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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MAY 12, 2004
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or call 1-888-280-7715.
TOP STORY: PRC PREMIER SAYS UN SHOULD HAVE �THE LEADING ROLE� IN IRAQ
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
While visiting British PM Tony Blair, PRC Premier Wen Jiabao said, �We need to give the U.N. the leading role in the resolution of the Iraqi issue� (Voice of America via Epoch Times). Beijing supplied arms to Saddam Hussein on many occasions (see 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, 3/21/01, 12/18/02, 2/5/03, 3/19/03, 4/9/03, and 12/17/03 Updates).
NORTH KOREA NEWS
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MID-LEVEL TALKS ON NORTH KOREAN NUKES BEGIN TODAY
The six nations involved in talks to end North Korea�s nuclear weapons program � North Korea, South Korea, Communist China, Japan, Russia, and the U.S. � have begun mid-level talks on the subject. Two previous rounds of talks have led to nothing but American concessions (see 3/3 Update). Report: BBC
AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
KOREANS INDICTED FOR SELLING HELICOPTERS TO COMMUNIST CHINA
A Federal grand jury indicted Kwonhwan Park and Sung-Ryul Chun, both Korean nationals, for �illegally shipping a pair of Black Hawk helicopter engines to China� (CNN). Park pleaded not guilty, Chen is a fugitive.
TWO ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO SELL SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY TO PRC
Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested �John Chu, 44, of Pasadena, Calif., and Zhu Zhaoxin, 55, of Shenzhen, China, on charges of attempting to illegally export military satellite and radar technology to China� (Washington Times).
AFL-CIO INVITED TO TOUR COMMUNIST CHINESE FACTORIES
The AFL-CIO has been invited by the Communists �to visit the country's factories� (BBC). The union conglomerate had presented a petition to the Bush Administration for tariffs against Communist China due to its unfair labor practices which were depressing wages worldwide (see 3/17 and last Updates).
The AFL-CIO �asked Beijing for assurances that its delegation to China will be free to draw up its own itinerary, and will be allowed to bring its own interpreters.� This is a very wise move, and it could scuttle the whole trip, as Communist China doesn�t like any visits from foreigners that they cannot control.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DEMANDS RELEASE OF WANG BINGZHANG
By a vote of 399-0, the House of Representatives called on the PRC to release Dr. Wang Bingzhang (China Support Network). The Communists captured Wang, a longtime exiled dissident, in Vietnam during his attempt to return to the PRC, and sentenced him to life in prison on charges of �passing state secrets� (see 7/31/02, 12/26/02, and 2/12/03 Updates).
COMMUNIST CHINESE DEMAND FOR CONCRETE IMPACTING U.S. CONSTRUCTION
Construction projects in the United States are slowing down due to massive concrete demand in Communist China. The PRC demand for cement has particularly hurt Florida, a major relative importer of concrete and home of the Sun-Sentinel.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
WEN JIABAO ASK EUROPEAN UNION TO END THE ARMS BAN . . .
PRC Premier Wen Jiabao visited European Union headquarters in Brussels to personally call for the EU �to lift restrictions on arms sales to China� (BBC). The arms ban, imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre, has remained in place despite efforts � particularly by France � to repeal it (see 11/12/03, 12/10/03, 1/28, 2/4, 3/17, 3/24, and 3/31 Updates).
. . . THEN IS GREETED BY PROTESTORS IN UK
Wen then flew off to Great Britain for his aforementioned meeting with Tony Blair (see Top Story). However, anti-Communist protestors, particularly regarding Falun Gong and Tibet � were in force before he even reached the airport. Report: BBC
UK SCHOOLS TO HOLD CLASSES IN COMMUNIST CHINA
Several British schools are now preparing to take part in indoctrinating � oops, that should read �educating� � students in Communist China. Report: BBC
NEWS FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR
FILM HIGHLIGHTING PLIGHT OF FALUN GONG CHILDREN WINS UNIVERSITY AWARD
Wang Jinwei, a Chinese student in the United States, �was awarded with the Mid-length Television Movie Prize for his movie, Wish, at the American University Movie Art Festival on April 30� (Epoch Times). Wish is based on the lives of two young girls in the PRC who lose their parents to the Communist crackdown against Falun Gong.
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
ANOTHER INTERNET DISSIDENT IS SENT TO JAIL, THIS TIME WITHOUT A TRIAL
Liu Shui, a former editor and reporter for the Southern Metropolis News, was sent to jail for two years for writing �essays on the internet commemorating pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989� (BBC). Liu was sent for �custody and education� on the trumped up charge of �soliciting prostitutes,� for which no trial is needed under PRC �law.�
CORRUPTION NEWS
TOP COP IN ANSHAN EXTORTED $6 MILLION
Lin Fujiu, a policeman in Anshan, �was recently arrested and sentenced for embezzling and extorting US$6 million in funds� (Epoch Times). Lin began amassing his ill-gotten fortune in the tax crime division of the police department. Anshan is in Liaoning Province, one of the most repressive and corrupt in the PRC (see 12/27/00, 3/14/01 and 12/10/03 Updates).
EPIDEMIC NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA ADMITS AIDS IS A PROBLEM, BUT IS SILENT ON HENAN OUTRAGE
Communist China is once again going public about its AIDS problem, or so it says. However, as Cybercast News reports, the PRC is unwilling to acknowledge its biggest problem, the one million in Henan province who contracted the disease through an unhygienic blood donation scheme (see also 9/4/02 and 9/25/02 Updates).
