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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MARCH 17, 2004
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TOP STORY: TAIWAN CANDIDATES HOLD COMPETING RALLIES AS VOTE NEARS
COMMUNIST CHINA CONDUCTS JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE WITH FRANCE ON VOTE EVE
President Chen Shui-bian and �pan-blue� opposition candidate Lien Chan held major rallies over the weekend in preparation for Saturday�s critical election. Lien�s Nationalist Party insisted that over two million supporters took part in a series of demonstrations (BBC 3/13), while Chen addressed a massive rally in Kaohsiung.
Of course, the People�s Republic of China cast its �vote� by conducting joint military drills with France just four days before the election (BBC 3/16). They were the largest joint naval exercises in Communist Chinese history, and reminiscent of 1996, when the Communists fired a slew of missiles over Taiwan to scare voters away from Lee Teng-hui.
It also just happened to be with the nation that treated Party boss Hu Jintao like a king and Falun Gong practitioners like criminals (see 1/28 Update). Taiwan formally protested the �military intimidation toward Taiwan� (Central News Agency, Taiwan, via Epoch Times, HK). The race, at present, is too close to call (Cybercast News).
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
OPPOSITION LIKENS CHEN SHUI-BIAN TO HITLER, THEN BACKS DOWN
The �pan-blue� ticket pulled an unseemly advertisement that compared President Chen to Adolph Hitler, after a leading Taiwanese rabbi expressed his outrage over the charge (BBC 3/12). Later, Lien tried a different tack, accusing Chen of �trying to utilize (UK sp) a confrontational situation� (BBC 3/17) between the PRC and Taiwan to win votes.
BUDDHIST MASTER SUPPORTS LIEN CHAN, GETS BLASTED BY NUN
A leading Buddhist monk, or �master,� openly backed Lien Chan, the �pan-blue� candidate running against President Chen Shui-bian, and was almost immediately lambasted by Shih Chao Hwei, herself a leading Buddhist nun in Taiwan. Report: BBC
ROUGHLY 200,000 RETURNING FROM ABROAD TO VOTE
Meanwhile, about 200,000 Taiwanese living abroad have returned home to vote, including many businessmen from the mainland supporting the opposition �pan-blue� ticket (BBC).
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
AFL-CIO CITES COMMUNIST LABOR ABUSES AS REASONS BEHIND LOSS OF U.S. JOBS
If it weren�t for the Taiwanese election, this would easily be the top story. The AFL-CIO filed a trade complaint with the Bush Administration, citing labor abuses by Communist China that has become �an unreasonable trade practice that violates U.S. law� (Washington Post). The labor group says over 727,000 U.S. jobs have been lost to the PRC (CNN).
It is the first time Communist China�s labor abuses have been connected with the loss of American jobs, despite the obvious fact that torturing workers rather than paying them would lead to labor costs far below the U.S. Exiled dissident Wei Jinsheng shared the podium with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka at the announcement.
Organized labor was a leading force behind both Cold War I and the fight against Permanent Normal Trade Relations with Communist China in 2000. This petition for Administration trade action is a dramatic return to the stage for labor, and it is excellent news.
NOW IN EXILE, WANG YOUCAI TALKS TO THE PRESS
Wang Youcai, an exiled founder of the China Democracy Party, spoke to the press this week. Among the things he revealed was the fact that the Communists told him he was very ill, but never gave him any details, which led him to choose exile. He said if doctors say he is healthy, �I will try to go back to China� (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times).
BUSH PICK TO HELP U.S. MANUFACTURING PULLS OUT AFTER BEIJING PLANT IS EXPOSED
Anthony Raimondo, head of a Nebraska manufacturing firm, was President Bush�s choice for the post of �manufacturing czar� (Washington Times), a Commerce Department post was created to help American manufacturers. However, Raimondo himself recently opened a factory in China� (Washington Post). Days later, he passed up the nomination.
PRC CHINA MAY RAISE ITS CURRENCY AFTER ALL � TO KEEP U.S. AWAY FROM TAIWAN
Despite rather harsh language against it last week (see last Update), Communist China might raise the value of its currency about 8% �to make sure the U.S. does not intervene in any conflict across the Taiwan Straits� (San Marino Tribune). The move would become more likely if Chen Shui-bian is re-elected Taiwanese President on Saturday.
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
COMMUNIST CHINA HAS DEAL TO SELL NUCLEAR REACTOR TO PAKISTAN
Communist China has a deal in place to sell a nuclear reactor to its longtime ally, Pakistan. The deal �defies the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines � rules China says it wants to adhere to and that President Bush is anxious to bolster� (National Review Online).
