| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 14, 2001 TOP STORY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTS MORE TORTURE IN COMMUNIST CHINA AI SAYS FALUN GONG, UIGHUR MUSLIMS BADLY HIT; U.S. CONSIDERS ANTI-PRC RESOLUTION Amnesty International released a comprehensive report on torture in Communist China, which revealed the hideous practice to be gaining strength in the People�s Republic, not losing it. AI cited over 600 cases of torture, including the harrowing experience of a farmer tortured to death for refusing to reveal the location of his wife, suspected of �being pregnant without permission,� as the Washington Post put it. The group�s senior deputy executive director, Curt Goering, said the report was �just the tip of the iceberg.� The report also mentioned the harrowing campaign against Falun Gong, in which over 100 have died, and the despicable brand of �justice� in Xingjiang province (a.k.a. East Turkestan), home to the Uighur Muslims. According to the report, �90 percent of defendants there tell judges that they confessed after being tortured.� Link: Washington Post As expected, the Communists immediately rejected the report as �groundless,� �irresponsible remarks,� and �rumors and hearsay.� Catherine Barber, an AI researcher called for more international pressure on the PRC. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration is still pondering sponsoring a UN resolution to condemn the PRC�s human rights record. The U.S. has backed a resolution for the past two years; it failed both times. Source: CNN. Links: CNN - AI, CNN - Bush Administration TOP AMERICAN STORY: COMMUNISTS MILITARIZING SPACE, SAYS U.S. ADMIRAL Vice Admiral Thomas Wilson told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Communist China, along with Russia, is planning to �disrupt, degrade, or defeat U.S. space assets� to advance themselves against U.S. interests. Admiral Wilson, who head the Defense Intelligence Agency, also said he cannot certify the Communists have been holding to promises they wouldn�t sell weapons to rogue states. Source: Washington Times FOLLOW UP: CRACKDOWN AGAINST FALUN GONG ESCALATES CNN�s Willy Lo-Lap Lam reported over the weekend that the Communists have expanded their crackdown, raiding the homes of thousands of Falun Gong group leaders. The Communist police �hope to uncover evidence of �cult-like practice� and economic crime.� They are also looking for links between Falun Gong and other religious groups branded as �cults� throughout the world in their desperate search for more mud. Link: CNN More stories of the �Falun Gong War� are interspersed throughout the update, but AFP recently reported on Bureau 610, charged with masterminding the Communists brutal campaign. One western diplomat likened the bureau to �a Russian pogrom,� and noted long terms in jail or prison camp are now common for ordinary members, not just leaders. Link: AFP U.S. FOLLOW UP: BUSH�S REFUSAL TO RAISE DEFENSE SPENDING BAFFLES WASHINGTON President Bush�s decision not to raise defense spending, reported in the last update, has bewildered Republicans and Democrats in Washington. GOP members of Congress are publicly asking why Bush has rejected desperately needed increases in funds, while one Democratic Congressman flatly said Bush broke a campaign promise. A GOP staffer told the Washington Times, �People are livid. Betrayal is a good word.� Link: Washington Times The Washington Post reported that all defense hikes are on hold pending a review by Pentagon gadfly Andrew Marshall. Marshall, a close friend of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, has long supported a radical restructuring of the military. He has also �focused heavily on the rise of China,� so much so that some believe �he is looking for a new enemy to replace the Soviet Union.