14June2000

CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE

LOCKHEED MARTIN FINED $13 MILLION FOR ASIASAT TECHNOLOGYT TRANSFER
Lockheed Martin, the world�s largest defense contractor, agreed Tuesday to pay $13 million in fines for illegally providing technological information to a subsidiary of the China International Trust and Investment Company (CITIC), a conglomerate owned wholly by Communist China. According to the Los Angeles Times, the fine is a record for arms-export violations. As reported in our second update, the Department of State had charged Lockheed Martin with 30 violations of arms export laws. In 1994, Lockheed Martin transferred data explaining the failure of a satellite �kick motor� to AsiaSat, a CITIC subsidiary. According to State, Lockheed Martin gave 10 copies of its report to AsiaSat without revisions required by the Department of Defense, and shared the edited document with Chinas Great Wall Industries, a state-owned company that produces solid rocket motors. Under the deal, effectively a nolo contendre plea, the firm will pay nearly all of the $15 million in fines that State would have won had it prevailed on all counts. The record fine includes $8 million to be paid to the government over 4 years. The remaining $5 million is suspended on the condition that it be spent to install a computerized monitoring system to track all technology transfers. The Pentagon will have access to the system for at least 4 years to prevent any further illegal transfers.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SAYS HE WON�T �RUSH� PNTR VOTE
Trent Lott (Republican- Mississippi) indicated on Monday that the Senate vote on PNTR should, in his view, take a back seat to the budget appropriations bills working their way through Congress. He did say that he didn�t want to �rush� the bill for a vote, despite calls from the Administration and some Senators for a vote before the July 4 recess. Lott was worried that quick action by the Senate could lead the measure �tangled up in a way that would be counterproductive.� He noted that a number of amendments were pending, including one by Senators Fred Thompson (R-Tennessee) and Bob Toricelli (D-New Jersey), that would suspend PNTR if the PRC continued to engage in arms proliferation. Lott called the Thompson-Toricelli amendment, �a very strong proposal that�s going to have to be considered.� A group of �moderate� Senate Democrats called on Lott to reject Stevens� idea, which is backed by Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and schedule an early vote. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota), Slate Gordon (R-Washington), and Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming) have also called for an early vote. PNTR opponents, including archconservative Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) and archliberal Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), are preparing a wide array of amendments that, if any of which are adopted, would force a conference committee and a second vote.

SLOVENIAN PARTY IN GOVERNMENT COALITION SLAMS COMMUNIST CHINESE RIGHTS� RECORD
Just before Li Peng came to the Slovenia to meet with high-ranking officials, the small country�s Social Democratic Party (SDS) condemned Communist China�s record on human rights and the �genocide in Tibet.� The party�s statement, quoted by the STA news agency, called for the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and a dialogue between Communist China and the Dalai Lama, Tibet�s spiritual leader. Li, when Premier in 1989, order the military massacre at Tiananmen Sqaure. He is now the second-highest ranking official in Communist China. SDS is one of two parties in the Slovenian government.

COMMUNIST CHINA KICKING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES BACK TO FAMINE AND TORTURE
In a sign of just how close Communist China�s alliance is with North Korea, government authorities in the northeastern part of the PRC have been sending refugees from the famine-stricken regime back to North Korea�s clutches for over two years. One local resident told the press, anonymously, that the number of refugees fleeing starvation is �too many to count.� This year, however, he said, �the Chinese government has gotten tough - both on refugees and those here who help them.� North Korea has been suffering under a famine caused by natural disaster and decades of Communist mismanagement for years; it is estimated that over 1 million have starved to death. Those who escape and are sent back usually suffer hideous torture: one repeat escapee said the police ties repatriated refugees together through cable wires run through hands or noses. One prison housed for refugees on their way back to North Korea rioted in protest.

