| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: APRIL 11, 2001 TOP STORY: U.S. CREW TO LEAVE HAINAN ISLAND; PRC DEMANDS END TO SURVEILLANCE HONG KONG PAPER REPORTS U.S. PLANE FORCED TO LAND IN HAINAN The crew of the EP-3 that collided with a Communist Chinese fighter plane is to be released from Hainan Island, according to CNN. A statement read by Chen Ci, a Foreign Ministry official for the People�s Republic of China, announced the release for �humanitarian reasons.� Link: CNN Ci said the U.S. had �acknowledged� violating Communist Chinese airspace, but did not mention that it was after the plane was hit by a PRC fighter. Pentagon officials repeated their assertion the fighter was to blame, and revealed that the pilot, Wang Wei, had passed close to the EP-3 twice before the collision. The Pentagon also said the EP-3 was on autopilot when it was hit. That could leave many inside Communist China with the impression we admitted guilt, particularly considering the comments of American officials saying they were �very sorry� about the incident, which were rebroadcast all over Communist China. Communist China also demanded an end to all surveillance flights �near� its territory. CNN�s Willy Lo-Lap Lam reported that the incident is being labeled �Beijing's first major diplomatic victory in the new millennium.� He also writes that �there was no question that (Communist President) Jiang (Zemin) was in control throughout,� belying China �experts� in this country who said he was taking a hard-line under pressure. Link: CNN: Lam The release came after a letter was drafted to the Communist Chinese saying the U.S was �very sorry� the PRC pilot who collided with the EP-3 died and that the American plane landed at Hainan �without verbal clearance.� It also said, ominously, that the Americans �acknowledge your government's intention to raise U.S. reconnaissance missions near China in the meeting.� What does that mean? Link: Washington Post The PRC did not say when, or if, the EP-3 would be returned to the U.S. Agence France Presse reported that the plane�s classified data, now in Communist hands, could force major changes in U.S. and NATO intelligence gathering. CNN had earlier reported that the PRC is �stripping� the EP-3 of all its sensitive equipment. Links: AFP, CNN Meanwhile, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post revealed that the Communist Chinese may have forced the plane to land on Hainan Island, the very �violation of sovereignty� the PRC condemned. The American plane tried to fly to the northeast, away from Communist China, before being forced to land on Hainan. Link: AFP According to the Hong Kong paper, the Communists then �wrestled a U.S. crew member guarding the entrance,� and �threw the airman to the ground� force their way onto the plane. The crew had said they would not let the Communists into the plane without an American diplomat present. In another revelation, AFP, citing CNN, also reported the plane was on autopilot when the collision occurred, casting doubt on Beijing�s claim that the EP-3 veered into the Communist Chinese fighter jet. Moreover, the fighters were apparently not flying level, but performing �dangerous� maneuvers in the minutes leading up to the crash. Link: AFP The editors of the Weekly Standard took aim at the Bush Administration, calling the situation in Hainan �A National Humiliation.� In a blistering piece, William Kristol and Robert Kagan call for the repeal of Normal Trade Relations with the Communists (the vote on that is in June), and allowing Taiwan to buy all the weapons it �needs� � presumably all the ROC requested. Other critics are quietly agreeing with them. Link: Weekly Standard The Washington Times reported that there has been no slowdown in Communist Chinese surveillance flights aimed at Taiwan, Vietnam, or the South China Sea, the last of which Beijing claims it owns in its entirety. Link: Washington Times The Post reported growing anti-American sentiment in the PRC � egged on, of course, by the Communists. The paper noted that while the people tend not to trust the Communists on their domestic claims, they follow the party line on international issues. Whether this was national pride or a personal �Finlandization� was not explored. Links: Washington Post Regarding Wang, the PRC pilot, the Communist military are calling him a martyred hero, while the Pentagon released information showing him to be a cavalier hot shot who once came within 10 feet of an American plane, which is highly dangerous, to flash his e-mail address to them. Link: AFP Admiral Craig Quigley, in briefing the press last week, denied that the Communists had �interrogated� the crew, preferring to use the term �interviewed.� He also defended the surveillance missions such as the one the EP-3 was flying before the collision. Meanwhile, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong paper Wen Wei Po reported more confrontations, though without incident, between PRC fighters and U.S. surveillance aircraft. Links: AFP - Quigley, AFP - Wen Wei Po OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS (See also Xingjiang/East Turkestan News for story on planned PRC nuclear test) GAO ZHAN�S HUSBAND SEES HOPE IN CREW�S RELEASE Xue Donghua, the recently naturalized citizen held in Communist China and separated from his son for four weeks last month, said the release of the EP-3 crew gives him hope that he may soon see his wife, Gao Zhan. Beijing is still holding Gao, a researcher on the PRC and Taiwan at American University, for �spying.