� He might be just the man for this. Link: Washington Post HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS TRIAL OF INTERNET DISSIDENT HUANG QI BEGINS The Communist began the �subversion� trial of internet dissident Haung Qi yesterday. The PRC arrested him for posting articles critical of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre on his web site. According to the BBC, Huang was in very poor health; his wife said he was beaten in prison. This is the first trial for a web site operator. No foreign observers have been allowed into the courtroom to observe the trail. Link: CNN COMMUNIST VERSION OF SELF-IMMOLATION COVERAGE DISPUTED BY CNN Communist media is now saying that AFP, the Associated Press and CNN knew about the self-immolation protest and did nothing to stop it from happening. They�re even considering homicide charges. The PRC cited seized television footage of the event as evidence of CNN�s involvement. CNN promptly said their media crew was seized so quickly they could not possibly have been the source of the media footage. Link: Washington Post The PRC is also refusing to let the victims see any of their relatives, and the grandmother of the 12-year-old girl who suffered severe burns told AFP they were also not allowed to do interviews. Falun Gong has repeatedly denied that the five protestors were members. AFP heard from relative of four saying otherwise, but in light of the grandmother�s statement, one has to wonder whether the comments were forced. Link: AFP COMMUNIST RELEASE �DIARY� OF �PENITENT� FALUN GONG MEMBER Communist China released a supposed diary of a Falun Gong member they say has left the movement. AFP noted, however, that the Communists have faked diaries before, particularly in the Cultural Revolution. The presumed author of the diary is still in a prison labor camp in Hainan province. Link: AFP LOCAL COMMUNISTS SEIZE ADOPTED CHILDREN IN FUJIAN PROVINCE BBC reported that Communist officials in Fujian province have taken away eighteen adopted sons from their families. The local officials insist the adoptions were illegal, but the punishment is usually a fine. The agency reported the province might not have wanted so many previously unregistered children showing up in this year's census. Link: BBC BRITISH DELEGATION CONCLUDES HUMAN RIGHTS TALKS WITH PRC A delegation from the UK held three days of talks with Communist China on human rights. According to AFP, the discussion included the 1998 UN human rights treaty, which the PRC has signed, but never ratified. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS MAFIA-TAINTED SHENYANG GETS NEW MAYOR AND NEW PROSECUTOR The Communists installed Chen Zhanggao as the mayor of the city of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province. Chen has been acting mayor ever since Vice Mayor Ma Xiangdong, arrested for spending $40 million is state funds on a gambling spree, revealed a web of Mafia ties in city government. This led to the resignation of Chen�s predecessor, and the firing of Liaoning governor Zhang Guoguang. Link: AFP RURAL FAMILIES PAID LESS IN COMPENSATION FOR REALTIVES KILLED ON BRIDGE Communist China has decided to award greater compensation to the families of urban residents killed during a bridge collapse than their rural counterparts. This despite growing signs of unrest in the rural countryside, which is roiling over punitive taxes imposed by local Communists. Link: BBC CORRUPTION SENTENCES HANDED DOWN IN ZHEJIANG PROVINCE Sun Yanbiao, former mayor of Taizhou, was given a life sentence for taking over $140,000 in bribes during his term of office. His wife received 12 years in prison. Xie Jianbang, former vice mayor of Ningbo City, had his life sentence reduced to 15 years after he returned the bribes he took. Links: AFP - Sun, AFP - Xie OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS THIRTY PRO-PNTR CONGRESSMAN DEMAND PRC IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS Thirty members of the U.S. House of Representatives � all of whom voted for Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Communist China � have sent a letter to PRC President Jiang Zemin demanding he improve human rights in his country. The wide ranging letter the crackdowns against Falun Gong, Christian faiths, other religions, and the opposition China Democracy Party. Link: AFP NORTH KOREAN MILITARY BUILDUP CONTINUES DESPITE DIPLOMACY The Washington Times reported this week that North Korea, a longtime ally of Communist China, is still building up its military despite overtures from South Korea and the U.S. last year. Robert Manning, with the Council on Foreign Relations, of all people, said, �the threat hasn't lessened at all, and yet the diplomacy and imagery is that this is somehow a new North Korea.� The PRC is loudly backing the diplomatic thaw. Link: Washington Times INTERNATIONAL NEWS CANADIAN PM UNDERCUTS HUMAN RIGHTS MESSAGE, SAYING CANADA IS �TOO SMALL� Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, in Beijing as part of a trade mission, discussed human rights briefly with PRC PM Zhu Rongji. However, according to Sun Media (Canada), he then had the audacity to say Canada is �too small� to have an impact, and told the Communists, �here, I don�t tell you what to do.