| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: DECEMBER 11, 2002 TOP STORY: HELIONGJIANG PROVINCE SEES MORE LABOR PROTESTS UNEMPLOYED WORKERS PROTEST THEFT OF PENSION PAYMENTS About 2,000 unemployed workers, furious over promised but unpaid pension payments, have blocked a railway in Jiamsui for about a week now, despite the arrest of a dozen protestors over the weekend, according to the BBC. Jiamsui is in Heliongjiang Province, where labor protests at the Daqing oil field brought thousands into the streets and lasted for weeks (see 3/13/02, 3/20/02, and 3/27/02 updates). OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS SOUTH CHINA CHURCH LEADER, BANNED FROM APPEAL CONVICTION, ON HUNGER STRIKE Gong Shengliang, the leader of the South China Church currently serving a life sentence in prison (see 10/16/02 update), has gone on a hunger strike to protest the Communists� refusal to allow him �to protest his jailers' refusal to allow him to write letters and file an appeal� (Washington Post). LIKELY ALLY OF LI PENG TAKES CHARGE OF POLICE Zhou Yongkang, who according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN, is �believed to be close to� Tiananmen butcher Li Peng, became the PRC police chief this week, the first time in over 25 years a Politburo member took the post. Lam noted that this is meant emphasize the Communist efforts to stamp out dissenters from Falun Gong to angry workers laid off by Communist-run firms. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNIST CHINESE BLOOD DRIVE AIDS CRISIS NOW IN SEVERAL PROVINCES In a wide-ranging story on Communist China and AIDS, the Washington Post noted PRC blood-drives whose lack of hygiene combined with a plasma re-injection scheme � designed to encourage multiple donations � led to an epidemic in Henan province � infecting as many as one million (see 9/4/02 update). That�s not all: �Recent interviews with government officials, Western diplomats and a network of Beijing-based activists who survey the countryside revealed a far broader problem, one that touches most of China's vast interior, including the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei, Shanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shandong and Hunan.� This is the first time the epidemic was reported to be so widespread. ZENG QINGHONG WINS HU JINTAO�S OLD JOB AT PARTY SCHOOL Zeng Qinghong, the lead prot�g� of Central Military Commission Chair Jiang Zemin, won current party chief Hu Jintao�s old job as head of the Central Party School (Washington Times, last paragraph). Given that Jiang�s Shanghai faction is already trying to put Zeng in Hu�s place (see 11/20/02 update), this could be another sign that Jiang and his �Shanghai Mafia� will be the power behind Hu�s very shaky throne. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TO OPEN SHANGHAI PARK; DISNEY TO HOLD BACK Universal Studios, the folks with an amusement park in Orlando just next to Disney�s, will build a new park in Shanghai � possibly to open in 2006 (CNN). Their Florida neighbor, however, will not be joining them until at least 2010, according to the BBC. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR ARMITAGE IN COMMUNIST CHINA TO �CONSULT� ON IRAQ Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visited Communist China today to �consult� (CNN) on Iraq. The PRC repeatedly ripped U.S. policy on Iraq, then fell in line with France and Russia rather than oppose the U.S. by itself. Before that, it wrung one concession out of the U.S. � the naming of the likely defunct East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist group (see 8/28/02, 9/18/02 and 10/2/02 updates). Check out these stories and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS AL GORE VISITED PRC-RUN THINK TANK, TAKES SPEAKING FEE FROM IT Former Vice President Al Gore paid a visit to the PRC-run China Development Institute in Shenzhen � or to be more accurate, was paid to visit and speak to the group, which covered the fee in part by charging guests for photos with Gore. Gore also met with pro-Beijing Hong Kong tycoon Chan Chi-chung. Both sources � the Weekly Standard and the New York Sun � cited the South China Morning Post. JIANG BLAMED U.S. ARMS SALES TO ROC FOR MISSILE BUILDUP IN CRAWFORD SUMMIT Did Jiang Zemin make President Bush an offer to end the missile buildup against Taiwan in exchange for reduced American arms sales to the ROC? An unnamed Communist told the Washington Post the offer was �sincere.� An American official told the Washington Times (second paragraph) it was more an excuse for the buildup, as in �the only reason we're deploying missiles is because of U.S. arms sales.� RICE WARNS GENERAL WHO THREATENED TO VAPORIZE L.A. OVER TAIWAN Communist Lieutenant General Xiong Guankai, who once threatened to incinerate Los Angeles if the U.S. came to Taiwan�s defense, heard form National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that such threats were �unacceptable,� according to Bill Gertz (Washington Times). Rice told Xiong the U.S. �is committed to its obligations under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.