| Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: OCTOBER 16, 2002 TOP STORY: PRC FIRM LOOKING TO SELL MISSILE FUEL COMPONENT TO IRAQ NO SALE OF CHEMICAL YET, BUT TALKS ARE ONGOING An unnamed Communist Chinese firm �is talking with Iraq about selling a chemical used in making missile fuel, although no transfer has been spotted, according to U.S. intelligence officials� who talked to Bill Gertz (Washington Times). The revelation comes as the so-called People�s Republic continues to pan possible American military action against Saddam Hussein (see below). Gertz also noted Communist firm Huawei Technologies� building of a fiber optic network to integrate Iraq�s air-defenses (see also 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, 3/21/01, and 9/18/02 updates). While the network was hit with bombings last February, no one is sure how much damage it really took. Moreover, neither Huawei nor the PRC were hit with any sanctions for it, despite its violation of UN resolutions. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR COMMUNIST CHINA STILL OPPOSES U.S. ACTION AGAINST IRAQ, BUT UN VETO �UNLIKELY� Speaking of UN resolutions and Iraq, the BBC reports that Communist China is �perhaps the strongest in its opposition to a new US-led war against Iraq� among the five Security Council members with veto power. Despite this, the PRC is �unlikely to use its veto to block any UN resolution supporting military action in Iraq� and risk the possibility of the U.S. telling the UN � and Communist China � to stuff it. This decision is due mainly to the fact the unilateral U.S. action is �the one thing China wants most to avoid,� not the concessions on Tibet and East Turkestan that the U.S. have needlessly thrown at the Communists (see 8/28/02, 9/4/02, 9/11/02, 9/18/02, and 10/02/02 updates). Still, as noted in the 10/02/02 update, the PRC is more than willing to back France and Russia in their opposition to action against Iraq. PRC-KYRGYZ �ANTI-TERRORIST� EXERCISES HELD Communist China had its joint �anti-terrorist� exercise with Kyrgyzstan last week. The BBC report noted that the Communists likely had the ulterior motive �to increase its profile in the region now US troops are based there.� Considering that the supposed target of the exercise � the East Turkestan Islamic Movement � is likely defunct (see 9/18/02 update), there�s likely a lot to that theory. Check out these stories and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. BBC PROTESTS PRC BLOCKING OF UZBEK BROADCAST; LANGUAGE CLOSE TO UIGHURS� The BBC has lodged a protest against Communist China for blocking its broadcasts in Uzbek, a language similar to that of the Uighur natives of East Turkestan. The Uzbek block has been in place since September. The Communists have been blocking the Chinese-language BBC broadcast since the Tiananmen Square massacre. The BBC�s English and Chinese web sites are also blocked. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA REFUSES TO HAND OVER KIDNAPPED SON TO AMERICAN MOTHER Communist China has rejected the request of Camille Colvin to take her 5-year-old son back to the U.S. after tracking her ex-husband, who kidnapped the child from New York, to Zhengzhou, in the PRC interior. The Communists instead demanded Camille and her ex-husband resolve the matter privately. He responded by demanding $130,000 and threatening her. Report: Washington Post WILL COMMUNIST CHINA�S FIRST NBA PLAYER DEFECT? Wang Zhi Zhi, a Communist military officer better known as a reserve for the NBA Dallas Mavericks, was thrown of the PRC national team because he refused to return to Communist China to work with them. Wang signed a new deal with the L.A. Clippers; the Mavericks, who agreed to send Wang back to the PRC, are not likely to match it (Fort-Worth Star Telegram). Rumors of his defection are rife. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS CHINESE CHRISTIAN LEADER�S DEATH SENTENCE BECOMES LIFE IMPRISONMENT A Communist court sentenced Gong Shengliang, leader of the South China Church, to life imprisonment for �rape and battery.� Two other church members received life sentences, and two more were given 15-year-terms, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, cited by the BBC. The PRC routinely trumps up charges of violent crime to give their crackdowns a veneer of respectability. This time, however, they really went out of their way. According to Jay Nordlinger in National Review Online (seventh bullet), the Communists tortured a number of women into giving false rape accusations against Gong and his fellow defendants. Nordlinger said it best himself, �Swell.� The five South China Church followers had been sentenced to death under the Communist �cult� law, which is infamous for its use in the crackdown against Falun Gong. Their death sentences were overturned (see last update). Communist China only allows two Christian faiths: the PRC-controlled �Patriotic� Catholic Church, and the PRC-controlled Protestant Church. COMMUNIST CHINA IMPOSES NEW INTERNET REGULATIONS Communist China has put forth its most restrictive internet regulations � banning all content from what it calls �evil cults,� which to the Communists means Falun Gong and underground Christian churches, and any content deemed �anti-constitutional or a threat to national unity and China's territorial integrity� (BBC). The Communists also barred anyone under 16 from internet cafes. These are not the first regulations Communist China has thrown up as part of its attempt to block anti-Communist information from getting to the Chinese people via the web, dubbed the �Great Red Firewall.� These actions have already led the Communists to block two search engines (see 9/4/02, 9/11/02, and 9/18/02 updates). NEW HEAD OF PROPAGANDA LIKELY TO BE AS HARSH ON MEDIA AS OLD CHIEF Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN) examines the three possible successors to the critical role of chief of the Communist Party's Department of Propaganda. He finds that all of the likely candidates �are expected to continue the policy of ironclad control over ideology and the media.� Lam also notes whispers that Jiang has struck a deal with the hard-line Maoists � called �leftists� � to help preserve his �legacy.