BEIJING UNIVERSITY STUDENT DETAINED FOR ESSAY CRITICIZING TIANANMEN MASSACRE
Beijing University officials detained a student who posted an essay calling for a government re-evaluation of the Tiananmen Square killings and likely faces expulsion, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in China. A school official confirmed the incident to Agence France Presse, and said the graduate student Jiang Xulin, was chastised for �breaking a school rule,� then released. The official denied that Xiang would be expelled. Xiang had called the massacre, and the Communists� repeated defense of it, the largest �baggage� the Communist Party must drop if it is ever to reform. He also called for victims� families to be compensated and those still imprisoned for their role in the protest to be released. Beijing University, in some quarters still known as Peking University, saw two students arrested last week for lighting a candle in honor of the Tinanamen victims, as reported in the last update. A student told AFP that they were set free hours later because �many students knew of the arrests and were ready to take further action if the students were not released.� Students from the university in 1989 started the Tiananmen Square protests that lasted two months and included up to 1 million before June 4. On that day the army killed at least hundreds, and probably thousands, of them. Over 200 are still in prison for taking part in the protest.

FREELANCE REPORTING EXAMINING PLIGHT OF LAID-OFF WORKERS HELD FOR �SUBVERSION�
Feng Daxun, a former reporter who was researching the views and hardships of workers laid off by state-owned factories and industries, was arrested by Communist officials in the city of Nei Jiang, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in China. The Center reported in a statement that Feng was arrested while interviewing workers who were protesting firings and delays in their wages from the Sichuan Nei Jiang Machine Tool Factory. He also asked the protesters, who had blocked the highway, their views on the Communists� plan to close or merge many state-owned firms after three years. Police held him for subversion and could jail him for ten years, although the local prosecutor�s office said the case might be returned to the police for further investigation due to �lack of evidence.� Feng has already served five years in prison for pro-democracy activities since his retirement from official journalism in 1988.

DISSIDENTS WRITE SHANGHAI MAYOR FOR RELEASE OF CDP MEMBER�S BORTHER
Twenty-three dissidents within Communist China wrote an open letter to the Mayor of Shanghai asking him to release Dai Xuewu, brother of China Democracy Party member Dai Xuezhong. As reported by the Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy in China, the younger Dai was arrested for stealing a mobile phone, a charge the dissidents, and the Center, say is false. The elder Dai was sentenced to three years in April for his membership in the CDP. Dai Xuewu repeatedly protested his brother�s imprisonment, and was told by police he would be in jail himself if it kept up. The China Democracy Party was founded in 1998, after Communist China signed the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which allows for freedom of association. Communist China�s constitution also allows this freedom, in theory. Since CDp�s founding, at least 23 Chinese Democrats have been sent to prison on charges of �subversion.�

CHINESE IMMIGRANT SENT BACK BY CANADA TO BE EXECUTED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
Fang Yong, a bank account from the city of Ningbo, was sentenced to death for embezzling $200,000, according to the Communist-run Xinhua news agency. Xinhua reported that Fang, who had �hacked� his way into the bank�s system to divert the funds from the Bank of Communications, was given the harshest sentence ever awarded to a hacker. Fang had fled Communist China for Canada in 1990, only to be sent back nine years later. A spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy said he wasn�t sure if Canada, which has no death penalty, was aware Fang could face execution when he was returned. Communist China has more executions than the rest of the world combined; most are for corruption and theft offenses, not murder. When asked about this, and whether it would change her policy, Canadian Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said it would, adding, �There are some things other countries do that we do not like, and I suppose there are some things we do that other countries don't like.� To date, Canadian media has not focused on Fang�s fate.

GROUP OF IMMIGRANTS TO BE REPATRIATED PRTOEST IN CANADIAN PRISON
Desperate to avoid going back after all their appeals had lost, about 50 or so Chinese immigrant protested being returned to Communist China early this week. The immigrants� protest did get out of hand, with windows broken and small fires breaking out, but Canadian authorities had reestablished control by Monday. Canada has been the destination for numerous immigrants so desperate to leave Communist China they pledge themselves to years of servitude under international crime syndicates. Canada�s policy, for the most part, has been to arrest the ringleaders and return everyone else as soon as feasible.

VIETNAM RATIFIES BORDER TREATY WITH PRC, MYAMNAR LOOKS TO COPY �REFORMS�
The Vietnamese National Assembly ratified a border treaty signed with Communist China to end to dispute that sparked a war in 1979. The treaty had been signed in December. The two Communist nations are trying to get bilateral relations out of a twenty-year deep freeze. The treaty apparently did not settle the maritime border through the Gulf of Tonkin. It also left unresolved the hotly disputed Sprately Islands, which also saw conflict between the two. A more friendly nation to Communist China, Myanmar, is now looking to copy Communist China�s �reform.� General Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the junta that runs the nation once known as Burma, told PRC Premier Zhu Rongji that he was hoping to follow Beijing�s path in semi-opening up. North Korea has also expressed interest in Communist China�s economic �loosening,� no doubt partly because Beijing has been so adept at ensuring no political freedom comes with it.

