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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MARCH 12, 2003
TOP STORY: PRC CONTINUES TO AID IRAN�S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, SAYS REBEL GROUP
The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group that, truth be told, appears as bad as the regime it�s fighting, has charged Communist China and its Stalinist ally North Korea with giving Iran �assistance� (Washington Post) with its nuclear weapons program. Iranian scientists �visited both countries in the past two years to seek technical help with uranium enrichment,� according to NRCI.
NRCI, which first exposed Iran�s nuclear complex at Natanz and the help it received from Communist China (see 12/26/02 Update) also said two PRC officials �visited Iran to oversee mining of uranium ore near the town of Yaz.�
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
COMMUNISTS VOW TO FIGHT �THREATS TO THE STATE,� INCLUDING UIGHURS
Communist China�s lead prosecutor, Han Zhubin, told the National People�s Congress (Parliament) that the PRC would �vigorously fight separatists, terrorists and evil cult organizers (UK sp) for the sake of national security� (BBC). The chief targets were corruption, political dissidents, Falun Gong, and the Uighur-populated East Turkestan (called �Xinjiang� by the PRC). Also Reporting: Washington Post
The PRC has insisted that all opponents to the brutal Communist repression of the Uighurs are �terrorists,� and for a time, it looked like the U.S. agreed with them when it labeled the likely defunct East Turkestan Islamic Movement a terrorist group. The U.S. rejected the Communist claim of its support for the endless Uighur crackdown months later (see 8/28/02, 9/18/02, and 12/18/02 Updates).
COMMUNIST CHINA CRITICIZES U.S., AGAIN, ON IRAQ AND NORTH KOREA
PRC Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said a second resolution, proposed by the U.S. and others giving the UN imprimatur for military action in Iraq, was �absolutely unnecessary� (CNN). It was yet another sign of the Communists� strategy of publicly opposing the U.S. position while not actually planning to veto any resolution in the UN (see last Update) � Tang was silent on the veto option.
Tang also went after the U.S. position on North Korea, calling for �dialogue� between the U.S. and the Communists� ally, and saying any sanctions against the Stalinist regime �can only lead to the complication of the situation.� Also reporting: BBC, Washington Post
Check out these stories and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
NORTH KOREA NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA PUSHES DIRECT U.S.-NK TALKS
Communist China repeated its call for the U.S. to �try to initiate talks as soon as possible� (BBC) with North Korea. This is, of course, the chief demand of the Stalinist regime itself. The PRC and North Korea have been allies for over 50 years.
For the latest on Communist China�s Stalinist ally, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA SNATCHING U.S. WEAPONS MAKING EQUIPMENT
A Valparaiso plant in Indiana �that produces critical parts for U.S. precision-guided weapons� (Insight), including cruise missiles, is shutting down on order from its owner, Magnequench, Inc. Why is that a big deal? Well, Magnequench is part of San Huan New Materials and Hi-Tech Co., a firm partly owned by the so-called People�s Republic of China, the new home of the Valparaiso factory equipment.
The heads of both Magnequench and San Huan are married to daughters of Deng Xiaoping, the late Communist leader who, as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in 1989, order the Tiananmen Square massacre. Deng also launched a program three years earlier to step up Communist control of the �rare-earth metal� market, which is critical for the aforementioned precision-guided weaponry.
It should be noted that the wife of Magnequench�s chairman is a Communist vice minister of state on science and technology. Link courtesy Ron Vogel, member since 2000
HUTCHISON WHAMPOA PULLS BID FOR GLOBAL CROSSING, A REWORKED BID LIKELY
Hutchison Whampoa, led by pro-Communist Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing (see last Update), was forced to pull his bid for Global Crossing due to national security concerns, according to Newsmax. Li will likely rework the bid, giving his firm a �passive� role in running the bankrupt telecommunications company. HW currently runs two container ports on the Panama Canal.
