To receive this publication via e-mail, click here.
CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 4, 2004
Listen to the Chinascope, hosted by D.J. McGuire: Tuesday, midnight EST, on WXEI 95.3 FM in Crestview, FL, or here.
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or call 1-888-280-7715.
TOP STORY: BIRD FLU RAVAGING ASIA HAD START IN COMMUNIST CHINA
UK MAGAZINE NEW SCIENTIST SAYS VIRUS WAS IN PRC LAST YEAR
The British magazine New Scientist reported that a bird flu virus that is currently killing birds and humans throughout Asia �originated in China several months ago� (Voice of America via Epoch Times, HK). The Communists, of course, denied it, but a World Health Organization official told the magazine the virus was in PRC samples from last year.
Communist China hid the existence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) for four months, allowing the disease to spread throughout Asia and around the world (see 3/19/03, 3/26/03, 4/2/03, 4/9/03, 4/16/03, and 4/23/03 Updates). Also reporting: Washington Times, CNN, BBC
FLU SPREADING WITHIN PRC; WHO CRITICIZES COMMUNISTS
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization ripped Communist China�s reaction to the bird flu as �inadequate� (VOA via Epoch Times). In particular, the WHO called on the PRC to �share more information about the disease and its vaccination programs� (Cybercast News). Also reporting: Washington Post, Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times
The WHO also criticized the PRC�s action against chicken farmers � slaughtering their flocks with no compensation. The farmers themselves were also upset (BBC).
OTHER EPIDEMIC NEWS
ANOTHER SARS CASE IN COMMUNIST CHINA
Meanwhile, Communist China �confirmed a fourth case of SARS but said the patient had already been discharged from a hospital� (Washington Post, second item).
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
NORTH KOREA NEWS
BEIJING TO HOST TALKS ON NORTH KOREA�S NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Communist China will host a second round of six-party talks on North Korea�s nuclear weapons. The PRC � a North Korean ally for over fifty years � will also participate, as will the U.S. and North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and Russia. Reports: CNN, BBC, Washington Post
ACTIVIST HELD PRISONER FOR HELPING NK REFUGEES GETS LETTER OUT VIA BIBLE
Young-hoon Choi, imprisoned by Communist China for helping North Korean refugees hiding there, managed to smuggle a letter to his family with �letters cut from a Bible� (World Net Daily). Choi is serving a five-year jail term for helping the refugees avoid Communist police, who send back to North Korea any refugee they can find.
The refugees are basically nonpersons in Communist China, and can be subject to horrifying torture by both Communist police and their Stalinist counterparts once they are sent back (see 1/14 Update).
For more on Communist China�s Stalinist ally, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
KERRY TOOK CAMPAIGN CASH FROM JOHNNY CHUNG TO HELP PRC LT. COLENOL
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, currently the front-runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination, took money from Johnny Chung � the man who funneled $300,000 in Communist Chinese money to Democrats in 1996 � after trying to help Liu Chaoying, a PRC Lieutenant Colonel � land a firm on a stock exchange here. Report: Newsweek
Chung sent $10,000 in PRC money to Kerry in 1996, when he was in a bruising re-election battle against then-Governor William Weld. Chung sent the money �on orders from Chinese intelligence� (New York Post). Also reporting: Newsmax
Chung later �pleaded guilty to funneling $28,000 in illegal contributions to the campaigns of Bill Clinton and Kerry . . . from the chief of Chinese military intelligence � and routed through a Hong Kong bank account controlled by Liu.� This begs the question: what about Kerry does Communist China find appealing?
It should also be noted that the Democrats weren�t alone in taking Communist Chinese money: PRC double agent Katrina Leung raised thousands for the California Republicans (see 4/16/03, 4/23/03, 4/30/03, 5/7/03, and 5/14/03 Updates).
U.S. PUSHING EUROPEAN UNION TO KEEP PRC ARMS BAN
As the France and Germany continue their push for the European Union to end its ban on arms sales to China � in place since the Tiananmen Square massacre (see 11/12/03, 12/10/03, and last Updates) � the U.S. �has quietly lodged a series of formal protests� (Washington Post) against lifting the ban.
