| The next Update will be released on Thursday, December 26. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: DECEMBER 18, 2002 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA�S MILITARY AID TO AXIS OF EVIL CONTINUES PRC TRIED TO SEND MISSILE LAUNCHING PATROL SHIPS TO IRAQ; U.S. STOPPED DELIVERY BY BUYING THE SHIPMENT; NUCLEAR WEAPONS CHEMICAL SOLD TO NORTH KOREA Buried almost a mile deep in a story on the North Korea-Yemen Scud flap, the Washington Post reported that U.S. naval forces blocked �a ship carrying patrol craft with missile launchers bound from China for Iraq� last month. The missile launchers would be in Iraq today but for the fact that the U.S. �purchased the ship and its cargo,� according to an unnamed official cited by the Post. This is the most recent report of Communist China sending military aid to the Ba�athist regime in Iraq. The People�s Republic may have sold Ukrainian air-radar systems to Iraq (see 11/27/02 update), and the Communist firm Huawei Technologies build Saddam a fiber optic network to help integrate his air defenses (see 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, 3/21/01, and 9/18/02 updates). Meanwhile, Bill Gertz (Washington Times) reports that Stalinist North Korea � a PRC ally for over fifty years � succeeded in buying from Communist China the plutonium-making, uranium-enriching chemical known as tributyl phosphate (TBP). The chemical enables the Stalinists to produce enough nuclear weapons material for several bombs a year. Their efforts were first reported in the last update. Sign up for the North Korea Report, sent every Monday. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR U.S.OFFICIAL SAYS ETIM LABEL DOES NOT JUSTIFY PRC CRACKDOWN IN EAST TURKESTAN Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner � the Department�s top human rights official � is in East Turkestan. Craner pointedly denied that the U.S. labeling of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist group (see 8/28/02 and 9/18/02 updates) meant that the U.S. was excusing the brutal Communist crackdown against political dissidents, including independence supporters, there. To wit, Craner told the BBC, �It is our understanding that our decision on ETIM is being presented by some Chinese officials as a licence (UK sp) � that the US has bought into the notion that Uighurs are terrorists. We want to dispel that notion.� It was the best public statement regarding the formerly independent nation � called �Xinjiang� by the Communists � since the ETIM designation last August. Numerous account have shown the Uighurs to be arguably the most pro-American Muslims on Earth, backing the U.S. in the terrorist war even before the liberation of Afghanistan was complete (See 10/17/01, 12/12/01, and 10/23/02 updates). Check out these stories and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS U.S. PACIFIC COMMANDER VISITS COMMUNIST CHINA Admiral Thomas Fargo, commander of American forces in the Pacific Ocean, visited Communist China for talks this week. He�s the highest-ranking American military official to visit the PRC since the Hainan outrage (see 4/5/01 and 4/11/01 updates), and follows the visit of Communist Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai to the U.S. (see last update). Report: BBC U.S. FINDS �SERIOUS CONCERN� WITH COMMUNIST CHINA�S WTO PERFORMANCE One year after all the fanfare, Communist China�s performance as a member of the World Trade Organization has raised issues of �serious concern� according to the U.S. Trade Representative, whose office was cited by CNN. Among the main problems were information openness � no surprise there � and enforcement of news laws on intellectual property, i.e., copyrights and patents. BUSH CONGRATULATES JIANG ON CMC POST A sign of just how important Jiang Zemin will remain as Chairman of the Central Military Commission came last week in a report by Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN. Lam reported that President Bush sent a message of congratulations � of the kind usually for national leaders � to both Hu Jintao, for his ascension to the post of the new party chief, and Jiang, for retaining the CMC Chair. THE PRC ON THE NBA: YAO MING LOVED, WANG ZHIZHI LOATHED Buried within a Washington Post story on Communist China, the NBA, and Houston Rockets center Yao Ming was this reminder of how the Communists still are asserting their priorities, �the Los Angeles Clippers have been banned from the air, because team member Wang Zhizhi -- who became the first Chinese player to join the NBA last season -- refused to return home for the Asian Games last summer.� HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA OFFERS �UNCONDITIONAL� INVITATION TO UN TORTURE ENVOY Communist China told Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner � State�s top human rights official � that it would soon �allow the United Nations unconditional access to investigate claims of torture, religious persecution and arbitrary detention� (CNN). The PRC �has issued similar invitations before, only to back off by insisting on restrictions that U.N. investigators found unacceptable� (Washington Post). The Communists did not say when this would happen, giving them time spruce up the particular target of the UN visit. Despite this, Craner said of the move, �You usually don't invite those people unless you're serious about addressing the issues they will raise� (BBC). He also said he found that �(t)he exchange of views was extensive and in depth and it narrowed the different positions of the two sides and enhanced mutual understanding.� Enhanced mutual understanding? What exactly is that supposed to mean? OTHER MAINLAND NEWS CUSTOMS CHIEF, PRC-RUN FIRM LEADER BOTH GIVEN LIFE IN PRISON FOR BRIBES Zhao Yucun � the head of customs in Shenzhen, a high-growth city due to its proximity to Hong Kong � received a life sentence form a Communist court for taking over $1 million in bribes. The court also gave Li Yuguo, head of the PRC-run Shenzhen Urban Construction Group, a suspended death sentence, which usually means life in prison also. Report: BBC HU LOOKING TO MAOISTS, POPULISM IN BID TO COUNTER JIANG ZEMIN Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has turned to the hard-line Maoist �leftists� for support in his battle against PRC President and Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin. Hu is searching throughout the party for allies in his bid to avoid being �kicked upstairs and even elbowed aside before the 17th Party Congress slated for 2007� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN) by Jiang�s Shanghai faction. Meanwhile, in a later report, Lam noted that Hu is also looking to become �a man of the masses� and to �do away with past practices of a top cadre or his dominant faction riding roughshod over party committees and congresses.� This might be inspired by Jiang�s successful effort to win a majority of seats on the critical Politburo Standing Committee for his faction (see 11/20/02 update). INTERNATIONAL NEWS U.S. STILL LOOKING TO COMMUNIST CHINA TO HELP ISOLATE NORTH KOREA The United States is still hoping Communist China can be helpful in isolating Stalinist North Korea, according to Agence France Presse (via the Washington Times). Why the Communist regime would be so willing to turn its back on a fifty-year ally, and partner in crime on many arms deals, was not addressed. COMMUNIST CHINA NOW BIGGEST EXPORTER TO JAPAN Communist China passed the United States this year as the biggest exporter of goods to Japan, and that�s making a number of Japanese policymakers very nervous. Report: BBC, CNN COMMUNIST CHINESE OIL FIRM PULLS OUT OF SLAVNEFT SALE China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) decided not to go through with plans to bid for the Russian oil firm Slavneft, which is being auctioned off by the Russian government. Despite Kremlin support, the Communist-run firm � whose subsidiary PetroChina is listed on the New York Stock Exchange � backed out in the face of opposition from the Russian Parliament (CNN, last update). REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS TAIWAN SENDS NEW SPOKESMAN TO U.S. In what was otherwise a quiet week for the island democracy, Taiwan appointed Stephen Chang its new spokesman for its de facto embassy � the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. Report: Washington Times, last paragraph HONG KONG NEWS ANTI-SUBVERSION LAW DRAWS THOUSANDS IN PROTEST, HK GOVT. SAYS IT WILL �LISTEN� Thousands of Hong Kong residents � anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 � took to the streets to protest the upcoming �anti-subversion� law drawn up by the Communist-appointed HK government. The proposed law would ban all speech deemed treason by the Communists, plus the normal PRC catch-all of leaking �state secrets.� Report: BBC 12/15/01 In response to the growing opposition in both the general population and the business community � Jimmy Lai, a prominent and wealthy businessman in HK, joined the protest � the HK regime only said it would �continue to listen to the views of the public� (BBC 12/16/01). Meanwhile, pro-Communist newspapers in the city ripped the protest, and all other opposition to the law. UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN SLIGHTLY, BUT ECONOMY NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET Hong Kong�s unemployment rate through October � HK uses a rolling three-month indicator � slipped slightly to 7.1%. However, The city�s financial secretary, Anthony Leung, said growth forecasts �may not be attainable� (BBC). As CNN reported, the aforementioned �anti-subversion� law may also be damage the economy. No news on Tibet was reported this week. 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