| Link of the Week Charles R. Smith, in Newsmax.com, rips opponents of a hard line on North Korea, and details Communist China�s support for the Stalinist regime. More on Communist China and North Korea Philip Pan, Washington Post, takes a sympathetic look at Communist China's ties to North Korea, which Pan reports are quite frayed. All the same, the PRC is not willing to get to tough on the Stalinists, lest the regime fall and thus the Communists must "face the unwelcome prospect of sharing a border with a unified Korea that would be a U.S. ally." Neither John O�Sullivan, Editor-at-Large of National Review, nor Austin Bay, in the Washington Times, focus on Communist China's role in dealing with North Korea. However, they do make some odd comments on the Communist regime. O�Sullivan, who makes his prediction in NR Online, calls Communist China a �regional ally� of the U.S. Nay goes even further and suggests a possible "pre-emptive action by the U.S. and China, to include the possible use of small-yield nuclear weapons on North Korean military targets." Have these men forgotten that the PRC and North Korea have been allies for over fifty years? The editors of NR also see possible cooperation from the PRC, but only if the U.S. makes clear the alternative could be "a nuclearized Japan and South Korea." Victor Davis Hanson, also in NRO, gives the most plausible reason Communist China might be of help: "the cynical advantages of peace, capitalism, and open trade . . . to beat the West at its own game by acquiring hi-tech weaponry." All in all, a number of folks still clearly have the wrong idea about what Communist China's interests really are in East Asia. On the Rural/Urban Divide in Communist China Francis Markus, BBC, examines the �economic gap� and the �reality gap� dividing the urban centers in Communist China from the rural hinterlands. On Slave Labor in Communist China Exiled dissident Harry Wu gives daming detail on the prison labor camps in Communist China in his new book, Troublemaker. Wes Vernon, Newsmax.com, reviews his book in two parts (Part I, Part II). More on the Communist Chinese Economy Francis Markus, BBC, looks at the �property bubble� building in Communist China. Sign up now for the next North Korea Report, sent out every Monday. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. 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 or North Korea that you happen to find to the same address. |