last year was illegal. The Free Tibet Campaign is taking the police to court over the heavy-handed tactics they used. Police confiscated anticommunist and pro-Tibetan flags and banners during the October visit, while pro-Jiang protestors were given full access to parade streets. Police vans also managed to be in just the right place to block the parade-goers� view of the anti-Jiang protestors. Jiang is known to be hypersensitive about protests against him.

Police treatment of the demonstrators was extremely controversial at the time of the summit. A number of opposition politicians took the government to task for police behavior. The only incident during the summit to overshadow police tactics was Prince Charles declining an invitation to a state dinner with Jiang. While officially it was due to a �private engagement,� it was widely suspected the Prince of Wales turned down the invitation out of sympathy with the Dalai Lama, whom he admires greatly, and with the London protestors.

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