| 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. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JULY 10, 2002 TOP STORY: MURDER OF PRC CONSUL IN KYRGYZSTAN A �CRIMINAL DISPUTE� ASSAILANTS WERE NOT FROM EAST TURKESTAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT Once again, the facts have blown away media speculation fueled by the Communist drive to tar the East Turkestani independence movement with anything it can find � but unfortunately not before the last Update fell victim to it. Officials in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, said that a Communist Chinese consul murdered last week was �an accidental victim of what they describe as a criminal dispute� (BBC). The Kyrgyz officials said the target of the assailants was not the consul, but his driver, an ethnic Chinese businessman. Earlier, Russian media had pinned the blame on Muslim Uighurs in support of an independent East Turkestan. Beijing has repeatedly labelled the independence movement an ally of al Qaeda, despite having no evidence to support the claim. Also reporting: Washington Times (first paragraph) This is the second time in two years that the Uighurs � arguably the most pro-American Muslims on the planet � have been suspected of violence, only to have the truth reveal another chain of events. In 2000, a military truck exploded in Urumqi, the capital of East Turkestan (Communist China calls it �Xinjiang�), and after media speculation pointed to the Uighurs, the Communists admitted it was an accident. This was the only news regarding East Turkestan this week. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. TOP HUMAN RIGHTS STORY: FALUN GONG TAKES OVER TV STATION COMMUNIST CHINA ANGRILY CALLS SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT �SEMI-TERRORIST� For the second time this year, Falun Gong has taken over Communist-run television for a brief period of time. Unlike the last time, which only involved on station, the spiritual movement managed to take temporary control of a satellite feed for rural Communist China (CNN). The so-called People�s Republic, which banned the movement in 1999 and has called it a �cult� ever since, was obviously not amused. According to the Washington Post, Falun Gong not only broadcast material through the satellite, which reaches over 70 million, but managed to block the Communist-approved signal for a week, scotching a planned live broadcast of a speech by President Jiang Zemin. It was the most dramatic sign yet the Falun Gong, despite the police murders, imprisonment, and mass arrests, will not go away. Still, Communist China is ratcheting up the pressure against a group it ignored for years, until its membership outgrew that of the Chinese Communist Party. CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam reported that the PRC has now called the group �semi-terrorist� and opposed to �modern civilization, the world order and public morality of mankind.� The Communists also insisted the transmission came from outside the PRC, and pointed the finger at Falun Gong�s New York headquarters � founder Li Hongzhi escaped the PRC for the Big Apple. The spiritual movement denied any role, saying Falun Gong practitioners inside Communist China were the likely source for the dramatic show of resistance. Also reporting: Cybercast News, BBC OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS FALUN GONG, LABOR UNREST TARGETTED BY COMMUNIST POLICE As Communist China prepares another �strike hard� campaign, CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam notes that the Communist leadership is including Falun Gong in it sights, calling the spiritual movement a �quasi-terrorist organization.� Lam also noted that the Communists were deeply worried about labor unrest in the interior of the PRC, �particularly in the northeastern provinces as well as . . . Sichuan and Henan.� BBC BLOCKED FROM PRC AIRWAVES Communist China�s edginess toward Falun Gong has even led it to block a foreign news service�s signal into the PRC. The BBC has been banned in Beijing, and everywhere else in Communist China, for airing Falun Gong material in a story. The network�s official transmission into the PRC was blocked on Friday. Also reporting: Washington Times (last paragraph) INTERNET PROVIDERS IN PRC DOING COMMUNISTS� DIRTY WORK FOR THEM Communist China boasted that �increasing numbers of internet service providers (ISPs) are signing an agreement to control the material the public can view on the web� (BBC). The agreement to enforce what the Communists call �self-discipline� includes preventing any content deemed �harmful to national security and social stability� (i.e., anything that annoys the Communists) from being published. