TOP STORY: COMMUNISTS SENTENCE WANG BINGZHANG TO LIFE IN PRISON
FORMER EXILE WENT TO VIETNAM TO MEET PRC DISSIDENTS BEFORE DISAPPEARING; COMMUNISTS CALL HIM �TERRORIST�; FAMILY �STUNNED� AT SENTENCE
Wang Bingzhang, a Chinese dissident who shunned the safety of exile twice to help his fellow anti-Communists, will spend the rest of his life in a prison in the so-called People�s Republic of China. Wang had left the U.S., where he lived since 1982, to meet Chinese dissidents in Vietnam. He was never seen again until the PRC claimed it �rescued� him and put him on trial (see 7/31/02 and 12/26/02 Updates).
When it came to the charges against Wang, the Communists spared no pretense of truth. They claimed Wang had been �passing state secrets to Taiwan . . . plotting to bomb the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2001; trying to build a terrorist training camp in northern Thailand and plotting bombings and assassinations in China in 1999� (CNN).
The U.S. expressed �deep concern� about the verdict and �the apparent lack of evidence and of due process.� The Communists told the U.S. and other critics to stuff it, and even went so far as to say, �China is a country ruled by law, and anyone violating the law and committing crimes will be punished by law.� If it weren�t so outrageous, it would be laughable.
Wang�s trial lasted one day, and was closed to the public due to � no prize for guessing � �state secrets.� The sentence was one of the harshest given to a dissident since the Cultural Revolution. As the BBC noted, the Communists usually deal with dissidents through prison or exile, but Wang refused to be cowed; he briefly returned to the PRC in 1998 (before being expelled again).
Few, if any, believe the Communist line that Wang was �rescued� after disappearing in Vietnam, where he was hoping to meet labor dissidents in the aftermath of major protests in the Communist northeast (see 3/13/02, 3/20/02, and 3/27/02 Updates).
TOP AMERICAN STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA BUILDING ANTI-DEFENSE MISSILE
DF-21, TEST-FIRED IN DECEMBER, WOULD BE PRC�S FIRST MIRV-ARMED MISSILE
Communist China �successfully test-launched a medium-range missile equipped with MIRV warheads last December,� according to the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun (cited by CNN). If operational, the missile, known as the DF-21, would be the first missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle warheads (MIRVs) in the PRC�s arsenal.
A MIRV-armed missile could �be capable of penetrating America's proposed national missile defense system as well as threatening U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups.� The reason for such a dramatic advancement in Communist military arsenal is to �prevent U.S. forces from �interfering� in the Taiwan Strait� to defend the island democracy from a continuously threatened Communist attack.
This was the only news regarding Taiwan this week.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA OPPOSES UN ACTION ON NORTH KOREAN NUKES
In yet another sign of where its interests really lie, Communist China came out against taking the matter of North Korea�s nuclear weapons to the Security Council, and insisted that �diplomacy is the only way out� (CNN 2/11), meaning talks between the U.S. and North Korea. Communist spokesperson Zhang Qiyue also called on the U.S. to consider the �particular security concerns� of PRC�s five-decade ally.
The statement came one day before the International Atomic Energy Agency voted to send the issue of North Korea�s nuclear weapons program to the United Nations Security Council by a 31-0 vote (CNN 2/12). North Korea violated both a 1994 agreement with the U.S. and the Non-Proliferation Treaty; in both, the Stalinist regime pledged to freeze its nuclear weapons program. Also reporting: BBC
The Security Council could, in theory, impose economic sanctions against the Stalinist regime, but the Communists� veto power on the Security Council makes any punitive action against the Stalinist North very unlikely indeed.
PRESIDENT GROWING MORE ANNOYED AT COMMUNIST CHINA VIS A VIS NORTH KOREA
Meanwhile, President Bush himself �suggested growing irritation with China� (Washington Post) in its complete lack of support for his efforts to get the Stalinist regime to behave. One unnamed U.S. official was more blunt, �They're carrying Pyongyang's water instead of ours.� Given that Stalinist North Korea is a fifty-year PRC ally, why does the surprise anyone?
Sign up for the North Korea Report, sent every Monday.
FBI JOINING CIA IN RECRUITING ETHNIC CHINESE
On the heels of reports that the CIA is looking to sign up ethnic Chinese to help their operations against and analyses of the PRC (see last Update), Newsmax.com reports that the FBI �has been engaged for the last year in �a very strongly renewed effort� to monitor and recruit Chinese students� to help the Bureau gauge just how deep the Communist espionage tentacles reach in the U.S.
