| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2001 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA HELPING IRAQ IMPROVE ITS AIR DEFENSES ATTACK ON IRAQ SET ON DAY WHERE NO ONE WORKED TO AVOID KILLING CHINESE The Washington Post, in their analysis of last week�s air raid against Iraq, revealed that the attack was launched on Friday �to avoid killing or injuring Chinese workers who are helping build the fiber-optic network that was about to link parts of the Iraqi air defense network.� The paper implies, but does not say, that the fiber-optic network was damaged. Some of the Chinese were Communist military officers. Link: Washington Post One day after the Post mentioned it the Washington Times devoted a full story to the People�s Republic of China�s assistance to Iraqi air defenses. The Post later reported the U.S. would formally protests the action to the Communists. Of course, Communist China denied any involvement, according to AFP. Links: Washington Times, Washington Post, AFP The Communists also took the attack as an opportunity to slam U.S. �aggressiveness,� according to CNN�s Willy Lo-Lap Lam. Lam says the PRC military will use the attack to raise their budget. Talk about creating your own market! Link: CNN OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS U.S. TO BACK RESOLUTION CONDEMNING PRC HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD Agence France Presse cited an anonymous source in reporting the United States will back a UN Human Rights Commission resolution condemning Communist China�s human rights record. The comment came as the PRC announced a Bush family friend, Yang Jiechi, as the new Ambassador to the U.S. The UNHRC will vote on the resolution this spring. Link: AFP EX-PRESIDENT CLINTON OFFERED TWO MILLION FROM COMMU NIST CHINESE FIRM Former President Bill Clinton was offered $2 million by the Communist Chinese garment firm Fapai. The firm, based in Wenzhou, would hire Clinton as an �image ambassador.� A company spokesman, citing a letter written by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York) said he was considering the proposal and would like to meet with the company to discuss it further. Link: AFP. After being informed of this development by yours truly, the Washington Times and Fox News reported it later in the week. RUSSIAN, PRC DEFENSE OFFICIALS MEET, AGREE TO OPPOSE US MISSILE DEFENSE Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev met with General Zhang Wannian, no. 2 in Communist China�s all-powerful Military Commission (President Jiang in No. 1). They restated their opposition to a U.S. missile defense, which would protect Americans against �rogue states� such as North Korea, Iraq, Iran, and Libya. Both have sold arms and military technology to these states. Russia is also a major arms seller to the PRC. Link: AFP FOX NEWS PARENT CORPORATION BUYS STAKE IN PRC-OWNED TELECOMMUNICATIONS FIRM Fox News parent company News Corp has agreed to buy a 12% stake in Netcom, a Communist-owned telecommunications firm currently raising capital under the eye of Jiang Mianheng, son of Communist President Jiang Zemin. Link: CNN HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS COMMUNISTS SAY WINNING OLYMPICS WILL HELP RIGHTS; DISSIDENTS AND OTHERS DISAGREE This is a neat trick. According to the Washington Post, Communist China is telling a visiting delegation from the International Olympic Committee that awarding Beijing the 2008 Games will lead to improvements in human rights. Of course, Stratfor.com reported that this hasn�t stopped the PRC from driving migrants, the poor, and ethnic minorities out of Beijing and wiping out their neighborhoods to suppress dissent. Links: Stratfor.com, courtesy Dave Albert: Board member since 2000, Washington Post Relatives of dissidents within Communist China were less optimistic. They have written the visiting IOC team demanding a meeting with them so they could �hear the cases of our families as you reflect on the circumstances in which prisoners of conscience are treated in Beijing.� They referred to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany as an example of �not enough thought or concern� being put to a country�s rights record. Link: AFP Two political analysts, Jean-Pierre Cabestan from the French Center for Research on Contemporary China, and Paul Harris of Hong Kong's Lingnan College, both said the Olympics in Beijing could greatly damage the democratic cause in Communist China. The PRC did win one unusual endorsement, from Taiwan, in their Olympic quest. The move was part of an attempt to thaw the icy cross-strait relations. Links: AFP - Cabestan/Harris, AFP - Taiwan AFP reported the Olympics are so important to the Communists that they have even tried to show a softer touch on Falun Gong. �Tried to show� is the operative phrase, as it still blasts the spiritual movement, and really says kind things about �former members.