| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: DECEMBER 13, 2000 COMMENTARY ON THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Barring the unforeseen sometime this evening Al Gore will concede, and George W. Bush will be recognized as President-elect. As many of you know, the two nominees differed on many issues. Sadly, neither was willing to see Communist China for what it is � our enemy in Cold War II. It is our hope that the new President may break free from his previous errors and lead the country to the ultimate victory � the Chinese people liberating themselves from their Communist oppressors. If that happens, we will support his efforts. If that does not happen, we will be among his loudest critics. The best advice we can give comes from our Co-Chairman and CEO � also the unofficial head of the e-Lobby�s liberal wing � Gregory Eatroff. �Until U.S. foreign policy is based on the moral principle of supporting individual liberty rather than on economic advantage and great game politics we will continue to stumble from crisis to crisis as our diplomatic marriages of convenience expire faster than Liz Taylor's.� I couldn�t have said it better myself. � D.J. McGuire: Co-chairman and President, China e-Lobby TOP STORIES: COMMUNIST CHINA RUNS ANOTHER TEST OF DF-31 LONG-RANGE MISSILE The Washington Times reported this week that the Communist People�s Liberation Army (PLA), ran a second flight test on the DF-31 long-range missile last month, and is moving ahead for a third test. The paper cited the CIA in claiming the DF-31 is the first Communist missile built with stolen U.S. technical knowledge. The People�s Republic of China has been dropping hints lately of a missile strike against the U.S. if it tries to stop an invasion of Taiwan. Analysts told the paper that the DF-31 missile development was one part of their attempt to cajole and threaten the U.S. out of defending the island democracy from Communist attack. The PRC plans on deploying the DF-31 sometime between 2005 and 2010, according to the paper. Link: Washington Times U.S. DIPLOMAT WHACKS COMMUNIST CHINA ON CHURCH RAZINGS, ARREST OF TENG An anonymous diplomat vented his spleen to reporters, including the Washington Post about American anger at Communist China�s repression of religion. In particular, the diplomat was incensed about the PRC�s �razing churches before Christmas,� and the arrest of Teng Chunyan (see below). Despite the continuing crackdown, the paper also reported Falun Gong is distributing flyers all over Beijing and over twenty protestors unfurled banners in Tiananmen Square Sunday, for which they were promptly arrested. Link: Washington Post FOLLOW UP: LAI CHANGXING�S LAWYER INSISTS CANADIAN ARREST WAS ILLEGAL Darryl Larson, attorney for reputed Xiamen smuggling scandal chief Lai Changxing, said the Canadian arrest of his client was illegal, according to Agence France Presse. Larson went so far as to take the immigration authorities to court, an unusual process. Canadian authorities are beginning the process of sending Lai back to Communist China, despite the fact that his return would mean an all-but-certain execution. Link: AFP OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS COMMUNIST POLICE KILL THREE MORE FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported to more death of Falun Gong members by Communist police to AFP. Wang Hauchen, 32, died four weeks ago after jumping from a window at a public security office; he had been beaten for 11 days. Zhao Jing, only 19, died days after police beat her; they claimed she died after jumping out of a police car, but companions said that only injured her slightly. Link: AFP Meanwhile, Zhao Xin, a Falun Gong practitioner nearly paralyzed by police beatings in June, died from her injuries. Link: BBC TENG CHUNYAN GETS THREE YEARS IN PRISON; EXPOSED MISTREATMENT OF FALUN GONG Falun Gong member Teng Chunyan, a resident of the United States, was sentenced to three years in prison. The Communists convicted her of �stealing, prying into, buying and illegally supplying state intelligence,� according to the BBC. Her �crime,� as reported in the last update, was revealing the Communists� imprisonment and abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in mental hospitals. Link: BBC NOBEL-PRIZE WINNING DISSIDENT HITS COMMUNIST CHINA FOR STIFLING FREEDOM Gao Xingjian, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature and exiled dissident from Communist China, lambasted the Communists for their actions toward writers, artists, and dissidents. According to AFP, Gao reminded the Nobel Academy that �countless writers were shot, imprisoned, exiled or punished with hard labor.