� Links: Washington Post - comments on crew release, Washington Post - special profile of the separated family ZHONG GONG LEADER�S HEARING FOR U.S. ASYLUM HELD A federal district court in Guam has held a hearing on Zhong Gong leader Zhang Hongbao�s request for asylum in the U.S., previously denied him by immigration officials in December. Zhong Gong fell under the same ban on �cults� that outlawed Falun Gong in 1999. The Communists added fuel to the flame by charging Zhang with rape, which he vehemently denies. The hearing adjourned without a decision made. Link: AFP BUSH STILL BACKS COMMUNIST CHINA IN WTO AS TALKS CONTINUE President Bush publicly supported Communist China�s entry into the WTO yesterday, despite the then-ongoing situation on Hainan Island. Numerous Congressmen supported repealing Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the PRC in light of the crisis. Bush did say he won�t give into Communist demands for the right to 10 years of agricultural subsidies. Talks are continuing. Links: CNN, AFP COMMUNISTS RIP HOUSE COMMITTEE VOTE AGAINST BEIJING OLYMPICS Communist China took aim at the House International Relations Committee, which voted last month in favor of a non-binding resolution opposing the possible selection of Beijing for the 2008 Games. The International Olympic Committee will pick the host for the 2008 Games on July 13. Link: AFP OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS ANOTHER SCHOLAR ARRESTED FOR �SPYING� Tan Guangguang, a Chinese-born permanent U.S. resident in Beijing on business, is under arrest for �spying.� According to the Washington Post, Tan wrote extensively on ethnic minorities in Communist China. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy noted that 20 academics were arrested in the last nine months. Link: Washington Post COMMUNISTS TRUMPET THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS PROGESS (TRY NOT TO LAUGH) Couldn�t stop yourself, could you? Well, who can? In a white paper released Monday, Communist China actually said this about their political situation, �democracy and the legal system were continuously strengthened, and the human rights situation maintained a good momentum of development.� Never mind those little crackdowns on Falun Gong, Tibet, the Uighur Muslims, the China Democracy Party, and others. Link: AFP Human Rights Watch blasted the self-congratulatory report the next day. They also noted Communist President Jiang Zemin�s ongoing Latin America trip, which they said was designed to drum up opposition to the U.S.-sponsored UN resolution condemning the PRC�s human rights record. Link: AFP FILES FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR MORE TORTURE: The International Falun Gong Human Rights Association reported more detail on the torture of practitioners, particularly women, by the Communists. AFP, which cited the group in its report, told of stories of electric shock and exposure to the elements, plus a previously unheard tactic of throwing female followers in prison cells with violent felons, who are then encouraged to rape them. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS PANDA HABITAT UNDER SEIGE AFP, citing Science, reported that the Wolong Nature Reserve, designed specifically for a habitat for pandas, �is disappearing more rapidly than unprotected zones.� The Communist Party has focused heavily on development, too heavily in the minds of environmentalists and free-market supporters alike. Link: AFP INTERNATIONAL NEWS MORE RUSSIAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT HEADED FOR COMMUNIST CHINA The PRC re-opened talks with the Russians on buying An-70 planes, according to AFP. The talks were suspended after one plane made an emergency landing and Russia�s Defense Minister was replaced. Russia is the PRC�s biggest arms supplier. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS WIN EXEMPTION TO WEAPONS TRACKING TREATY A UN treaty to register all weapons by a unique code � ostensibly to help nations track them and keep them out of war zones � hit a snag when Communist China won the right to use �geometric symbols and Chinese characters instead of universally recognized letters and numbers.� According to the Washington Times, no other country demanded this, which makes tracking the weaponry exceedingly more difficult. Link: Washington Times REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS PRESIDENT CHEN CALLS FOR PLAN TO PREVENT ROC-PRC AIR INCIDENTS ROC President Chen Shui-bian offered proposed a �confidence building mechanism� to prevent crises such as the Hainan situation occur in the event of a PRC-ROC mid-air collision. The Communists repeatedly engage in the same tactics toward ROC planes that they used on the EP-3. Beijing, naturally, did not respond warmly to the request. Link: AFP SUPPORT FOR �ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS� RISES TO 16% A poll by the Mainland Affairs Council, reported by AFP, shows that support for reunification under �one country, two systems,� has grown to 16%, up from 12% last year and 4% in 1997. Over 70% still oppose the idea. The poll�s margin of error was not reported. Link: AFP HONG KONG NEWS ACTIVISTS PROTEST HOLDING OF HK RESIDENTS, BARRING OF DEMOCRATS FROM MAINLAND The Social Democratic Forum led a protest against the detention of Hong Kong residents Leung Hwa and Xu Zerong and at the Communists� Hong Kong liaison office. A SDF spokesperson told Radio TV Hong Kong they were also protesting the mainland ban on three prominent members of the Hong Kong Democratic Party. Link: Radio TV Hong Kong MAINLANDERS BANNED FROM HK DURING JIANG�S VISIT TO STOP PROTESTERS While Communist President Jiang Zemin visits the city next month, mainlanders are forbidden to enter Hong Kong. The HK ban ensures no mainlanders join in protests of the thin-skinned Jiang, especially followers of Falun Gong. Link: AFP TIBET NEWS COMMUNISTS ATTACK DALAI LAMA FOR VISITING TAIWAN Using their Xinhua news agency, the Communists blasted the Dalai Lama during his just wrapped up visit to Taiwan as an attempt to win support for Tibetan independence, something the Tibetan spiritual leader has disavowed on numerous occasions in favor of greater autonomy for the region. Link: BBC XINJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS COMMUNISTS PLANNING NUCLEAR TEST AT LOP NUR FACILITY The Washington Times reported that the Communists are planning a �subcritical� underground nuclear weapon test at Lop Nur, in the heart of the region. The paper hinted that the EP-3 plane at the center of the Hianan crisis might have been gathering intelligence on the test preparations. Link: Washington Times Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving this. 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