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNIST CHIEF JUSTICE PROMISES JUDICIAL �REFORM� Xiao Yang, Communist president of the Supreme People�s Court, vowed to change the judicial system to in the PRC. Xiao�s �reforms� include greater qualifications for judges, and an end to judges taking orders from superiors. Will it be enough to end a system that evenly mixes corruption and torture? According to the BBC, �western legal experts in China say his changes still fall short.� Also reporting: CNN BANK OF CHINA SET FOR $3 BILLION IPO The Communist-run Bank of China is prepared to sell over $3 billion in shares in its Initial Public Offering, set now for July 25. The PRC-run bank is making the IPO despite the arrest of its former President Wang Xuebing for corrupt loans. Wang now faces �prosecutorial action� (BBC). AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS SHIPMENT OF AIM-120 MISSILES TO ROC �EXPECTED� After news of the Communists test-firing Russian high-tech AA-12 air-to-air missiles (see last update), the U.S. is considering sending AIM-120 missiles bought by Taiwan � but not delivered � to the island democracy to help it protect itself (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). An unnamed American official said the delivery was �expected,� but when it would happen is still up in the air. For more on Taiwan, see Republic of China (Taiwan) News. There�s still time to contact the President and tell him not to appoint pro-PRC Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. TALKS ON PRC-U.S. MILITARY EXCHANGES �NOT CONCLUSIVE� Talks between Communist China and the U.S. to resume military exchanges between the two � they were suspended after the Hainan outrage � hit ��three stumbling blocks: reciprocity, transparency and consistency� (Washington Times). The Communists fell short on all three, so the talks were �not conclusive,� and the military exchanges remain on hold. PRC GRANTS PERMISSION TO U.S. TO SEARCH FOR REMAINS OF PILOTS Communist China gave the U.S. permission to search Jilin province, which borders North Korea, for the remains of two CIA pilots who were shot down in 1952 on an intelligence mission during the Korean War. Reports: BBC, Washington Post INTERNATIONAL NEWS ANTI-COMMUNIST GOVERNOR OF TOKYO MAY FORM NEW PARTY CNN reports that Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, a fiery nationalist who is easily the most anti-Communist politician in Japan, may break from the governing Liberal Democratic Party and form his own party. The widely popular Ishihara, considered in some circles as a possible Prime Minister, is the only politician on record to refer to relations with the PRC as �another cold war.� SHELL-PETROCHINA PIPELINE DEAL OFFICIAL Shell signed on the dotted line for a minority stake in a gas pipeline from East Turkestan to Shanghai. The Communist-run PetroChina will own half the pipeline, and another PRC-run firm, Sinopec, will own 5% � thus ensuring Communist control over the pipeline (BBC). WARNER BROTHERS LOOKING FOR MINORITY STAKE IN SHANGHAI CINEMA Shanghai Paradise Cinema is looking for Communist approval to sell �just under a half share� of itself to Warner Brothers. The PRC is normally very edgy about the film industry � over concern for what a BBC industry analyst called �what they perceive to be revelling (British sp) in the Western lifestyle and transmitting Western values.� Of course, Warner would not have majority control. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS TAIWAN RESCUERS SAVE OVER 130 MAINLAND FISHERMEN Rescuers from Taiwan save over 130 mainland fishermen from a fiery death this week in the Taiwan Straits. The rescue operation saved all but one fisherman who had jumped overboard before the rescuers got there through a typhoon and other storms. Reports: BBC, CNN COMMUNIST CHINA LOOKING TO APPOINT TAIWANESE BUSINESSMEN AS �ADVISORS� Communist China is looking to tap some Taiwanese businessmen as �advisors� on cross-strait issues in another attempt at �using Taiwan businessmen to put pressure on Taipei� (CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam). The PRC has already invited a number of ROC businessmen for talks. President Chen Shui-bian, elected leader of the island democracy, warned the entrepreneurs that they could be walking �into a trap.� HONG KONG NEWS HK CIVIL SERVANTS DEFY GOVERNMENT WARNING TO PROTEST PAY CUT Between 20,000 and 35,000 civil servants protested a pay cut proposed by Communist-appointed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The protestors ignored a government �warning� against the protests. The union representing the civil servants says the problem is not the pay cuts per se, but rather the lack of consultation that has become typical of Tung�s undemocratic regime. Reports: CNN, BBC TIBET NEWS DALAI LAMA MEETS CROATIAN PREMIER The Dalai Lama met with Craotian Prime Minister Ivica Racan this week. Report: Washington Times, fourth mini-story The North Korea Report has the latest on the Stalinist ally of Communist China. Sign up now to receive it every Monday. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. 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