| Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 6, 2002 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA, NORTH KOREA HIT BUSH FOR �AXIS OF EVIL� SPEECH ADMINISTRATION POLICY ON REGIME HAS NOT CHANGED DESPITE TOUGH WORDS Communist China blasted President Bush for his State of the Union speech � in which he referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an �axis of evil.� The People�s Republic denounced Bush with the unusual �unilateralism� charge, and claimed that the U.S. may be �seeking to prepare public opinion for possible strikes against these hardened foes under the banner of anti-terrorism� (CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam). North Korea had its own harsh response to President Bush (CNN). The long-time ally of Communist China called Bush�s words �little short of declaring a war.� At present, however, there is no actual change in policy toward North Korea � a policy includes helping the Communist regime build nuclear power plants if they pledged to stop their nuclear program. Also reporting: Washington Times, BBC (1) The rhetoric against North Korea was still tough, but not much else was. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice called the Communist regime �the world's No. 1 merchant for ballistic missiles.� By this morning, however, Secretary of State Colin Powell had said the U.S. �was ready to hold talks with North Korea unconditionally (BBC (2)). Also reporting: Washington Post (1), Los Angeles Times Meanwhile, a CIA report released last week revealed in detail North Korea�s sordid recent history in selling missiles to the Middle East (CNN, Guardian). All three in the axis � North Korea, Iran and Iraq � have received weapons and/or military technology from Communist China; North Korea in particular has been a PRC ally for over fifty years. Also reporting: Cybercast News Service, Washington Post (2) As Communist China�s allies and customers enter the cross-hairs, check out the latest on �Communist China and the Terrorist War,� either directly or via our main page. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS WHILE PRC DIPLOMATS TALK NICE, COMMUNIST MILITARY TALKS TOUGH As Communist Vice-Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing talked of a �positive atmosphere� for U.S.-PRC relations, the Communist People�s Liberation Army � upon whose support rests current leader Jiang Zemin�s hopes for keeping the all-powerful Central Military Commission Chair � blasted the U.S. Report: CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam PRC UPSET AT BUSH�S SUSPENSION OF UN POPULATION FUNDING Communist China ripped President Bush�s decision to hold back $34 million in funding to the United Nations Population Fund on concerns that the money would go to aid the PRC�s hideous �one child� policy. According to the Washington Times, the PRC also called charges of forced abortions � which came from many victims of �one child� � �groundless.� COMMUNIST CHINA TESTING MULTIPLE WARHEAD MISSILES TO BEAT MISSILE DEFENSE Communist China�s failed DF-31 test (see 1/9/02 update) was for a multiple warhead launch designed �to penetrate a future United State's missile defense shield,� according to CNN. Communist China has repeatedly railed against American plans for missile defense, despite U.S. insistence that the defense was to protect against only rogue/axis-of-evil states � most of whom are military clients of the PRC. COMMUNIST CHINESE MILITARY BUILDUP DEEMED MAJOR SECURITY THREAT Next to the terrorist war, Communist China�s military buildup and growing ambition is the chief threat to American security, according to a defense panel cited by Cybercast News Service. The panel, led by Frank Gaffney, Jr. of the Center for Security Policy and Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, also noted the PRC�s heavy support of the Taliban, including PRC weaponry in Taliban hands (See 12/19/01 update). SIXTEEN ESCAPEES FOUND IN LONG BEACH Sixteen Chinese escaping the PRC were found in a cargo container in a boat in Long Beach, California. According to the Los Angeles Times, they were in the container for nearly two weeks. They join hundreds to thousands of others who have tried to escape Communist China, either by hiding in transport vehicles � including trucks � or paying thousands for copied version of the documents required to leave. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS XU ZERONG GETS 13 YEARS FOR �SPYING� Xu Zerong, a Korean War historian and publisher of a Hong Kong academic magazine Chinese Social Sciences Quarterly, was sentenced to 13 years in jail for his research � which the Communists called �spying.� Xu�s real crime was �claiming that the Communists started the war,� which is a no-no to Communist China and their axis-of-evil ally Communist North Korea. Report: Los Angeles Times OTHER MAINLAND NEWS �SNAKEHEAD� ARRESTED IN FUJIAN Communist officials nabbed a leader of a criminal group that provides documents to escapees from Communist China, for prices of up to $60,000 that usually must be paid through indentured servitude. Sadly, those forced to use the �snakeheads� to escape Communist China usually get sent back by the nation to which they have escaped. Reports: BBC, CNN FOREIGN CABLE FIRM WINS CASE ON LICENSING FEE The BBC reported that a �London-based television company� won a $280,000 judgment against a PRC-owned TV station that had refused to pay for rights to a game show. The UK firm might not want to hold its breath; state-run firms have a habit of stiffing justice, at least when ordinary Chinese are involved. INTERNATIONAL NEWS U.S. SELLING ARMS TO INDIA The United States has agreed to clear �export licenses for 20 weapons systems to India,� according to Cybercast News Service. The deal ends almost forty years of little or no military cooperation. The two democracies have grown closer in recent years due to a common threat: Communist China. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS NEW PARLIAMENT SWORN IN The Legislative Yuan (i.e., Parliament) elected by the people of the ROC on December 1 was sworn in last week, ending Nationalist control of the body and making the ruling Democratic Progressive Party �the largest single group in parliament, for the first time� (BBC). The DPP are still a minority, however. COMMUNIST OFFICIAL TELLS U.S. NOT TO GET TOO CLOSE TO TAIWAN, AGAIN An unnamed Communist official warned the U.S.� against giving Taiwan greater political support.� According to the Los Angeles Times, the official was particularly incensed by the Richard Bush � America�s quasi-official representative to Taiwan � �who said the U.S. would �help Taiwan defend itself� if threatened.� This is just the latest in a series of Communists �warnings� against the island democracy. FIRST GROUP OF MAINLAND TOURISTS VISIT TAIWAN Taiwan received its first tourist group from the mainland this week. Taiwan opened itself up to mainlanders living outside the PRC last year as part of an attempt to thaw cross-strait relations, according to the BBC. The Communists, meanwhile, might finally follow suit, according to the Washington Post. TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA ASKS DALAI LAMA TO COME BACK . . . Communist China �has renewed its call for Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to give up his demands for independence and return to China,� according to the BBC. Tibet�s spiritual leader has been in exile in India ever since the Communists� violent crackdown on resistance to their rule in 1959. The crackdown was re-intensified in the 1980s, and still continues today. . . . AS IT BUILDS �LIBERATION� STATUE IN FRONT OF HIS TIBETAN WINTER HOME The BBC reports that Communist China has neared completion of a monument to what it calls the �peaceful liberation� of Tibet � right in front of the traditional winter home of the Dalai Lama. No news was reported from Hong Kong or East Turkestan (�Xinjiang�) this week. 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. |