ANTI-COMMUNIST LABOR SUPPORTERS RELEASED EARLY
Zhang Jingsheng and Li Wangyang, two dissidents who advised independent labor organizations in 1989 were released early by Communist China during the past week, according to the Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy in China. Zhang, released two years early on Tuesday, has been an opponent on Communist Chna for over twenty years. He spent four years in prison for editing a pro-democracy publication, the Republican, during the 1970�s Democracy Wall movement. While in prison, he wrote a number of songs that spread throughout the dissident community. During the Tiananmen Square protests, he advised an independent union in Hunan province, called for resistance to the authorities after the military crackdown, and was sentenced to 13 years in jail. An unnamed official confirme dhis release. Li, who had helped found an independent union in the city of Shoyang in 1989, was set free two years early on June 8.

STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS COMMUNIST CHINA SHOULDN�T WORRY ABOUT MISSILE DEFENSE
Assistant Secretary of State Robert Einhorn told the Asia Society today that Communist China has �nothing to fear� from a limited missile defense designed to protect the U.S. against �rogue states.� Einhorn, who handels non-proliferation issues, said the PRC would have no need �to build up its capability beyond that level of modernization it is already undertaking,� in reaction to the missile defense. He said the missile defense �would be directed at dealing with emerging missile threats such as those we see from down the road like North Korea or Iran.� Einhorn also praised Beijing for not exporting complete missile systems abroad since a 1994 agreement with the U.S. not to do so. He did note, however, evidence of missile pieces being transferred from the PRC to Pakistan and Iran, one of the very �rogue states� he cited. Communist China has threatened to �reconsider its security,� i.e. a start an Asian arms race, if the missile defense is deployed. It should be noted that North Korea, every analyst�s lead �rogue,� has been a PRC ally for over 50 years.

CONGRESSMAN TO PUSH BILL TIEING ISRAELI AID TO BLOCKING AWACS SALE
Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama) is proposing a bill that could block $250 million in aid to Israel if it goes through with its proposed sale of the PHACION air-radar system to Communist China despite the strong opposition of the Clinton Administration. Mr. Callahan, who chairs the House subcommittee on foreign aid, already has the support of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young. The committee�s ranking Democrat, David Obey, has said he�s not yet willing to support the bill � he fears it could hurt the Middle East peace process � but said if the sale goes through, �all best are off.� The Washington Times reported that Rep. Jesse L. Jackson (D-Illinois), son of Rev. Jesse Jackson, also supports Callahan�s bill. Israel has come under heavy criticism at home and abroad for plans to sell the system, much like the U.S. AWACS air radar, to the PRC. The Pentagon is worried about the effect of the sale on the balance of power between Communist China and Taiwan, although they waited three years before making their concerns known.

PROTESTS
In Beijing early today, a lone protestor disrupted a limousine caravan for the President of Botswana. He dashed in front of the cars, which swerved to avoid him, and carried a banner a witness was unable to read. Police arrested him immediately. The witness, who asked Agence France Presse for anonymity, said the protestor �was obviously trying to protest against the Chinese government.�

TAIWAN NEWS
The Republic of China (a.k.a. Taiwan) has beefed up it defenses on the offshore island of Kinmen, just off the mainland coast, with four missile boats as of Wednesday morning. Defense officials called the depolyment �routine,� but it is the first of its kind n Kinmen. Taiwan also announced the ban on trade, transport, and postal links between the Taiwan�s small islands and Communist China would be lifted, as a test of how lifting the ban of the �three links� ROC-wide would fare. The other islands are Quemoy, Matsu, and Penghu.