HUGHES, BOEING HIT WITH $32 MILLION IN FINES
Hughes Electronics, whose provided missile launch information to Communist China in the 1990s, and its parent company Boeing were hit with $32 million in fines from the U.S. government for the actions. The technology transfer has been highly controversial ever since they became public knowledge almost a decade ago. Report: BBC
UNFPA EXPANDING ROLE IN COMMUNIST CHINA
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has �expanded its future endeavors in China� (Cybercast News), earning it more criticism from those who pushed the Bush Administration to cancel U.S. funding to the group for its involvement in Communist China, whose hideous �one child� policy includes forced abortions, sterilizations, and in at least one case, infanticide (see 08/30/00 and 07/24/02 Updates).
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
ANTI-U.S. PROTESTS BY CHINESE ON IRAQ BLOCKED BY COMMUNISTS
What makes the U.S. different from Communist China? Here, opponents of possible military action in Iraq are free to express their views despite disagreeing with the Bush Administration. Communist China, meanwhile, has refused to allow any anti-war protests, despite the fact that the protesters would be agreeing with the Communist regime. Report: Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN
AS LEGISLATURE MEETS, COMMUNISTS ARREST MORE DISSIDENTS
Communist China treated the opening of the legislature as it treats all major regime events � as a time to crackdown on dissidents again. In this case, pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo is now under house arrest, and He Depu has charges of �subversion� (BBC) hanging over her head.
COMMUNIST CHINA MAKES LIST OF WORST RELIGIOUS PERSECUTORS, AGAIN
Once again, Communist China made the State Department�s list of ��countries of particular concern� for abuses of religious freedom� (Agence France Presse via Washington Times). State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said in the PRC � and the other regimes that made the list � �the status of religious freedom has not significantly improved� since they made the list last year.
FOUR ROLLING STONES TUNES BLOCKED FROM CONCERT
The Rolling Stones, who will hold two concerts in Communist China next month, got a taste of Communist censorship when the PRC told the group �drop four of their best-known songs from their concerts� (BBC).
YANG JIANLI�S FAMILY LAUNCHES WEBSITE
The family of Yang Jianli, an exiled dissident arrested while trying to re-enter Communist China last year in order to help labor protests in the northeast PRC (see 3/13/02, 3/20/02, 5/1/02, and 7/3/02 Updates), have started a web site to highlight his case (National Review Online, 8th bullet).
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
ANOTHER MAJOR LABOR PROTEST IN HELIONGJIANG . . .
Heliongjiang province, home of the massive Daqing labor protests one year ago (see 3/13/02, 3/20/02, and 3/27/02 Updates), witnessed another demonstration by angry workers, this time at a PRC-run textile factory. The workers took to the streets to �demand back pay and unemployment insurance� (Washington Times, third paragraph).
. . .AS AN ANTI-CORRUPTION �BOMBER� ARRESTED IN REUTERS BEIJING OFFICE
Meanwhile, Fang Qinghui, who claimed to hail from the roiling Heliongjiang province, entered the Reuters office in Beijing and claimed he had a bomb. He tried to use this claim to get a television interview to tell �the whole world to know how black China is, how corrupt it is� (CNN). It was the most dramatic sign of just how angry workers feel about the regime built in their name. Also reporting: BBC
MILITARY SPENDING RISES BY SMALLER AMOUNT THAN EXPECTED, WE THINK
The part of the Communist military budget that the regime admits to the public rose by �only� 9.6%, faster than the overall increase in government spending, but well below the 17+% increases over the last two years. However, the Communist military budget does not include �funds for the research and development of weapons, including procurement of hardware from Russia� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN).
In a later report, Lam noted that the increases were largely going to the Communists� �capability to fight hi-tech warfare.�
COMMUNISTS TO RUN RECORD BUDGET DEFICIT
As for the budget as whole, the BBC reports that the Communist budget will run a �record deficit� this year, due to heavy spending on agriculture and �social programs.� As noted above, the military budget also had something to do with the shortfall.
