| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. The Week�s Links: Feature and Opinion Pieces on Communist China July 18, 2003 RALLY FOR FALUN GONG: For those of you in the Washington, D.C. area, or anyone else who�d like to make the trip, Friends of Falun Gong is holding a rally in support of the spiritual movement on Tuesday, July 22 on the Lower West Terrace Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Yours truly is scheduled to make a few remarks. More detailed information on the day�s events can be found here. Link of the Week However, the prize (such as it is) goes to John Derbyshire (National Review Online columnist and Member since 2002), and his double-barreled shot of skepticism about the future of Hong Kong despite the temporary triumph of the pro-democracy protestors. Derbyshire helpfully reminds all that the Communists will not willingly give up power under any circumstances. On Hong Kong The editors of the Washington Post call for democracy in Hong Kong, and for �the Bush administration, and the world's other democracies� to press Communist China to allow democracy in the city. The BBC tracks the Hong Kong press reaction to the resignations of Security Minister Regina Ip and Finance Minister Anthony Leung. Francis Markus, BBC, examines the political situation in the city. Nick Papadopoulos, in Time Asia, examines Tung�s options, and who could replace him. However, he obviously didn�t see the Communists� criteria (see last Update). From Time Asia: Liam Fitzpatrick tracks the events prior to � and the fallout from � the postponement of the �anti-subversion� bill in the city, while Anthony Spaeth examines the situation in Hong Kong after the postponement. Both agree it has energized the pro-democracy forces in the city. David Ignatius, Washington Post, wonders what the future holds for Communist China after the recent events in the city. At the risk of nitpicking, he says the 1989 Tiananmen Square protestors �crossed a red line� when they didn�t heed Zhao Ziyang�s plea that they go home. He forgets to mention that Zhao knew full well that the crackdown was coming. Gwynne Dyer sees hope for �gradual democratization� by the Communists after watching their reaction to recent events in Hong Kong (see 7/2 and 7/9 Updates). This slightly na�ve piece (she wrote it before Derbyshire�s column), appears in the Washington Times. On Trade and Communist China Randall Parker (founder of Parapundit and Member since 2003) examines the PRC�s large trade surplus. E.M. Swift and Don Yaeger, Time Asia, report on a booming trade in Communist China � counterfeit golf clubs. On Communist China and AIDS Remember Wenlou, the AIDS-racked village in Henan province, the AIDS-racked province in the PRC (see 9/4/02 Update and 12/14/01 Week�s Links)? Well, the Communists are still cracking down heavily on those, including victims, trying to bring the plight of the afflicted to the rest of the world. A horrifically unhygienic Communist-led blood donation drive in the 1980s infected one million people in Henan province. Numbers for �satellite epidemics� in other provinces are, for obvious reasons, not available. On Communist China and SARS Christopher McNally calls Communist China �more open� after the SARS epidemic (one would guess he didn�t notice the post-epidemic crackdown) in the Washington Times. On Capital Punishment in Communist China Communist China executes more people than the rest of the world combined, in many cases for crimes that no one else would even consider a capital offense (corruption, for example). Julie Choa, Cox News Service (via Washington Times) examines the Communists� crude and cruel dispensation of justice. On Burma David I. Steinberg, of Georgetown University, calls on the U.S. to �engage (Burma) to encourage positive changes� and �induce China to warn the Burmese of their predicament.� The Washington Post piece does not mention how, um, effective �engagement� has been in the PRC, which happens to be the Burmese junta�s oldest friend in the world. Other Links Peter Brookes, New York Post, calls for continued American strength in Asia. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Sign up for the North Korea Report before the next edition is sent on Monday. Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our home page. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. Anyone who wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China or North Korea that you happen to find to the same address. |