� Chretien did take the time later to talk about the need for an independent judiciary, according to AFP. Link: Sun Media, AFP PRC DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS CAMBODIA AMID PROTESTS; AID REQUESTED AFP reported the visit of PRC Defense Minister Chi Haotian to Cambodia, which began yesterday. During the trip, the Democratic Front of Khmer Students and Intellectuals repeated its demand for a PRC apology for backing the murderous Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s. The group also openly endorsed Falun Gong and democratic Taiwan. Link: AFP While he was there, Chi received a request from Prime Minister Hun Sen for $12.5 billion in loans to aid in post-civil-war demobilization. Sen has led the country since 1978 when Vietnam installed him, ousting the Khmer Rouge. Link: AFP VIETNAM AND THE PHILIPPINES HAVE TERRITORY DISPUTES WITH PRC Vietnam restated, in emphatic terms, its claim to the Spratly Islands over the weekend, and claimed the PRC had committed over 300 �violations� of their sovereignty there. Vietnam had a small shooting war with the PRC over the islands in 1988, and Saturday�s statement was seen as a proverbial slap in the face to Communist Chinese Defense Minister Chi, who is visiting the region (see above). Link: AFP Communist China officially protested an action by the Philippines to protect their claim to the Scarborough Shoal. The Philippine Navy boarded four �fishing vessels,� according to AFP, that refused to leave the area after the Navy asked them to do so. The Navy took a number of sea turtles, a protected species illegally taken, but let the vessels leave. Link: AFP CANADIAN JUDGE BLOCKS LAI CHANGXING MOVE FROM JAIL TO HOUSE ARREST A Canadian judge overruled a decision to allow Lai Changxing � the central figure in the Xiamen smuggling scandal � and his wife to leave jail for house arrest in Canada. The judge said he would review the decision, but placed a stay on it in the meantime. The PRC wants Lai extradited for bribing hundreds of officials. Canada appears to support the extradition, which would mean certain execution for Lai and his wife. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS MAYOR OF TAIPEI IN HONG KONG, SAYS �ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS� NOT GOOD FOR ROC Ma Ying Jeou, Mayor of Taipei, visited Hong Kong this week, saying there wasn�t enough time to see if �one country, two systems� was right for Hong Kong. He did say it was not right at all for Taiwan. Ma, a heavyweight in the Nationalist Party and possible presidential candidate, is the only politician to ever defeat President Chen Shui-bian in an election. He thwarted Chen�s bid for re-election as Taipei Mayor in 1998. Link: BBC NUCLEAR PLANT CONSTRUCTION TO GO FORWARD BBC reported a decision by President Chen to bow to the two opposition parties that dominate the Legislative Yuan and resume construction of a nuclear power plant. The government had suspended construction last year, and may do so again if the Chen�s Democratic Progressives make gains in next year�s Yuan elections. The party may suffer from this move; anti-nuclearists are a base constituency for them. Links: BBC - decision, BBC - anti-nuclearists reaction HONG KONG AND MACAO NEWS HK CHIEF CALLS FALUN GONG �EVIL SECT,� DEMOCRATS OUTRAGED Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa parroted the views of the Beijing government that appointed him on Falun Gong, calling the group an �evil sect� and vowing to �keep a close watch� on it. Democratic Party leader Martin Lee responded, �If we carry on like this and the central government isn't nice to the Catholics, Protestants or Buddhists either, and seeks to brand all of them as cults, will Hong Kong call them cults too?� Links: AFP, CNN TIBET NEWS TWO CANADIANS IN JAIL FOR PROTESTING PM CHRETIEN�S AFP reported the arrest of two Canadian students in Communist China for protesting Canadian PM Jean Chretien�s trade visit (see above). The two students, from the Canada-based Students for a Free Tibet, unfurled a banner saying �Free Tibet before free trade.� Link: AFP Outside of the AI report in the Top Story (see above), no news from Xingjiang/East Turkestan this week. 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]. |