Even now, a �senior Henan health official� is serving part of an eight year sentence, at least, for �circulating state secrets,� i.e., �circulating a restricted government report on the Henan affair which blamed national authorities and others for the HIV-AIDS spread.� Also reporting: New York Times via Houston Chronicle
SARS CAME FROM BEIJING LAB, BUT NOT FROM ANYONE WHO WORKED WITH DISEASE
The latest outbreak of sever acute respiratory syndrome did indeed come from a lab in Beijing, but the first victim, a graduate student from Anhui Province, �was not directly involved in any SARS testing� (Central News Agency, Taiwan, via Epoch Times), and the lab itself �was not in fact a SARS research lab.�
So how did the disease flare up again? No one is really sure. SARS first hit the PRC in late 2002; but the Communists kept quiet about it for months as it spread throughout Asia and around the world (see 3/19/03, 3/26/03, 4/2/03, 4/9/03, 4/16/03, and 4/23/03 Updates).
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
HUYANG CADRE WON�T QUIT DESPITE SITTING ON BAD BABY MILK INFO FOR A YEAR
The vice mayor of Huyang city (mislabeled Fuyang in the 4/28 and last Updates), refused to resign despite not examining reports �as early as 16 months ago� (CNA via Epoch Times) of substandard baby milk that has now killed over 50 infants. The vice mayor is in charge of sanitation in the city. Also reporting: BBC
COMMUNIST CHINA FREEZES UTILITY PRICES . . .
Communist China has ordered its province to freeze all prices for utilities �if local inflation starts to soar� (BBC). The provinces �must also compensate poorer residents whatever the inflation rate if prices for water, power and transport are raised.� One can expect several provinces to tumble deeply into debt very soon.
. . . AS PRC OIL IMPORTS PASS 700 MILLION BARRELS
Communist China announced that its oil imports would for the first time be over 100 million tons this year. One ton equals nearly seven barrels, meaning the Communists imported nearly three quarters of a billion barrels last year. The PRC became a net importer of oil only eleven years ago. Report: Epoch Times
POLLUTION KILLS OVER 132,000 POUNDS OF FISH, IN ONE RIVER
Pollution in Communist China, fueled by rampant overdevelopment no free market would allow, has now killed over 132,000 pounds of fish in the Wen River, which is itself a mere segment of the larger Tuo River. One can only imagine how bad it is throughout the PRC. Report: CNA via Epoch Times
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
PRESIDENTIAL RECOUNT BEGINS
Taiwan has begun recounting the votes from its March 20 Presidential election, in which President Chen Shui-bian narrowly won a second term. The opposition Nationalist-People First alliance � unwilling to note its coziness with the PRC in costing it votes � demanded a recount. Reports: BBC, Cybercast News, United Press Intl. via Washington Times
PRC PM MAY PUSH FOR LAW ORDERING INVASION IF TAIWAN DECLARES INDEPENDENCE
In response to a question from an ethnic Chinese man in the UK, PRC Premier Wen Jiabao expressed interest in a law to �legally bind Chinese leaders to their pledge to order the 2.5-million-strong People's Liberation Army to attack the self-ruled, democratic island if it formally declares statehood� (Washington Times).
Communist China has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over Taiwan, despite the fact that it has never set foot there.
RESTRICTIONS EASED ON MAINLANDERS LIVING OVERSEAS
Mainlanders �with Permanent Residence rights in countries outside of China or those who have resided outside of China for four or more years� (Broadcasting Corporation of China via Epoch Times) will face fewer restrictions while visiting Taiwan under new regulations established by the ROC�s Mainland Affairs Council.
DPP LEGISLATORS SCUFFLE, LITERALLY, OVER PROCEDURE
Chu Hsing-yu and Lai Ching-teh, both from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, turned an argument over procedure into a fistfight at the Legislative Yuan. It was the first brawl of its kind since 2001 (see 3/28/01, 4/5/01, and 4/18/01 Update). Report: BBC
HONG KONG NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA TO HONG KONG PRO-DEMOCRACY LEGISLATORS: SHUT UP!
Communist China has turned up the heat on pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong�s Legislative Council (LegCo), telling them that �proposing legislative resolutions criticizing the government's refusal to allow the territory to choose its leaders in direct elections� (Washington Post) is now �against the law as well as the constitution.�
The Communists bluntly went on to say that Hong Kong �lawmakers are not entitled to voice any criticism of central government decisions through legislative resolutions.� Pro-democracy legislators blasted the move, and rightly so, for restricting debate in the LegCo.
HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PROPOSES COSMETIC CHANGES
The Communist-appointed Hong Kong government presented its ideas for �reform.� They included �expanding the electoral college that chooses the chief executive, and increasing the number of seats in the legislative council from 60� (BBC). Since nothing was said about the number of elected seats, the �reforms� could actually make things worse.
Communist China earlier announced that any increase in the number of elected LegCo seats (30 will be elected by the city residents this September) would not happen anytime soon (see 4/28 Update). Also out of the question was the possibility of electing the chief executive, currently chosen by the aforementioned, PRC-appointed �electoral college.�
No news was reported on Tibet this week.
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