| Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. Link of the (very busy) Week The editors of the Washington Post rip Hong Kong for its new �subversion� law (see also 09/25/02 Update), and offer this warning to the Communists in Beijing who did so much to make it a reality: �It's hard to imagine that Taiwan's vibrant democracy, observing such a spectacle, would ever take seriously the �two systems� model that China claims to offer.� More On Hong Kong and �Subversion� Jonathon Fenby, in Time Asia, also rips the Communists and their Hong Kong minions for the �subversion law.� His views are best summarized with this beauty of a line: �China and Tung Chee-hwa have kept meticulously to the letter of the agreements between London and Beijing. With a system that permits no effective opposition, why should they do otherwise?� Indeed. On Taiwan and the Communist Military Build-up Dr. Alexander Nemets highlights the growth of the Communist Chinese military, what it means for Taiwan, and Russia�s role in the process, in this column in Newsmax.com. While Nemets is a bit too trusting of the economic growth figures from the PRC � most of the numbers he cites are based on Communist reports whose authenticity is suspect � his assumptions on the PRC military are dead on. In fact, the situation may be worse than he describes. Nemets projects Communist China possibly achieving a favorable military balance of power by 2006. Most analysts say the Communists could accomplish that feat one year earlier. On Communist China and the Terrorist War Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg, Editor of National Review Online, took notice of the East Turkestan situation: �And by the way, a precondition for China's vote is tacit American approval of a Chinese crackdown on separatist Muslim Uighurs. Now, how is it that an American invasion of Iraq is somehow morally superior with U.N. approval if that approval can only be bought by American support for bloodshed elsewhere?� Sadly, in his sequel column, Jonah fell down on the job with this comment that Communist China �is not a foreseeable threat to the United States.� Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. On Communist China and the Fundraising Scandal The editors of the Washington Times had this timely reminder on the 1996 fund raising scandal: �it's worth recalling that Chinese military intelligence funneled $300,000 in the summer of 1996 to (the Democrats) through a Chinese lieutenant colonel. That officer also served as an aerospace executive for a Chinese firm sanctioned by the United States in 1991 and 1993 for providing missile technology to Pakistan.� On Defense Technology Exports Four Republican Senators � North Carolina�s Jesse Helms, Tennessee�s Fred Thompson, and Arizona�s John Kyl and John McCain � call on the Bush Administration to stop pushing a bill that would allow sales of defense technology to the rest of the world. As an example of the dangers involved, they cite Huawei Technologies, the PRC firm that built Saddam Hussein a fiber-optic network to integrate his air defenses. William Safire (The New York Times) also rips the Bush Administration for pushing the bill, citing both Huawei and the technology transfers to Communist China by Loral and Hughes during the 1990s. The bill passed the Senate overwhelmingly, prior to 9/11/01. The House hasn�t sent it anywhere. The Senators made their case in the Washington Times; Safire�s column was syndicated in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. On Christianity in Communist China Terry Eastland, publisher of the Weekly Standard, hears from David Aikman, Time�s senior foreign correspondent, on the rise of Christianity in Communist China, and how it could lead to the end of Communist rule. On �Private Enterprise� in Communist China John Pomfret (Washington Post) discovers the qualifications of an �entrepreneur� in Communist China: serve as an army officer, keep a bunch of ex-military men around you, give the local party boss a job and have him start a Communist cell in your firm, and hire a bunch of local officials. Still, �business licenses and government connections from tottering state-run firms� can only be had �in exchange for cash.� Moreover, as the BBC revealed, a �private business� that is too successful will likely not remain private for very long. Brilliance China Automotive is a PRC car company that the Liaoning Communists own in part, and wants to own completely. A former BCA chairman was forced to flee to the U.S. ahead of a corruption probe � quite an ironic move given the fact that the Liaoning Party is shot through with triad-tainted cadres. On the Upcoming Party Reshuffle Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN) looks at � or to be more accurate, looks for � PRC Vice President Hu Jintao, heir-apparent to Jiang Zemin, although Jiang will hang on to the critically powerful Chair of the Central Military Commission. Lam also notes the near disappearance of Li Ruihuan, one of Jiang�s chief rivals. On the Panama Canal Scott Wilson (Washington Post) examines the growing support in Panama for a return of American troops three years after the handover of the Panama Canal in 1999. One of the unmentioned concerns surrounding the withdrawal was the management of two container ports by Hutchison Whampoa � the Hong Kong firm run by PRC sympathizer Li Ka-Shing and possibly owned in part by the PRC. Sign up now for the next North Korea Report, due out on Monday. Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the decision of the International Olympic Committee awarding Beijing the 2008 Olympic Games, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. Anyone who 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. |