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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 8, 2004
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: WILL JIANG ZEMIN RESIGN?
CENTRAL MILITARY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN OFFERS UP HIS POWERFUL POST, MAYBE
The New York Times (cited by United Press International via Washington Times) reported that Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin has announced he will resign his post. His announcement has unleashed �an intense and so far inconclusive struggle for control of the armed forces� (Taipei Times).
Part of the reason the struggle remains �inconclusive� is the fact that no one is really sure if Jiang will really go, or if he�s playing a gambit against Party Secretary and People�s Republic President Hu Jintao. Jiang has hinted before, only to be �convinced� to stay on by the leaders of the military � leaders he himself appointed.
The CMC Chair is the most powerful post in Communist China. Through it, Deng Xiaoping ordered the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, sidelining � and later arresting � Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang in the process. Hu has never been able to secure the true power in the party because of Jiang�s hold on the post.
The Party is facing a plenum later this month, and �horse-trading is under way,� meaning Hu�s ascension to the CMC Chair is far from a given. If Jiang really does step down, a major reshuffle could be in the works.
Check out the latest on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
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THE VELVET CRACKDOWN (HONG KONG NEWS)
PRC USING OLYMPIC WINNERS, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SMEARS IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Communist China is pulling out all the stops to prevent a pro-democracy surge in elections for half of the Legislative Council this Sunday (the other half is appointed by a Communist-backed panel). As reported in the last Update, the PRC sent its 32 Olympic gold medalists to the city �to boost the chances of pro-Beijing candidates� (BBC).
The PRC is not just using its Olympic winners to win over voters. Several pro-democracy candidates have become victims of �a covert smear campaign� (Cybercast News), which includes charges of �financial irregularities,� and, of course, the sentencing of Democratic Party candidate Alex Ho to a labor camp for soliciting a prostitute (see 8/25 Update).
Ho�s allies insist he was framed, but the whispers seem to have made an impact, according to recent polls. What effect this will have on actual votes (the pro-democracy support tends to be underestimated in HK polls) will not be known until Sunday. Also reporting: New York Times via International Herald Tribune
NEWS ON THE FALUN GONG WAR
FDI HAS PICTURES OF COMMUNIST TORTURE
The Falun Dafa International Center released pictures of PRC torture of practitioners. Among the words accompanying the photos, �Ms. Wang . . . was injected with unknown drugs, force fed, shocked with electric batons, hung and beaten after going on a hunger strike to protest being detained� (Epoch Times). Also reporting: China Support Network
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA WON�T LET DR. JIANG YANYONG RECEIVE AWARD IN PHILIPPINES
Communist China has informed Dr. Jiang Yanyong that he will not be allowed to travel to the Philippines to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award. He was named the award winner last month (see 8/18 Update). Jiang won the award for exposing the Communist coverup of SARS in Beijing last spring. Report: Voice of America via Epoch Times
Jiang then used his popularity do something even more courageous: challenge the Communist Party line on the Tiananmen massacre. For that, he won an extended stay in a Communist brainwashing facility (see 4/9/03, 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 6/10, 6/23, 7/7, and 7/21 Updates), and remains under house arrest.
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CALLS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS AS 2008 NEARS
Human Rights Watch joined a growing chorus of groups demanding Communist China �improve its human rights record before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games� (see last Update). Sadly, HRW included no call for moving or boycotting the Games if said improvement does not occur (Sign the petition for an American boycott here).
COMMUNIST COURT ANNOUNCES CRACKDOWN ON ELECTRONIC PORN
Communist China�s Supreme Court �set out penalties of up to life imprisonment for what it described as very severe cases� (BBC) of distributing internet or mobile phone pornography. One thing to remember about any anti-porn action by Communist China: it usually provides cover for further measures against cyber-dissidents in the PRC.
FEMALE �AVANT-GARDE AND OSTENTATIOUS� ATTIRE ILLEGAL IN ZHEJIANG
Women who work for the cadres in Zhejiang Province can no longer wear what the provincial Communists call �avant-garde and ostentatious� (BBC) clothing or jewelry. Also illegal are �rude words and . . . dirty or strange words� in conversation.
CORRUPTION NEWS
CHENGDU CADRE ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION
Gao Yong, Propaganda Department Director in the city of Chengdu, �was recently arrested for what some believe to be his connections to Liu Fangren, the Communist Party secretary sentenced to life in prison for a bribery scheme that netted ($800,000)� (Epoch Times). Liu was the Guizhou Province party boss before his arrest (see 6/30 Update).