� Naturally, the Communists reacted by attacking Gao�s statements �a vicious attack ignoring facts.� Links: AFP - Gao, AFP - Communist response OTHER MAINLAND NEWS FUJIAN PROVINCE SAYS CORRUPTION PROBE HAS 10,000 TARGETS; BEIJING HAS 9,000 That number is not a typo. AFP, citing the Communist China Daily, reported last week that corruption probes in Fujian province are so widespread that 10,000 officials are under investigation. Fujian is home to the Xiamen smuggling scandal. Meanwhile, Zhao Dengju, the PRC�s deputy prosecutor general told a conference in Seoul that 9,000 officials were under investigation by his office for corruption. Links: AFP - Fujian, AFP - Zhao POLL REVEALS LITTLE BELIEF IN ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN A poll taken by Horizon, and reported to AFP, shows only 38 percent of residents in the PRC have confidence in the Communists� anti-corruption campaign, now almost a year old. Forty percent had little or no confidence. In a more troubling sign, old Chinese, who usually are more sympathetic to the government, were less optimistic about the campaign than their younger counterparts, by about 7 percentage points. Link: AFP �REFORMER� ZHU RONGJI BLOCKS TRIAL FOR WELL-CONNECTED EMBEZZLEMENT SUSPECT Communist Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, hailed as a �reformer� by many outside the PRC, let slip his true colors. Time Asia reported a story this week on his efforts, which have been quite successful, to block the trial of a well-connected woman accused of embezzling from a foreign-owned venture. Link: Time Asia PROFESSOR REVEALS CORRUPTION INCLUDES SEXUAL FAVORS, URGES CRACKDOWN Law professor Jin Weidong, in an article in China Youth Daily, revealed a seedier, yet legal, version of corruption � sexual favors for licenses and other official bending of the rules � is widespread. He told the Communist newspaper that the only discipline those who take �sexual bribes� is within the Communist Party, according to AFP. Jin suggested a new law expanding the ban on bribes to close the �loophole.� Link: AFP ANOTHER SMUGGLER RING BROKEN, ANOTHER EXECUTION SCHEDULED Dong Xinsu, former managing director of the Wanshun Godown and Transport Company Ltd., will be on trial for heading a cigarette smuggling scheme that led to over $285,000 in bribes, and $80 million in unpaid customs duties. According to AFP, if convicted, Dong would likely be another executed in thew PRC�s desperate attempt to fight massive corruption. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS CATCH 12 MORE TRYING TO ESCAPE VIA HONG KONG BBC reported this week that 12 attempted escapees were stopped in Hong Kong. The report also said the finding led to the arrest of a dozen people, including the ringleader of the group that tried to get them out. The would-be escapees each paid up $60,000 to the �snakeheads� to leave the PRC for the U.S. Link: BBC �TIANANMEN GENERATION� ROCK STAR RISING AGAIN DESPITE COMMUNIST DISAPPROVAL A decade ago, Cui Jian was on the run from Communist officials, looking to stamp out anything that resembled dissident behavior after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Today, the aging Chinese rock star is back on the road, and the growing crowds. As AFP reports it, Cui has been even more critical of the Communists during his comeback, which makes one wonder if the PRC is weakening, or just biding its time. Link: AFP INTERNATIONAL NEWS NEW ZEALAND POLICE CRITICIZED FOR STOPPING PROTEST OF PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN A parliamentary committee in New Zealand was not kind to police in describing their efforts to block Free Tibet protestors against Communist President Jiang Zemin. The committee called the polices actions �unjustified.� Jiang hates protests. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS PRESIDENT CHEN ASKS U.S. TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT CHINA POLICY As he greeted a visiting U.S. delegation, ROC President Chen Shui-bian called on the U.S. to take a hard look at President Clinton�s �three nos.