President Chen Shui-bian, speaking to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the young democracy he leads, the first ever on Chinese soil, �is conducive to helping mainland China learn to shoulder the responsibilities of a great nation.� He also exhorted Communist China to act like a �great nation,� and stop encroaching on the �diplomatic space� of Taiwan. Communist China and the ROC have been battling each other for diplomatic recognition around the world with promises of foreign aid and investments in what has been dubbed �dollar diplomacy.� Chen also urged Beijing to back off its nearly endless saber rattling, saying a �great nation,� as he put it, �is not illustrated in active expansion of military capabilities nor in military threats against smaller nations.� Chen also asked for U.S. help in bringing the two sides together. In a meeting with Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), Chen asked for the U.S. to �play a more active role� to help restore cross-strait talks. Chen said his biggest stumbling block to restarting talks was �the Chinese communists who have failed to show identical sincerity and goodwill.� Chen�s defense minister had earlier said he hoped U.S. facilitated talks � known as �track II� � could lead to an easing of tensions.

Communist China reacted, through Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao, by demanding the U.S. cut off all official contact with and arms sales to Taiwan. In particular, the PRC was upset about the recent arms deal, despite the Clinton Administration�s sharp limitations on it, and a visit by Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater to a business conference in Taiwan this week. A cabinet-level official has visited the conference every year for the pat eight years. Communist China also poured cold water on the idea that the recent summit between North and South Korea � heavily promoted by Communist China to help its long-time ally reach out to the rest of the world � could be a model for repairing cross-strait ties.

Vice President Annette Lu had harsher words for the Communist regime, flatly rejected Beijing�s demand Taiwan accept �One China� under by the PRC. In talks with U.S. Sinologist Bonnie Glaser, she said, �The people of Taiwan do not hold Chinese Communist passports, do not pay taxes to, and are not ruled by, Communist China.� She also repeated her �close neighbors but distant relatives� phrase that sent Beijing into a rage. Although she did not comment on Communist China�s new offer of �One China, several interpretations,� which would give the ROC some room to disagree about who is the legitimate government of China, she did remark �to say Taiwan is part of Communist China is unfair to us.�

Communist China is starting to notice the opposition, and is reaching out to them. The Beijing sympathizing Wen Wei Po reported early this week that the PRC is bypassing official channels because, under Chen, they are not sufficiently supporting Beijing�s �One China.� The paper also reported that Communist President Jiang Zemin met briefly with the co-founder of the People First Party, Liu Sung-pan, during the latter�s trip to the mainland. They also are establishing contact with a cross-straits organization led by a legislator from the pro-rapid reunification New Party, which has sent several emissaries to Communist China since the election. This Sunday, at least six New Party legislators will meet Communist officials for an �ice-breaker.�

TIBET NEWS
Tashi Rabten, treasurer of the Thenthok Monastery in Tibet, died under suspicious circumstances after protest a Communist Chinese propaganda campaign that included the removal of all pictures of the Dalai Lama, Tibet�s spiritual leader, from the monastery, according to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. The Center, quoting a monk who fled Tibet, said the death occurred on May 1, when Tashi and others protested the actions of officials engaged in �patriotic re-education.� The officials beat three of the monks, and took Tashi upstairs to find more Dalai Lama pictures to confiscate. Tashi was dead within minutes. Five monks were also arrested after putting up posters supporting Tibetan independence in reaction to Tashi�s death. The government has denied all responsibility for Tashi, and claimed he committed suicide.

Julia Taft, the U.S. State Department�s special coordinator for Tibet, has once again asked Communist China to �establish a dialogue with the Dalai Lama� and slammed Communist China�s human rights record there. While she admitted the PRC has made no effort to begin talks with her or the Dalai Lama, she insisted that �a more enlightened policy toward Tibet� was in Communist China�s interests and should be pursued by it.

Raymond Chan, Member of Parliament and Canada�s Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, toured Drapchi prison last Thursday. The prison saw police brutally crush protests by inmates in 1998. In the time since the protests, authorities have killed eleven prisoners, according to the Tibet Information Network. Chan was accompanied on his tour by Communist Chinese watchers, and was not allowed to talk to any prisoners. While he admitted he may not have gotten an honest look at the prison, he nevertheless said, �My impression is it's a model prison I guess, it's well set up, clean, people seem happy.� Perhaps, Canadian officials are instinctively compelled to remind us that they just don�t get it (see above).

Communist China has asked the World Bank to delay a decision on a $20 million loan for a program that would forcibly repatriate thousands of neighbors of Tibet and move them into the region. The Bank, which had previously approved the loan, is examining a report submitted two months ago which favored abandoning the project, in part on the comments of human rights� groups who feared the dilution of the Tibetan culture and population. The PRC asked for a delay �for discussion� but gave no clue as to what would be discussed.

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