| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MARCH 14, 2001 TOP STORY: COMMUNISTS COVERING UP FIREWORK SCANDAL AT EXPLODED SCHOOL PARENTS ENRAGED AT FIREWORKS SCAM, COVERUP BY COMMUNISTS Angry parents of children killed in the Jiangxi school explosion last month told Agence France Presse and that Communist China was lying to keep secret a scam between local Communists and the school headmaster to force the children to make fireworks at the school to line their pockets. The parents blasted the Communist line that a �madman� blew the school up, and accused the Communists of �gagging� survivors. Link: AFP � March 9, AFP � March 10 BBC also reported the parents� rage at the explosion, the fireworks scam and the cover-up. The last of these now goes as high as Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, who stood by the lone madman theory and denied the fireworks scam. About 2,000 protested the Communist treatment of the blast and its aftermath. A doctor told AFP the children were handling fuses at the time of the blast. Link: BBC, AFP Parents were furious as they buried their dead children. One of them told AFP, �My son told me his teacher forced him to kneel on the ground to punish him when he refused to make firecrackers.� His son, 11, was one of the children who died. They also accused the local Communists of trying to cover up the fireworks operation. Link: AFP The internet site Sina.com, the most popular in Communist China, had to shut down its chat room due to hundreds of messages slamming the government for the �lone madman� theory, and criticizing their woeful treatment of rural villages in general, and schools in particular. Before they could wipe out the anti-government messages, the dissident site www.89-64.com managed to download and post them. Link: AFP By yesterday, the Communists had ordered all parents to stop talking and blasted press reports about the fireworks scam. They got to the few children who survived, too. As one parent put it, �Their opinions are all the same. They were taught to say the same things.� Word did leak out that the Communists� supposed �madman� was actually a mentally handicapped man hired to deliver firework powder to the school. Link: AFP TOP AMERICAN STORY: U.S. SENATE REPORT CALLS FOR MAJOR ARMS SALE TO TAIWAN Citing a growing Communist military buildup, a report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said not providing advanced weapons and technology to Taiwan �will guarantee the destruction of that island democracy by China's rapidly expanding military forces.� The report called for approving the sale of Aegis-class destroyers, advance missiles, and technology, plus a greater coordination between the two militaries. The Bush Administration will decide on Taiwan�s latest arms request, which includes all of the above, next month. The People�s Republic of China has repeatedly opposed all arms to Taiwan, and its particularly scared of the Aegis-armed destroyers, which could be adapted to have a theatre missile defense. Link: Washington Times The Communists were so spooked by the report that they have asked for new talks on missile defense with the U.S., according to the BBC. A PRC spokesperson also took the time to once again blast the whole idea. The Washington Post also reported the story, highlighting the Communists� real fear over the Aegis destroyers. Links: BBC, Washington Post, AFP � main focus on Aegis (See Republic of China (Taiwan) News Section for more news from Taiwan.) OTHER REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS ROC GOVERNMENT THREATENS SLOWDOWN IN �THREE LINKS� TO PROTECT BUSINESSMEN The government of President Chen Shui-bian is considering slowing down the expansion of trade, mail, and investment links with the mainland if the Communists continue to penalize ROC businessmen for their politics. AFP, citing the China Times, said the government was particularly worried about W.L. Shi, an entrepreneur who had two of his plants closed by the Communists, due to his support for Chen�s DPP. Links: AFP - Communist closure of plants, AFP - Taiwan�s reaction: March 11, AFP - Taiwan�s reaction: March 12 The Communists later threatened all pro-Democratic Progressive Party businessmen with economic punishments for backing the pro-independence party, or supporting independence in principle. Link: AFP CHEN PLEDGES �NORMALIZATION� OF RELATIONS WITH COMMUNIST CHINA President Chen said he would like to see a �normalized relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits,� according to AFP. Chen made the comments in a meeting with visiting Freie Universitaet Berlin President Peter Gaehtgens. He offered again to discuss the �one China� issue in cross-strait talks; the PRC is insisting he accept their definition of �one China.� Link: AFP COMMUNISTS SAY MASSIVE DEFENSE HIKE NOT AIMED AT TAIWAN The Communist military�s top political officer told the press that the PRC�s major defense spending hike has no connection with �the Taiwan question,� according to AFP. He did take the time to say the Communists are �preparing for war to prevent Taiwan authorities from going too far.