CHARLES LI�S TIME IN PRISON PASSES ONE YEAR
Charles Li, a Chinese-born American and practitioner of Falun Gong, has now been in a Communist prison cell for more than a year. His fianc�e, Foo Yeong-Ching, commemorated the day with a 24-hour hunger strike. Report: Epoch Times
U.S. TO DRAMATICALLY RESHAPE PACIFIC COMMAND
Pacific Command, the U.S. military structure covering East Asia and the Pacific Ocean, is in for a major re-haul. Report: Washington Times
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
COMMUNISTS SHUT DOWN LEGAL INFORMATION WEB SITE
Communist China shut down a web site �set up to advise ordinary people of their legal rights� (RFA via Epoch Times). The Communists obviously can�t let that sort of information get around. Still, the site owner is going to court to challenge the crackdown,
ACTIVISTS CALLING FOR COMMUNISTS TO �CLARIFY� SUBVERSION LAWS
Over 100 activists wrote an open letter to Communist China calling on the regime �to clarify subversion laws to prevent official abuse� (Washington Post, third item). Currently �subversion� is a Communist catch-all for actions and statements the regime does not like, very similar to �stealing state secrets.�
COMMUNIST EFFORTS TO CONTROL THE INTERNET SLOWLY FAILING
The verdict on Communist China�s battle against web-based dissidents is not going as well as it would like. According to one dissident movement, the persecuted Falun Gong, �new ways are constantly being found to thwart the various tactics employed by tens of thousands of official internet monitors� (BBC).
The PRC is using new tactics itself, including an �Internet Shield � Internet Access Identity Card.� This card goes �through the scanning device installed in the caf�s by the police to validate their identity in order to access the Internet each time . . . What technology fails to block is monitored by an ever-increasing cyber police force� (Epoch Times).
However, �most experts say the state is slowly losing the struggle.� Of course, this analysis, if true, �can only be viewed as positive for both China and the rest of us.� Indeed.
CORRUPTION NEWS
OVER 15,000 CADRES CALLED CORRUPT
Communist China admitted to over 15,000 corrupt officials, of which over a thousand committed �suicide.� The Communists also admitted that �princelings,� or children of high-ranking cadres, spirited nearly $5 billion in embezzled funds out of the PRC. Report: London Daily Telegraph
Of course, when it comes to individual cadres, there can be a question of who is actually corrupt and who is either a scapegoat or a victim of factional politics (see 12/24/03 and last Updates). However, data like this likely understates how widespread the problem has become within the Chinese Communist Party.
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
HU JINTAO SELLING �PEACEFUL RISE� TO POWER, WITHOUT THE MERCHANDISE
PRC President Hu Jintao is trying to �counter the so-called �China threat� theory� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN) by claiming it only wishes heping jueqi (�peaceful rise�) to global power, not �hegemony.� The flowery words, however, cannot hide an aggressive, despotic regime; in fact, �chinks have begun to develop in the armor of the heping jueqi argument.�
RESIDENTS OF HUBEI PROVINCE DEMAND BETTER, CHEAPER HEALTH CARE
Over 500 residents of Hubei province, led by a schoolteacher, have petitioned the Communists �to alleviate the burden of medical care on low-income families and to protest the arbitrary cost increase of medicine� (Epoch Times). Like education (see last Update), a supposedly free health care is lost in a wave of �various pretexts to repeatedly collect fees.�
MIGRANT WORKER IMMOLATES HIMSELF AFTER FIRM STIFFS HIS CREW ON SALARY
Yang Tao, crew leader for 30 workers from Communist China�s rural interior, was unable to convince the firm that hired him and his crew to pay the wages it promised them. In order to bring attention to his plight, Yang was forced to set himself ablaze. Report: Central News Agency (Taiwan) via Epoch Times
COMMUNISTS THROW TWO MILLION ANNUALLY OFF FARMLAND
Communist China forces two million peasants off farmland every year to make way for urban and industrial development. The Communists, who own all land in the PRC, �make big profits by renegotiating land leases� (United Press International via Epoch Times), while the peasants are pushed further into poverty.