COMMUNISTS TRYING A MAJOR GOVERNMENT STREAMLINING, AGAIN
The Communists approved a reorganization of cabinet ministries in the hope of �bringing it more in line with Western models� (CNN). However, this set of �reforms� � none of which will make the government more accountable to the people � �is the fifth time in 20 years that China has attempted to change to its government structure � but so far nothing has succeeded in making it more efficient� (BBC).
According to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN, this latest effort also hit a snag, among them: the number of state departments is not shrinking, �because while several ministries including the mammoth State Economic and Trade Commission have been abolished, almost as many new ones have been created at the NPC.� Another roadblock is the continuing power of Central Military Commissions Chair Jiang Zemin.
COMMUNISTS TO FORCE MILLIONS TO MOVE
In another ham-handed attempt to fight the economic disaster of the PRC rural interior, Communist China has decided to �move (by force) more than seven million people out of the country's most poverty-stricken regions� (BBC). Already, two problems are arising: where will they go, and how the project can avoid the endemic corruption that has �mired� other forced relocation plans.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA GETS IN ON KAZAKHSTAN OIL PROJECT
The North Caspian Sea project, a major oil development in Kazakhstan, has two new part owners: Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Corp. The two Communist-owned firm bought out Britain�s BG Group�s share, but the other partners in the project could block the deal, an outcome that even the Communists admitted was highly possible. Report: CNN
CANADIAN PM, HOWARD DEAN WORRIED PRC MAY USE IRAQ AS �PRECEDENT�
In explaining his reasons for not supporting U.S. military action in Iraq without the imprimatur of the UN, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the move would be a �precedent� for Communist China to �say, well, we have a problem somewhere and you know, we don't like the regime and we're going to change the regime� (National Post, Cdn.).
Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, also used the �precedent� argument (National Review Online, 6th bullet).
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
MOVIE COUNTERFEITERS CHALLENGE ROC JUSTICE MINISTER TO CATCH THEM
Taiwan is cracking down on counterfeit moviemakers after one group of crooks �challenged him to try and catch them� (BBC). Like in Communist China, counterfeit is �practically an industry in its own right in Taiwan.�
TOWNSHIP SETTING ASIDE PARK FOR CHIANG KAI-SHEK STATUES
The (slowly) declining stature of former Nationalist Chinese and Taiwanese leader Chiang Kai-shek has led to a rash of unwanted Chiang statues. The township of Dashi is looking for those statues, as part of a future park they have planned for Chiang that would, as Mayor Tzeng Rung-chien put it, �promote a fair discussion and evaluation of Chiang's leadership� (BBC).
Hong Kong was quiet this week.
TIBET NEWS
COMMUNISTS ARREST TWO TIBETANS FOR HELPING ACTIVISTS FRAMED AS BOMBERS
Communist China arrested two Tibetans, Di-Di and Tabo, �for allegedly leaking information to the foreign media about the closed trial of two other Tibetans� (BBC). The �other Tibetans� are Lobsang Dhondup and Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche, whom the Communists convicted of several bombings from 1998 to last year (see 12/11/02 Updates), and gave death sentences.
Meanwhile, regarding Lobsang and Tenzin Deleg, the latter �smuggled a tape out of his cell before his sentencing repudiating his alleged confession.� Lobsang has already been executed; Tenzin Deleg�s sentence was suspended for two years, which usually means life imprisonment.
COMMUNISTS RESPONDS TO FREE TIBET DAY WITH PRO-PRC REPORT
About 2,000 protestors marched in London to celebrate Free Tibet Day (Saturday), �demanding the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair raise the issue of Tibet when he visits China next month� (BBC 3/8). Meanwhile, the Communists released a report that insisted it had �attached tremendous importance to the environmental protection of Tibet� (BBC 3/10), all evidence to the contrary.
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