� The aforementioned act calls on the U.S. to sell the island democracy whatever arms it needs to defend itself. Rice also insisted the PRC rule out the rule of force on Taiwan. Xiong refused to do that in earlier meetings this week with U.S. officials. Also Reporting: CNN, Newsmax.com, BBC INTERNATIONAL NEWS NORTH KOREA LOOKING FOR HELP ON NUKES FROM COMMUNIST CHINA Stalinist North Korea is asking �several Chinese companies� to advance its nuclear weapons program, according to Bill Gertz (Washington Times). In particular, the North wants tributyl phosphate, which can be used to make weapons-grade uranium. The Stalinists have been developing uranium-based weapons for years, in violation of a 1994 nuclear deal with the U.S. The PRC is North Korea�s oldest ally. Sign up for the North Korea Report, sent every Monday. PRC OIL FIRM READY TO MAKE BID FOR RUSSIAN FIRM, WANTS SIBERIAN PIPELINE In a move that �shocked Russian oil firms last week,� the Communist-owned China National Petroleum Corporation announced it would make a bid for the Russian oil firm Slavneft, as part of a plan to garner a Siberian pipeline for the PRC. Should CNPC, whose subsidiary PetroChina is listed on the NYSE, win the bid, it would also seize the reserves in Russia owned by Slavneft. Report: CNN NORTH KOREAN REFUGEE SUPPORTERS ON TRIAL IN COMMUNIST CHINA Communist China placed seven people who have helped North Korean refugees hide in and escape from the PRC on trial for their actions. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the Stalinist regime are forced to hide while in Communist China; which sends back any refugee it finds. Report: BBC MISS WORLD PAGEANT PICKS HAINAN FOR NEXT YEAR�S EVENT Fresh off the fiasco surrounding this year�s ceremony in Nigeria, then London, the Miss World pageant announced it would hold next year�s pageant on Hainan Island, landing site of the EP-3 that was hit during the Hainan outrage (see 4/5/01 and 4/11/01 update). Report: BBC REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS NATIONALIST MAYOR OF TAIPEI RE-ELECTED, DPP MAYOR OF KAOHSIUNG ALSO WINS Ma Ying-jeou, the Mayor of Taipei, won an easy re-election over the weekend. Ma, a member of the once long-ruling Nationalist Party who defeated President Chen Shui-bian in 1998 for his first term, is now being touted as a challenger to President Chen Shui-bian, according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN. However, as Lam noted, Chen�s Democratic Progressive Party re-elected Frank Hsieh, mayor of Kaohsiung, the second largest city in the ROC, and also won control the local legislature, a sign of what Lam called �the DPP�s resilience.� Also Reporting: Time Asia COMMUNIST CHINA TO KEEP DOOR OPEN FOR ROC BUSINESSMEN, SHUT FOR DPP Meanwhile, Communist China intends to keep the red carpet out for Taiwanese business, but the door remains slammed shut for the island democracy�s Democratic Progressive Party. The DPP will remain on the outs with the Communists, who are determined not give them the legitimacy of an elected government. Report: Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN COMMUNIST CHINA AGREES TO TALKS WITH TAIWAN ON STEEL DUMPING Communist China agreed to hold talks with Taiwanese officials under the auspices of the World Trade Organization on the issue of steel trade. The island democracy is worried that Communist China could take advantage of Taiwan�s plans to end steel tariffs in 2004 by �dumping,� i.e., selling below cost, steel into Taiwan and gutting the domestic steel industry, thanks to PRC trade barriers on steel. Report: BBC HONG KONG NEWS LEGISLATOR FROM FINANCIAL COMMUNITY, BANKS LEERY OF �ANTI-SUBVERSION� LAW David Li, a Hong Kong legislator known to speak for �the financial sector,� expressed sharp skepticism about the Communist-appointed government�s �anti-subversion� law. The proposed law, which includes the catch-all crime of leaking �state secrets� has many financiers �concerned about freedom of information . . . concerned that Hong Kong will not be what it has always been,� (BBC) according to Li. As a result, foreign banks in Hong Kong may �scale down their presence in the territory� due to the new law. These are the latest signs of growing business opposition to the law in the � the Roman Catholic Church, human rights activists, and democracy supporters already oppose it (see last update). Meanwhile, the PRC told outside critics of the law, namely the U.S. and the U.K., to buzz off (Cybercast News). TIBET NEWS TWO �BOMBERS� SENTENCED TO DEATH, HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAY THEY WERE FRAMED A Communist court in Sichuan province sentenced two men from a piece of Sichuan that was originally part of Tibet to death for an alleged bombing in the Sichuan capital of Chengdu. The following day, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy and the Tibet Information Center blasted the convictions and the sentences, saying the two men were framed. Report: Washington Post The two men � one of whom was a well-known student of the Dalai Lama � were from a part of Sichuan that had originally been part of Tibet (BBC 12/5/02). While the PRC has repeatedly accused Tibet independence supporters of violence, the BBC (12/6/02) also noted that actual violent incidents are never reported in detail � similar to the evidence-free campaign against East Turkestan. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it Anyonewho wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. 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