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BOY CONTRACTS AIDS IN BEIJING HOSPITAL; PARENTS SUE
Sun Ya is suing Stomatological Hospital for $100,000 for giving his eight-year-old son AIDS during a surgery-related blood transfusion (BBC). The Communists are facing � and denying � a major AIDS epidemic, with one million infected in Henan province alone due to an unhygienic Communist-sponsored blood drive (see 9/4/02 and 9/25/02 Update).
COMMUNIST CHINA TO LAUNCH ANOTHER MANNED SPACE FLIGHT NEXT YEAR
Communist China will soon �begin training astronauts next month for its second manned space flight� (BBC). The flight itself is scheduled for �sometime next year.� The PRC is planning to have a man on the moon by 2020.
COMMUNIST ECONOMY MAY BE GROUNDED BY OIL DEPENDENCY
Communist China has become the second largest oil importer in the world, in part because economic growth has not come with greater oil production, and because no real efforts have been taken to address energy issues. A number of analysts told RFA (via Epoch Times) that the PRC�s economic growth is not sustainable for these reasons.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
HU JNTAO VISITS GABON AMID WINNING OIL IMPORT DEAL . . .
Not that the PRC isn�t try to grab any oil it can. Hu Jintao visited Gabon this week, just after �French oil company Total Gabon and China's Unipec agreed for Gabonese crude oil to be sold to China for the first time� (BBC). That would be the same France that feted Hu, and arrested a slew of Falun Gong practitioners to make him happy (see last Update).
. . . AS MONGOLIA OIL FIND SPURS TALK OF A PRC PIPELINE
Meanwhile, Soco International, an oil company already in a joint venture with PRC and Vietnamese firms, is hoping to build a pipeline from a major oil find in Mongolia to Communist China. Report: RFA via Epoch Times
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
CHEN SHUI-BIAN CALLS FOR DEMILITARIZED ZONE; PRC SNUBS HIM IN RESPONSE
President Chen Shui-bian called on Communist China to agree to �set up a demilitarized zone and establish special envoys to be based in Beijing and Taipei� (CNN). Chen, up for re-election on March 20, announced the new policy during a news conference. The PRC has repeatedly dismissed his attempts to thaw cross-strait relations.
They held to that pattern in responding to Chen. In fact, the Communists snubbed Chen completely, making �no formal comment� (Willy Wo Lap Lam, CNN) and leaving it to their mouthpieces in academics to blast Chen�s policy. Chen has placed on the election ballot a referendum on opening talks with Communist China.
Also on the ballot is a question on pursuing a missile defense in the face of the 500 missiles the PRC has aimed at the island democracy. Also reporting: BBC, Taiwan News via Epoch Times, Washington Post
TENS OF THOUSANDS TAKE TO THE STREETS TO BACK CHEN, REFERENDUM
The Taiwanese people were finally heard on the matter of the March 20 referendum to decide if the island democracy should pursue a missile defense. Roughly 70,000 took to the streets to support the referendum � inspired by the 500 missile the PRC has pointed at Taiwan � and its sponsor: President Chen Shui-bian (BBC, Taipei Times via Epoch Times).
CHEN SHUI-BIAN, ANNETTE LU RIP FRANCE FOR CODDLING COMMUNIST CHINA
Taiwan�s ruling Democratic Progressive Party hit France with both barrels for Jacques Chirac�s sickening behavior toward PRC President Hu Jintao, and subsequent harsh words for the island democracy (see last Update). President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu gave Chirac some well-deserved whacks (BBC, Taiwan News via Epoch Times).
AS BIRD FLU HITS TAIWAN, WHO NOWHERE TO BE FOUND
Once again, Taiwan is forced to face a major epidemic on its own. Thanks to Communist pressure, the World Health Organization is staying away from Taiwan as the island democracy battles the bird flu (Washington Times). The PRC played similar games over SARS for months (see 5/7/03 Updates).
HONG KONG NEWS
BLOCKBUSTER PULLS OUT OF HONG KONG
Due to �rampant piracy and high rents� (United Press International via Epoch Times), Blockbuster Video is pulling out of Hong Kong. Piracy has been a major problem throughout mainland China; the fact that it has driven Blockbuster out of Hong Kong is another sign of one-country, one-and-a-half systems.
No news was reported from Tibet this week.
Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it via our home page.
Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it Anyonewho wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China you happen to find to the same address.