NORTH KOREA NEWS
For more on Communist China�s Stalinist ally, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
COMMUNIST CHINA DEVELOPS �WORKING GROUPS� PLAN FOR NK NUCLEAR TALKS
Communist China �says it has developed a plan for setting up working groups to help resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program� (Voice of America via Epoch Times). The details of the plan were not revealed. Beijing has hosted both round of six-way talks on the Stalinists� nuclear weapons (see 4/30/03 and 3/3 Updates).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
MONGOLIA GETTING MORE WORRIED ABOUT COMMUNIST CHINA
The people of Mongolia, a former Soviet satellite sandwiched between Russia and Communist China, are getting increasingly worried about the PRC: �China is not interested in developing Mongolia's economy, but in exploiting our natural resources . . . The Chinese have the possibility to utterly absorb us� (The Atlantic via Parapundit).
JAPAN TO CUT BACK LOANS TO PRC; INDIA TO BE LEADING RECIPIENT OF TOKYO AID
Japan will be scaling back loans to Communist China by 20%, to roughly $871 million. As a result, Communist China will fall behind its longtime rival India in receiving economic aid from Japan. The move comes amid �tremendous pressure for cutting back loans to China� (Agence France Presse via Epoch Times) in Japan.
EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN POLICY HEAD TO PUSH FOR END TO PRC ARMS EMBARGO
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he would work �to end the EU's arms embargo against China� (BBC), calling the arms ban a �relic of the cold war.� France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands have all supported lifting the arms embargo at some point (see 11/12/03, 12/10/03, 1/28/04, and 2/4/04 Updates).
FRENCH FIRM WINS $12 BILLION RAILROAD PROJECT
Was it just coincidence? Less than a month after Jacques Chirac feted PRC President Hu Jintao (and arrested a slew of Falun Gong practitioners, see 1/28 Update), the French firm Alstom won a $12 billion contract to build a high-speed railroad from Shanghai to Beijing (AFP via Epoch Times).
SOUTH KOREAN FIRM PUTTING $800 MILLION INTO PRC PLANT
South Korean chipmaker Hynix plans to pour $800 million into a plant in Communist China. The plant would allow the firm to export chips �without being subject to the new tariffs� placed on the firm by the U.S. and European Union. In other words, the U.S. and EU are tougher in trade � at least in this market � on South Korea than on the PRC. Report: BBC
NEWS FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR
FOFG CALLS FOR 102 PERSECUTORS TO BE BANNED FROM U.S.
Friends of Falun Gong USA and the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong released a list of 102 Communists �believed to be responsible for or directly involved� (Epoch Times), in the bloody crackdown against Falun Gong, and called on the Bush Administration to never let them into the U.S.
Communist China banned Falun Gong in July 1999. Since then, hundreds of practitioners have died at the hands of Communist police.
BALTIMORE WOMAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO FREE HER PRACTITIONER MOTHER
Yagu Fan, a resident of Baltimore, has launched a campaign to free her mother, Wei Huang Fan, who was arrested without any explanation from Communist police. The elder fan is a Falun Gong practitioner who lived in Zhengzhou. The younger Fan had to prove she was not a practitioner in order to live the PRC for Baltimore. Report: Epoch Times
COMMUNIST SATELLITE IN THE WORKS TO BLOCK FALUN GONG TRANSMISSIONS
Communist China �preparing to launch a satellite that is aimed exclusively at blocking video transmissions made by Falun Gong practitioners� (Epoch Times). The satellite will be in orbit sometime next year. Falun Gong has repeatedly sent messages through Communist satellites to broadcast the truth about the near five-year PRC crackdown on the movement.
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
COMMUNIST CADRE ADMITS REGIME EXECUTES 10,000 PEOPLE ANNUALLY
A member of the Communist Parliament revealed the number of executions the regime commits every year � a whopping 10,000, or �about five times more than all the other death penalty cases from other nations combined� (AFP via Channel News Asia). The PRC includes corruption and, in some cases, political dissent to be executable offenses.
FREELANCE WEB WRITER UNDER HOUSE ARREST
Lu Jiaping, a freelance internet writer in Beijing who once served in the Communist Chinese military, is now under house arrest for articles targeting the biggest of the Communist fish � Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin. Lu also had his house raided and his computer confiscated. Report: Epoch Times
COMMUNIST CHINA RAPPED FOR ITS BATTLE AGAINST INTERNET FREEDOM
Reporters Without Borders (better known by their French acronym RSF) condemned Communist China�s continuing refusal to allow its citizens to access an unfettered internet. RSF noted the blocking of several outside news sites, and the internet writers behind bars; of which there are now more than sixty. Report: Epoch Times
ZHAO PINGLU, LEADING EXILED DISSIDENT, DIES
Zhao Pinglu died of cancer last week at age 47. He was an organizer of �the worker's movement in support of the students� (China Support Network) in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Zhao then evaded Communist police for three years before reaching then-free Hong Kong in 1992. The China e-Lobby mourns his untimely passing.