� For what happens while the IOC isn�t watching, see the new section that immediately follows. Link: AFP FILES FROM THE �FALUN GONG WAR� ANOTHER SUICIDE? Here we go again. The Communist Xinhua news agency reported that Tan Yihui, 25, burned himself to death. Xinhua claims the man was a Falun Gong follower. BBC reported Falun Gong �has suggested (this) might be part of a smear campaign by the authorities,� and continues to insist suicide is a sin to them and that no self-immolater was a follower. They asked for an outside probe of the incident. Links: BBC, AFP PYSCHIATRIC DETENTION: The Columbia Journal of Asian Law, cited by AFP, said it found roughly 100 practitioners of Falun Gong detained by Communist China in mental hospitals. Robin Munro, who penned the piece for the journal, also said there could be up to 600 held in hospitals as a way to sidestep the judicial process. He said the tactic is on the rise, and may actually be more extensive in the PRC than it was in the former Soviet Union. Link: AFP MORE PROPAGANDA: Willy Lo-Lap Lam, of CNN, writes that Communist China is now holding all school principals and college presidents personally responsible for any Falun Gong activity that occurs in their schools. Local Communist officials will also be blamed for any group activity, if any members who protest in Beijing. Communist President Jiang Zemin now says, �the prestige of the party is at stake.� Link: CNN The Communists have claimed over 12 million �young people� have signed on �in the anti-cult struggle.� Meanwhile, the Communists aired an interview with a so-called �reformed� ex-Falun Gong follower, a sign that the �Falun Gong War� will continue. The People�s Republic did admit that several Falun Gong practitioners have died in �detention.� Once again, however, they claim that those who died were �old, sick, and they commit suicide.� Link: AFP � 12 million, AFP - �interview�, CNN � PRC statement PEACE PRIZE: Whether or not this was related to the above stories is unknown, but Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi has received 30 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to AFP. These nominators include �parliamentarians from the United States and Britain,� and �scholars from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Taiwan and other countries.� Naturally, the Communists were livid. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNISTS ADMIT TRIADS ARE BACK IN PRC Communist China has acknowledged that criminal triad gangs, the Chinese cultural version of the Mafia, are back on the mainland, according to the BBC. The PRC previously claimed only Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan had them, but that changed after several corrupt officials were found with triad ties; in some cases the triads were even tasked with government functions such as tax collecting (what a surprise). Link: BBC COMMUNISTS ADMIT THEY STILL CONTROL RURAL �ELECTIONS� The Communists threw some cold water on their �direct elections� in rural villages. AFP reported that the Communists admitted they kept, and continue to keep, the process under their control, saying, �the Communist party has a good reputation.� Sure. AFP GUANGDONG TAX FRAUD SCANDAL NOW ENCOMPASSING 11 PROVINCES AND REGIONS AFP, citing the Financial Times, reported the Guangdong tax rebate scandal, reported in previous updates, now includes officials in 121 provinces an autonomous regions. The scandal is still believed to be even larger than the Xiamen smuggling affair. Link: AFP UNLICENSED TV STATION PROTECTED BY VILLIAGERS AGAINST COMMUNISTS BBC reported that an unlicensed television station has resisted being shut down by the Communists thanks to help from villagers. Hundreds of them in Shandong province blocked the latest attempt. While the station itself is a tempting PR target � it�s been fined once for broadcasting pornography � the agency noted it is part of the wider battle between the Communists and the Chinese people for control of the airwaves. Link: BBC STUDENT PROTEST AGAINST TUITION FEES TURNS VIOLENT Forty-nine students in Guangdong province protested against rising tuition fees for school. BBC reported that the protest turned violent when others joined the students. Part of a government office was burned, and 15 are under arrest. Tuition fees are illegal, but that doesn�t stop many local Communists from imposing them anyway. Link: BBC COMMUNISTS IN LANZHOU WANT TO CUT OFF A MOUNTAIN TO LET FRESH AIR IN This is a true story. The city of Lanzhou, surrounded by mountains, is so polluted that local Communist officials are proposing cutting off the peak of Mount Daqing to let in some fresh air. Some locals, who have ancestors buried on the mountain, have mounted protests. Yu Xionghou, the city�s environmental chief, says that without the mountains, �it wouldn't be any worse than in other Chinese cities.� That�s comforting? Link: AFP INTERNATIONAL NEWS CHRETIEN�S TRIP TO COMMUNIST CHINA In Shanghai, the PM talked about the need for human rights, but also said �big progress has been made� on the human rights situation, which would come as a surprise to the China Democracy Party, Falun Gong, and many Christian faiths. Meanwhile, one of the two pro-Tibet Canadians arrested for protesting in Beijing told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that they were heckled by the Canadian trade delegation. Links: AFP - Chretien, AFP - protestor EU DELEGATION IN COMMUNIST CHINA TO WORK ON STOPING ESCAPEES A delegation from the European Union is in Communist China this week for talks on stopping the flow of escapees into Europe, according to AFP. The delegation is hoping to speed up the process of sending escapees back to Communist China. Once again, the stench of the criminal groups that charge exorbitant fees to help escapees has drowned out the human concern for people desperate to escape the PRC. Link: AFP WIFE OF CANADIAN SET FREE EARLIER JOINS HUSBAND IN CANADA Zhang ShuMei, wife of Canadian naturalized citizen Zhang Kunlun, escaped Communist China for Canada over the weekend, according to AFP. After being on the run from police for 12 days, the Falun Gong follower left the PRC with the help of the Canadian embassy. Zhang Kunlun had been arrested for his belief in Falun Gong before his release. Link: AFP LAI CHANGLING�S EXTRADITION MAY BE BLOCKED BY CANADIAN SUPREME COURT RULING In yet another story regarding Canada, a Supreme Court decision blocking the extradition of two defendants to the U.S. may stop the deportation of alleged Xiamen smuggling head Lai Changling and his wife. The Court held that no extradition could be made unless Canada is assured the receiving country will not execute the defendants. Communist China would all but certainly execute the Lais for their role in the scandal. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS U.S. MIGHT ALLOW VISIT BY FORMER PRESIDENT LEE ROC Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao said today that the Bush Administration might let ex-President Lee Teng-hui visit the U.S., according to AFP. Lee, succeed by Chen Shui-bian last year, has been invited to speak at Cornell University, his alma mater. The last time he spoke there in 1995, the PRC withdrew its U.S. Ambassador in rage. Link: AFP HEAD OF DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY CALLS FOR FULL LINKS WITH PRC Frank Hsieh, chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, has called for full links in trade, investment, and mail with Communist China, according to AFP. Hsieh said he understood people were worried it could lead to a PRC �unification-front scheme,� but said a Taiwan �armed with democracy� would have the advantage. He also said the PRC was now hesitant to enter the WTO due to the effect it would have on agriculture. Link: AFP NUCLEAR PLANT UNDER CONSTRUCTION WON�T GO ONLINE FOR FOUR YEARS Taiwan�s Central News Agency (CNA) reported a statement from Taiwan Power Company on the schedule of the nuclear power plant on which construction has resumed. According to Taipower, the plant will not be operational until 2005. President Chen�s Democratic Progressive Party has hinted they will try to halt construction again if they can win the Legislative Yuan elections next year. Link: CNA Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan (cabinet) has asked the legislature to expedite a bill allowing for nationwide referenda on various policies. The opposition � convinced that the government will try to use it to launch a vote to kill the plant � does not support it. Source: CNA �ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS� STILL OPPOSED OVERWHELMINGLY A poll conducted by the Mainland Affairs Council shows over 70% in Taiwanese oppose reunification under �one country, two systems.� Link: CNA HONG KONG AND MACAO NEWS HONG KONG�S AUTONOMY AT �MAKE OR BREAK� STAGE OVER FALUN GONG Communist China�s unrelenting pressure on the ostensibly autonomous Hong Kong to ban Falun Gong has become �make or break for �one country, two systems,�� according to Hong Kong Democratic Party Chairman Martin Lee. He said if the city government bans the movement, which has committed no crime in the city, �the whole world will know that Hong Kong does just what Beijing tells it to do.� Link: Washington Post Rose Wu of the Hong Kong Christian Institute was also concerned. �We do exactly what Falun Gong does,� she said. �We protest, we criticize the government, we exercise our rights. Does this mean we're next?� Meanwhile, the PRC�s director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs called Falun Gong a �poisonous tumor� and predicted Hong Kong would �have the wisdom� to act accordingly. Link: AFP FINANCE SECRETARY CHOSEN TO REPLACE ANSON CHAN, SAID TO BE LESS HOSTILE TO BEIJING HK Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has appointed Finance Secretary Donald Tsang as the new head of the civil service, replacing Anson Chan, who resigned in reaction to being upbraided by Communists angry at her resistance to their end-runs around the city�s autonomy. BBC reported that Tsang is believed to be more accommodating to Beijing�s attempts to get around �one country, two systems.� Link: BBC COMMUNIST CORRUPTION SPREADING INTO HONG KONG The widespread corruption in Communist China hit Hong Kong this week when two officials at the Communist-run China Travel International Investment Hong Kong Ltd. resigned under pressure for bribery, according to the BBC. AFP, reporting on the same scandal, noted that one ex-official is already under house arrest for corruption when he was vice-mayor of Shenzen, a neighboring city. Links: BBC, AFP TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST ANTI-BUDDHIST CAMPAIGN GOES AFTER TIBETAN KIDS �Chinese authorities have launched a campaign to shame and scare Tibetan children into abandoning open expressions of their Buddhist faith,� as AFP put it, which was far best way it could be said. According to the Tibetan Information Network, which AFP cited, children who express their faith are �shamed� in schools, have their grades reduced, or are even expelled. Link: AFP No news from Xinjiang/East Turkestan this week. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving this. Anyone who wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. |