EPIDEMIC NEWS
AIDS DOCTOR IN HENAN ARRESTED
Henan Province, home of one million AIDS suffers due to past unhygienic blood drives (see 9/4/02, 9/25/02, and 5/12 Updates), has arrested a doctor for �providing medical treatment and prescriptions� (Epoch Times) for local victims. His acts of kindness �offended local health agents.�
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
�ONE CHILD� PRESSURE ON CHILDREN LEADS TO MASS DEPRESSION
Wang Wei, of Central Queensland University�s Psychology and Social Institute, put the blame for high levels of depression in PRC children on �Mainland parents� overwhelming expectations on the only child� (BBC via Epoch Times). Thus the �one child� policy has created another unintended consequence: depression in as many as 1 in 5 PRC children.
INFLATION HITS SEVEN YEAR HIGH
Are Communist China�s attempts at an economic �soft landing� working? If the recent inflation numbers are an indication, the answer is definitely no. Inflation in July stood at an annualized rate of 5.3%, the highest figure since 1997. Report: Epoch Times
AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
MONEY FROM COMMUNIST CHINA TO KERRY 1996 CAMPAIGN BACK IN THE NEWS
Thanks to a court order requested by Judicial Watch, Communist China�s $10,000 donation to Senator John Kerry�s 1996 re-election campaign has returned to the spotlight (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). For those who follow this newsletter, of course, none of this is news (see 2/4 and 2/18 Updates). Still, sadly, not everyone reads this newsletter � yet.
Kerry received the money after intervening with the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of Communist Lieutenant Colonel Liu Chaoying, who was trying to get a company placed on the New York Stock Exchange. Communist China has several front companies on major stock exchanges around the world (see 8/20/03 Update).
GAP DROPS 42 PRC FACTORIES, CITING LABOR STANDARDS
Before we get to the depressing news of foreign firms throwing good money after bad (see International News) let�s step back and give credit where it�s due. Gap Inc. �cancelled contracts with 42 of its clothing manufacturers in China this year for breaches of Gap�s labor standards� (Epoch Times). Sadly, 422 other PRC factories are still producing for Gap.
PHILIP MORRIS TO PARTNER WITH PRC CIGARETTE FIRM; BAT DEAL DEAD
Philip Morris, a leading American cigarette maker, has agreed to a �joint venture with the Longyan Cigarette Factory in southeastern Fujian province (to) make Marlboros� (Time Asia) in the PRC. Meanwhile, British American Tobacco�s plans for entry into the PRC market have died, after Communist regulators blocked it (see 7/21 and 7/28 Updates).
OTHER INTERNATIONAL NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINESE POLICE GOING TO HAITI
Communist China �is set to dispatch a 130-man �special police� unit to Haiti this month in the first deployment of Chinese forces to the Western Hemisphere� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). The move was approved by the Bush Administration �without a full debate among defense, foreign policy and national security agencies.�
Haiti is one of the few nations in the world that recognizes Taiwan instead of Communist China. This deployment could put new pressure on Haiti to shift its allegiance. It would also, and more importantly, set an ominous precedent for future Communist deployments very near the United States � and some already in place in Venezuela, Cuba, and Panama.
COMMUNIST CHINA DRIVING UP THE PRICE OF OIL
Communist China�s oil �consumption� has risen 40 percent from last year, an increase so high it accounts for �One-third of the growth in global oil demand� (Epoch Times) and is all but certain to have some role in the inflated price of oil. The PRC has been hoarding some of that oil (see last Update), meaning at least part of the price hike is artificial.
WALES OPENS TRADE OFFICE IN COMMUNIST CHINA
Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the UK province of Wales, opened an office �to promote Wales in eastern China� (BBC). The Welsh Development Agency is planned to �help companies in �one of the most dynamic emerging regions in the global economy.�� Now Welsh can join the rest of the business community in throwing good money after bad.
TOYOTA PLOWS $461 MILLION INTO COMMUNIST CHINA
Toyota �is to invest $461m in a 50/50 joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile� (Financial Times, UK). The deal will mean another factory for the joint operation, and nearly half a billion for the Communists. Also reporting: BBC
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
UNESCO BLOCKS TAIWAN STAMP FROM CONTEST UNDER COMMUNIST PRESSURE
A middle-school student in Taiwan entered a stamp he designed in a contest sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). However, the PRC had other ideas. They pushed UNESCO to disqualify the stamp and, outrageously, UNESCO complied. Report: Liberty Times, Taiwan, via Epoch Times
TAIWAN ARRESTS TWO ON SUSPICION OF SPYING FOR COMMUNIST CHINA
Two men suspected of �supplying arch rival China with secrets about Taiwan's Mirage 2000-5 jet fighters� (Washington Post, second item) are now been arrest.
TAIWAN BUSINESSMEN SAY PRC INVESTMENT IS MORE RISKY
A survey of over 2,000 Taiwanese businessman �indicates that the general investment environment and risk assessment in China has worsened in comparison to last year� (Free Times via Epoch Times). A majority of those surveyed chose Taiwan as the better place to invest their money than Communist China.
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