� That should make them feel better. Link: AFP DEFENSE OFFICIALS HOPING FOR SECURITY DIALOGUE WITH JAPAN Taiwan�s Central News Agency reported that the ROC has sent officials to Tokyo to try to establish a security dialogue with Japan. A number of �commanders in the military� have already been to Tokyo. Link: CNA TIBET NEWS PROESTORS IN WASHINGTON MARK 42ND ANNIVERSARY OF BLOODY COMMUNIST CRACKDOWN Roughly 150 pro-Tibet protestors demonstrated in front of the Communist Chinese embassy in Washington to mark the 42nd anniversary of the brutal Communist crackdown of March 10, 1959. Link: CNN COMMUNISTS WHACK DALAI LAMA AGAIN The deputy head of the Communist Party in Tibet took another verbal shot at the Dalai Lama yesterday, claiming Tibet�s spiritual leader was a pawn for �anti-China forces in the West headed by the United States.� Link: AFP XINGJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS COMMUNIST CHIEF OF REGION SAYS ETHNIC STRIFE �UNDER CONTROL� Abulahat Abdurixit, head of the Communist government for the region they call Xingjiang, told a press gathering outside the National People�s Congress in Beijing that the ethnic situation in the region is �under control.� The Communists have been engaged in a ruthless repression of Muslims in the region � including many executions � leading many to support an independent state that would be called East Turkestan. Link: AFP OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS PRC PRIVATELY ADMITS AIDING IRAQI AIR DEFENSES CNN dropped a bombshell last week, citing an anonymous State Department official who said Communist China admitted privately that they helped Iraq build a fiber-optic network for its air defense system. The two companies involved, Huwei Technologies and ZTE, are �linked to the Ministry of Post and Communications and/or the military.� All telecommunications firms in the PRC are linked to the ministry. Link: CNN The State Department also said it is considering making a formal complaint to the UN regarding Communist China�s actions, which violate the embargo against Iraq. A spokesman said the department is still looking into the option. Link: AFP RUMSFELD REVIEWING MILITARY EXCHANGES The Washington Times reported that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has restricted all military exchanges between Communist China and the U.S. to the end of May, and has placed under review any future exchanges. The previous administration used the exchanges as �military diplomacy,� leading to many high-level briefings for PRC generals. Link: Washington Times PACIFIC COMMANDER VISITING BEIJING Admiral Dennis Blair, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, is in Beijing for meetings with senior Communist generals. Taiwan�s request for Aegis-armed destroyers, and missile defense in general, are likely to be the key topics of discussion, according to AFP. Link: AFP SECRETARY OF STATE�S �SLIP OF THE TONGUE� ON TAIWAN ANGERS PRC U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell set off the Communists last week, referring to Taiwan as the �Republic of China� during testimony to Congress. Today, the State Department said it was just a �slip of the tongue� and that U.S. policy on Taiwan had not changed. The Communists get upset any time Taiwan is labeled by its official name. Link: AFP COMMUNIST CHINA WHACKS U.S. CONGRESS FOR TABLING ANTI-OLYMPIC RESOLUTION The PRC took aim at members of Congress who sponsored a resolution calling for the 2008 Olympics to be held anywhere but in Beijing. A foreign ministry spokesman called the non-binding resolution a �contempt and a challenge to the Olympic principles.� That�s about what the resolution said about holding the Olympics in Communist China. Link: AFP HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS SCHOOL TEACHER SENTENCED FOR ADVOCATING END TO COMMUNIST PARTY RULE Jiang Shihua, a middle school teacher arrest last year for �inciting the subversion of state political power� (see previous updates), was sentenced to two years in prison. His crime was writing the following on an internet chat room about corruption: �we all think about one sentence that none of us will say: overthrow the Communist Party.� Link: AFP CDP MEMBER ARRESTED Lu Xiaolan, a provincial vice chairman of the dissident-founded China Democracy Party, is in police custody after planning a party meeting in Wuhan. Ever since its founding in 1998, the CDP has lost roughly thirty of its leaders to Communist prisons. Link: AFP EUROPEAN UNION CALLS ON COMMUNIST CHINA TO ALLOW FREE TRADE UNIONS The European Union joined human rights groups this week in calling for the Communists to accept free trade unions. The Communists only allow party backed unions, and nixed the part of a UN pact on economic rights that provided for free labor organization. Link: AFP SIX ARRESTED FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS CHARGED WITH INCITING Communist police charged the six Falun Gong practitioners for distributing arrested last month with �the illegal printing and distribution of materials with the intention �to incite.� � Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS TAXI STRIKE IN LANZHOU TURNS UGLY AS POLICE BEAT UP PROTESTORS A strike by the 5,000 taxi drivers in Lanzhou turned violent, thanks to Communist police. The striking taxi drivers surrounded the provincial government offices to protest new fees, taxes, and regulations, and gave the government a petition highlighting their grievance. The next day, police started beating them away from the compound, according to AFP. Link: AFP LAID-OFF MINERS STAGE PROTEST IN SHANXI PROVINCE Roughly 2,000 miners blocked roads to protest being laid off in Datong, Shanxi province last week. The head of the Communist union played down the protest, calling the miners �very sensitive . . . a little extreme and . . . uncultured.� This is what passes for union representation in Communist China. Link: AFP OVER 200 MORE CAUGHT ATTEPMTING TO ESCAPE AFP reported the arrest of 202 people trying to �illegally emigrate� (the fancy euphemism for escape) from Communist China. The desire to escape is so strong an entire criminal enterprise has risen around getting the necessary paperwork, leading to a choice between indentured servitude and repatriation for many escapees. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS ADMIT ENVIRONMENT IN SERIOUS TROUBLE Qu Geping, chair of the environment committee for the National People�s Congress (national legislature), admitted last week that �many mistakes� in overdevelopment have turned the PRC into an ecological basket-case. Nearly half of Communist China�s lakes are polluted, and acid rain plagues nearly a third of the country. Link: AFP UNREST ON THE RISE, ADMITS TOP COMMUNIST Meanwhile, Wei Jianxing, number six in the party hierarchy, admitted to the recent rise in protests nationwide, due to the massive restructuring in the socialist economies. Wei said the restructuring led to many �non-antagonistic contradictions.� He also blamed corruption for some of the trouble. Link: AFP LI PENG SAYS CORRUPTION COULD LEAD TO �DESTRUCTION OF PARTY;� JUDGE AGREES Li Peng, the man who ordered the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, said corruption unchecked could bring down the Communist Party. Li, now chairman of the NPC and number 2 in the Party hierarchy, knows from where he speaks, several of his proteges have been nailed in corruption probes. The following day, a senior judge in echoed Li�s newfound worries about corruption and organized crime to the NPC. Links: BBC, Washington Post COMMUNIST DELEGATES VENT SPLEENS OVER CORRUPTION AND FALUN GONG The judge mentioned above, Xiao Yang, took it on the chin Monday from angry NPC delegates. AFP reported that Xiao, head of the Supreme People�s Court, heard from Guandgong delegates furious over corruption in their province, and the judiciary�s lack of concern over it in the recent past. Interestingly, Chen Lili blasted Xiao over the Falun Gong War, saying it had �sharp contradictions.� Is a thaw coming? Link: AFP SHENYANG CITY COUNCIL REJECTS COURT REPORT; NEW GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES GOALS The Washington Times reported an �unthinkable� action by the Shenyang city council. It rejected a report from the local judiciary on its work for the past year. The paper did not report that Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, has dealt with a mafia-tainted vice-mayor and several high profile corruption cases, meaning the Communists may not have been all that upset about the lax court getting rebuked. Link: Washington Times The province�s new governor, Bo Xilai, told the NPC of his hopes to rid his province of mafia-corrupted officials and bring more jobs to Liaoning. Bo, son of a high-level founding Communist, would not confirm that an investigation into Liaoning found over 300 officials tied to the mafia. Link: AFP EX-DEPUTY MAYOR GETS SIX YEARS FOR TAKING BRIBES A former deputy mayor of Hangzhou, who was not named, received a six-year prison term for taking bribes. Link: BBC INTERNATIONAL NEWS ISRAEL MAY STILL SELL AWACS SYSTEM TO COMMUNIST CHINA CNA reported that Israel is still considering the sale of AWACS air-radar systems to Communist China, seven months after canceling an earlier sale. The PRC, currently negotiating with Russia to buy the system directly, is putting heavy pressure on the new Israeli government to sell the AWACS. Link: CNA PHILIPPINES SPOTS TWO MORE COMMUNIST VESSELS IN SCARBOROUGH The Philippines is tracking two Communist Chinese ships in the Scarborough shoal, one of two highly disputed regions in the South China Sea. Both countries have a territorial claim on the shoal. Link: AFP JAPAN WILL �MONITOR� COMMUNIST CHINESE DEFENSE SPENDING, MAY RETHINK AID Japan has announced it will keep Communist China�s newly announced 17.7% military budget increase under their close watch. Many in the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party are suggesting the government, the top donor of economic aid to the PRC, should reconsider what it sends to Beijing in light of the hefty increase. Link: Kyodo News Agency LAI CHANGXING AND WIFE LEAVE CANADIAN PRISON FOR HOUSE ARREST Lai Changxing, the reputed central figure in the Xiamen smuggling scandal, left detention over the weekend to return home under house arrest. Link: AFP Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving this. 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