� ANOTHER INDEPENDENT LABOR ORGANIZATION GOES DOWN In Tangxia, workers formed a workers� association to communicate grievances to factory managers. As one of the managers helped found the association, it had a leg up on most groups, until Beijing noticed it. All labor organizations not tied to the Communist-run union are illegal, so down went the association. As for the people of Tangxia, they were �disappointed, but none dared object� (Washington Post). CORRUPTION NEWS OVER 750,000 COMMUNISTS �DISCIPLINED� FOR CORRUPTION; OVER $3 BILLION INVOLVED Communist China, in its efforts to convince its people that it was serious about corruption, announced that, as Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN) put it, �780,000 party members had been disciplined for economic crimes, mostly relating to pocketing bribes and other ill-gotten gains.� Such �ill-gotten gains� were well over $3 billion dollars � and that�s just the money the Communists �recovered.� FORMER EVERBRIGHT HEAD GIVEN 15 YEARS FOR TAKING BRIBES Meanwhile, a PRC court sentenced Zhu Xiaohua, former head of the Everbright Group, to 15 years in jail for taking nearly $500,000 in bribes. The Communist-run Xinhua news agency, cited by the BBC, reported that Zhu avoided execution by admitting �to bribes which the prosecutors were not aware of.� Zhu is the third prot�g� of �reform� Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to �fall from grace� (see 8/21/02 update). HEAD OF STATE POWER CORPORATION VANISHES Gao Yan, head of the State Power Corporation and a leading member of the faction of Tiananmen butcher Li Peng (Li�s son was his deputy), has �not been seen since August� (Washington Post). Reports of Gao�s disappearance in Communist-run media also sight a couple of the state-run firms more dubious transactions, �a signal that Gao is under suspicion� for corruption in those cases. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNISTS CLAIM ECONOMY GREW 7.9% IN 2002 Communist China claimed that its economy grew 7.9% from January to September 2002 �fueled by exports and massive increases in government spending. Many outside economists have challenged the accuracy of PRC numbers, however, and one sign that the statistics aren�t on the up and up comes from other numbers pointing to deflation, not normally seen with such fast growth. Reports: CNN, BBC �NON-STATE ENTREPRENEURS� MAY GET INTO CENTRAL COMMITTEE IF �LOYAL� ENOUGH Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN) reports that the Communist Party may include �non-state entrepreneurs� into its Central Committee during its Congress next month. Of course, only those who have shown �loyalty to the party leadership� need apply. All �private� business in the PRC exists at the pleasure of the Party � private property rights do not exist, and even licenses to operate must be �rented� from state firms. UN SECRETARY GENERAL WARNS COMMUNISTS ON AIDS United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said Communist China �is facing a decisive moment� (BBC) in halting the spread of AIDS. Annan mentioned neither the recent arrest of AIDS activist Wan Yanhai (see 9/25/02 update) nor how AIDS became such a problem � a Communist blood drive in the 1980s that had hygiene so awful it became an AIDS superhighway, infecting over 1 million people. INTERNATIONAL NEWS TWELVE MORE REFUGEES REACH SEOUL VIA SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY IN PRC A dozen more North Korean refugees in Communist China have been flown to freedom in the Republic of Korea (South Korea�s official name) over the weekend. The refugees entered the ROK Embassy in Beijing, following a pattern of over 100 other refugees who have escaped via democratic embassies in Communist China. Two more entered the ROK Embassy on Thursday. Report: BBC Communist China, an ally of the Stalinist North for over 50 years, sends back any refugee it finds. This forces hundreds of thousands of them to hide, and to seek safe passage to South Korea via the embassies. The severe repression and famine in the North have killed over 2 million � possibly as many as three � so far. Three more refugees are still in a Beijing school run by the German Embassy. The North Korea Report has the latest on the Stalinist ally of Communist China. Sign up now to receive it every Monday. INDIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RIPS PRC AID TO PAKISTAN�S MISSILE PROGRAM Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes blasted Communist China for providing missile parts to Pakistan, saying it has led to �arrogance� on Pakistan�s part, and forced the world�s largest democracy to �have the same strength that our neighbors have� (Newsmax.com). As part of the quest to equalize that strength, India conducted two missile tests last week. HYUNDAI TO ENTER PRC AUTO MARKET There goes another one. South Korean automaker Hyundai has become the latest to throw money into Communist China, this time to build from a factory �near the Chinese capital� (BBC). The deal, as always, is a joint venture with a Communist firm, in this case Beijing Automotive Industry Holding. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS CHINESE DISSIDENT FLEES PRC FOR TAIWAN; ROC MILITARY OFFICER GOES OTHER WAY Two defections across the Taiwan Straits were reported this week. A little over a week ago, a Taiwanese lieutenant abandoned the ROC for Communist China � a rarity in and of itself. Meanwhile, Tang Yuanjun, a member of the China Democracy Party, made a dramatic swim to freedom, reaching ROC-controlled Tatan Island and asking for asylum. Report: BBC Hong Kong was unusually quiet this week. TIBET NEWS MISS TIBET CONTEST DIVIDES COMMUNITY Tibet�s first ever beauty pageant � �a little bit of glamour attached to the Tibetan cause� � took place over the weekend in India. However, as the BBC reports, not everyone in the Tibetan exiled community was happy� many believed the pageant was �violating their people's traditions and trivialising their fight for freedom.� Among these were elected Prime Minister in exile Samdhong Rinpoche. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it Anyonewho wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. 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