U.S. ARMS SALES TO INDIA APPROACHING $200 MILLION
U.S. arms sales to India, Communist China�s long-time regional rival, are at roughly $190 billion, up from �near zero� in the 1990�s according to U.S. Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill. Blackwill also said the arms sales would keep coming, due to �Indian and American democratic principles� (Washington Times, second section).
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
JIANG ZEMIN TELLS PRESIDENT BUSH TO �SAFEGUARD� UN AUTHORITY
Jiang Zemin, PRC President and Chairman of the critical Central Military Commission, told President Bush in a phone conversation to �safeguard the Security Council's authority when dealing with significant issues like the Iraq issue,� according to the Communist-run People�s Daily (cited by CNN). It was yet another sign of the Communists� opposition to military action in Iraq.
It should be noted that Iraq also received a fiber-optic network to integrate its air defenses courtesy of the Communist firm Huawei Technologies (see 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, and 3/21/01 Updates).
COMMUNIST CHINA NON-VETO IN UN MAY NEED �MORE EFFECTIVE LOBBYING�
According to CNN, �if the U.S. wants the United Nations to vote on a new resolution giving its mandate to forcibly disarm Iraq, Washington will need to do more effective lobbying in order to get China to . . . not use its veto power.� What �more effective lobbying� means was not discussed.
The report deviates from that of CNN�s lead analysts on the PRC, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, who has reported that the Communists are willing to join France and Russia lead the opposition to American military action on Iraq, but would likely abstain on any UN resolution (see last Update).
MAINLAND NEWS
YELLOW RIVER IS �DRYING UP� AGAIN
The Yellow River, Communist China�s second largest, �will almost certainly stop flowing in the next few months� (BBC). This is not the first time the river has gone dry, but the severity of it is unprecedented. One of the biggest reasons for this is �hundreds of dams along the length of the Yellow River� built by the Communists in water diversion plans that would almost never occur in a free market.
INCOMING PRC PM, AN ALLEDGED �REFORMER,� LIKELY TO FOCUS ON �SECURITY�
Wen Jiabao, the man chosen to replace his patron Zhu Rongji both as Prime Minister and the lead �reformer� in the PRC, will, according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam of CNN, deal mainly with �efforts to maintain stability and national security.� These include, among other things �petroleum security� and �talent security� otherwise known as stopping a �brain drain.�
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA TO SEND PEACEKEEPERS TO CONGO
Communist China is planning to send �175 soldiers from an engineering battalion and 43 soldiers from a medical unit� (Washington Post) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) as part of the UN peacekeeping force there. It is the first peacekeeping force sent by the PRC is nearly ten years � and is, according to the Post, �a sign of the country's increasing interest in extending its influence overseas.�
INDIA TO TEST MISSILE CAPABLE OF REACHING �DEEP INTO CHINA�
India will some time this year test-fire its Agni III missile, which has a range of over 1,875 miles and �will be able to strike deep into China� (Washington Times, third section) if operational.
COMMUNIST CHINESE JUDGE ELECTED TO LEAD WORLD COURT
Communist Chinese judge Shi Jiuyong won the presidency of the United Nations World Court, �the U.N. institute for legal disputes between states� (Washington Times, fourth section) last week.
HONG KONG NEWS
�CONSULTATION� ON �ANTI-SUBVERSION� LAW ANGERS OPPONENTS
Two prominent opponents of Hong Kong�s proposed �anti-subversion� law are furious with the Communist-appointed city government for its characterization of their views during the �consultation� process of last year. The anti-Communist Democratic Party �that it was categorized (UK sp) as being indifferent to the proposals, when its opposition had been clearly stated� (BBC 2/6).
Bishop Joseph Zen, head of the city�s Roman Catholic Church, also opposes the law, but his view �was not included in a recent summary of views published by the Security Bureau.� Such things are not endearing the opposition to the law, which many of them feel is a Communist end-run around the freedom supposedly guaranteed in the �one country, two systems� framework (see 9/25/02 and 10/30/02 Updates).
Not surprisingly, Hong Kong�s Communist-appointed leader, the widely unpopular Tung Chee-hwa, continues to support the law (BBC 2/12).
No news was reported from Tibet this week.
Check out this story and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
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]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China you happen to find to the same address.