� One such �no� says the U.S. would not support efforts by Taiwan to enter international organizations, a crippling blow to its attempt to raise its international profile. Chen suggested a �fourth no:� a vow to oppose any Communist invasion. The Washington Post and AFP reported on this story. Links: Washington Post, AFP COMMUNIST CHINA NOW SAYS MACAO IS A �MODEL� FOR REUNIFICATION They never learn. As Hong Kong�s travails reveal the dangers of �one country, two systems,� the PRC is now propping up Macao as the model to show Taiwan on how great reunification can be. That Taiwan would not give up self-determination and democracy, which Macao never had, is still completely lost on the Communists. Link: Xinhua via BBC �ONE CHINA, SEPARATE DEFINITIONS� PUSHED BY TAIPEI MAYOR, NATIONALIST POLICYMAKER Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, a Nationalist who was elected mayor by defeating now-President Chen, met with the same delegation of U.S. officials, and said he supported the return to the 1992 position of �one China, separate definitions.� Former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) head Su Chi also pushed the 1992 agreement, also known as �once China, different interpretations." Links: Taiwan Central News Agency (CNA) - Ma, CNA - Su U.S. OFFICIAL IN TAIPEI SUGGESTS �ARMS CONTROL� AGREEMENT A former Clinon Administration official, Kenneth Lieberthal, had the audacity to suggest the PRC and Taiwan sign an �arms control� agreement. How he could convince the Communists to sign such an agreement with a government they refuse to even recognize as legitimate was, not surprisingly, never mentioned to AFP. Link: AFP SPY SAYS EX-PRESIDENT LEE EXPOSED AGENTS TO COMMUNISTS DURING 1996 CAMPAIGN Chang Chih-Peng, a businessman in Communist China and Taiwanese spy for six years, filed suit against former President Lee Teng-hui for revealing information during the 1996 presidential campaign that led to his spy ring being discovered. Chang said Lee�s disclosure that warheads fired over the island by the PRC in 1996 were dummies led the Communists to investigate the source of the leak, which was Chang�s ring. Link: AFP MAINLAND HIGH-TECH INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS LOOSENED Taiwan will ease the ban on high-tech investment in several areas, according to AFP, which cited the China Times. Investment in those fields, such as semi-conductors, digital products, and wireless, must still have ROC government approval. Link: AFP HONG KONG NEWS CNN HIRES WILLY LAM Willy Wo-Lap Lam, recently who recently resigned from a Hong Kong newspaper after being demoted for his criticism of Communist Chinese leaders, wrote his first column for CNN today. He discusses the various power plays in the Communist Politburo and what it may mean for the possibility of change. Link: CNN 5,000 MIGRANTS FROM MAINLAND REJECTED IN BID FOR RESIDENCY A Hong Kong court has again rejected the residency claims of 5,000 migrants from the mainland, according to the BBC. Although the migrants entered Hong Kong before new restrictions were in place, the court still rejected their claim. Earlier court decisions to grant them residency were reversed after Communist China leaned heavily on Hong Kong�s �independent� judiciary, yet another end-run around the city�s �autonomy.� Link: BBC TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA CALLS DALAI LAMA �INSINCERE� Communist China called the Dalai Lama �insincere� in a statement to the press, but refused to say if informal contacts with him, which were reported last week, have happened or not. The PRC again called on Tibet�s spiritual leader to abandon Tibetan independence and not advocate independence for Taiwan. The Dalai Lama has fulfilled both conditions, repeatedly. The PRC doesn�t believe him, thus the �insincere� comment. Link: AFP XINJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS REBIYA KADEER�S APPEAL REJECTED BY COMMUNISTS, PRISON TERM BEGINS Rebiya Kadeer, a Mulsim Uighur businesswoman arrested by the Communists just before she was to discuss her people�s plight with Congressional staffers, began her sentence in Bajiahu prison after her appeal was rejected, according to AFP. Congress and the State Department have called for her release, to no avail. Link: AFP Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving this. Anyone who wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. |