COMMUNIST CHINA PUTS �HUMAN RIGHTS� IN ITS CONSTITIUTION
In what will certainly bring comfort to all labor-camp and political prisoners, the PRC Parliament added to its constitution this phrase: �the state respects and preserves human rights� (Cybercast News, Washington Post).
Amnesty International was one of the first in line with some badly needed cold water: �fine words are not enough, they must be backed by concrete action� (Epoch Times).
EPIDEMIC NEWS
COMMUNISTS CLAIM VICTORY OVER BIRD FLU
Communist China told the world it had beaten back the bird flu that had ravaged the southern countryside. It also denied an earlier report that the flu, which has killed 23, originated in the PRC last year (see 2/4/04 Update). However, the Communists also claimed �no human cases� (BBC) within the PRC, which seems a little odd.
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
JIANG LEADS THE PROCESSION INTO CCNPCC; CADRES SAY IT WAS TO SEND A MESSAGE
Central Military Commission chief Jiang Zemin bucked party tradition and led the procession of cadres into the Chinese Communist National Political Consultative Conference. The fact that Jiang upstaged Party chief Hu Jintao was taken by many cadres as a sign of Jiang reminding everyone who is really in charge. Report: Epoch Times
COMMUNIST CHINA SUFFERING HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBLEM
Over 42,000 cases of �sales� of women and children were reported in Communist China from 2001 to 2003 (RFA via Epoch Times). The children are moved �to childless families or families with only one child due to the One Child Policy in China.� The women, for the most part, were forced to be concubines.
COMMUNIST CHINA SAYS �LAWFUL� PRIVATE PROPERTY OK
If the Communists really did what they say they did, you would have seen this a lot sooner. The PRC announced that it had accepted private property at the end of the opening session of its Parliament. However, the language in question refers to �lawful� (BBC) private property. Since the Party defines what is �lawful,� the �reform� was essentially a charade.
This was roughly the same time the Communists announced to the world that �the state respects and preserves human rights� (see Other Human Rights News).
PRC PREMIER TO MAJOR COMMUNIST BANKS: REFORM IN THREE YEARS
Communist Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told two PRC-owned banks, China Construction Bank and Bank of China, �to carry out reforms and expects them to become real commercial banks in three years� (AFP via Epoch Times). The �Big Four� Communist-owned banks are suffering under a massive amount of bad debt.
COMMUNISTS NOW SAY GREAT WALL CANNOT BE SEEN FROM SPACE
Another decades-old myth is gone. Communist China has admitted that the Great Wall �cannot in fact be seen from the heavens � a fact proved by China's own astronaut Yang Liwei, who became the country's first person in space last year� (BBC). The Communists had insisted the Wall was visible from space, and even put the claim in PRC textbooks.
PEASANTS AND BEGGARS NOT BUYING COMMUNIST PROMISES OF HELP
As Communist China pushes to send more help to farmers, again (see last Update), those who would receive that aid are not expecting much. Why not? Because they hardly received any of the aid promised before (Voice of America via Epoch Times).
Meanwhile, Communist China�s a growing population of beggars, including children forced onto the street because their parents can�t afford cadre-imposed �tuition fees,� refuse any help from the Communists, mainly because they �think that government officials want to arrest and send them back so they keep running� (Epoch Times).
PRC ALLOWS SOME FOREIGNERS TO OWN PIECE OF MEDIA, BUT NOT CONTROL IT
Communist China announced a much-ballyhooed reform of its media, allowing foreigners to own a piece of media-firms. However, on the most important issue, control, the PRC won�t budge: �the Chinese party must hold more than 51 percent of the stock share . . . In general, the Chinese party should be state-owned� (AFP via Epoch Times).
HONG KONG NEWS
THREE APPLE DAILY REPORTERS BANNED FROM BEIJING
Three reporters from the Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper who editorial board opposed the recent arrests of city residents for �spying� (see 3/3 and last Updates), have been thrown out of Beijing. Report: RFA via Epoch Times
TIBET NEWS
TIBETANS MARCH IN NEW DELHI TO PROTEST COMMUNIST OCCUPATION
Anti-Communist protestors marched in New Delhi �calling for an end to Chinese rule in Tibet� (VOA via Epoch Times). The Dalai Lama, Tibet�s spiritual leader, was forced to flee Communist-occupied Tibet 45 years ago last week. Communist China has murdered over one million Tibetans since then.
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