| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MARCH 21, 2001 TOP STORY: U.S. INTELLIGENCE SPOTS SECOND COMMUNIST MISSILE BASE NEAR TAIWAN NANJING BASE COMPLETED AS ARGUMENNTS OVER TAIWAN ARMS SALE HEATS UP American spy satellites have discovered a just-completed missile base in southern Communist China, just 135 miles from Taiwan, according to the Washington Times. Thew new base, which has almost 100 missiles already deployed there, is the second missile base capable of launching an attack on Taiwan. U.S. Admiral Dennis Blair said Communist China has roughly 300 missiles that can hit Taiwan, and are adding 50 a year. Link: Washington Times The report comes as the Bush Administration is considering the sale of Aegis-equipped destroyers to the Taiwan, a.k.a. the Republic of China. The Aegis system can track up to 100 targets at once, and many believe it could be the precursor to a missile defense system. The Administration will make the decision on the arms sale, which is infuriating the Communist leaders of the People�s Republic of China, next month. PRC Vice-Premier Qian Qichen will meet with President Bush later this week, but in New York, he said the Aegis sale, if it goes through, would have �grave consequences� � the Chinese version of an ultimatum. He also said the sale would �change the essence of the (Taiwan) issue from a peaceful approach . . . to a military approach.� Link: Washington Post Rick Boucher, State Department spokesperson, flatly told the press that Qian�s comments would have nothing to do with the decision. Agence France Presse reported him saying, �We don't consult with China on our arms sales to Taiwan.� Meanwhile, roughly 60 members of Congress have written President Bush supporting the sale of the Aegis-equipped destroyers. Links: AFP - Boucher, AFP - Congressional letter The Post story also noted Boucher refused to say that the �three noes,� declared by then-President Clinton in 1998, were still in force. Two of the �noes� � no to �two Chinas� and no to �one Chin and one Taiwan� � had been U.S. policy for decades. The third � no to ROC admission into international organizations, was considered new at the time. BBC said State went so far as to confirm the policy was dropped. Link: BBC FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR: LEADER TAKES RHETORICAL FIGHT TO THE COMMUNISTS CALLS PEOPLE�S REPUBLIC OF CHINA �WICKED DICTATORSHIP�; �SUICIDE� PROTESTOR DIES Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi finally went public to challenge the Communist crackdown against his followers in the PRC. AFP reported Li, who lives in exile in New York, issued a statement blasting the Communist regime as a �wicked dictatorship,� and said the crackdown stems from the �weak nature of the party,� which can�t handle his movement�s quest to be �physically healthy.� Li�s strong words were given at the Freedom House�s award ceremony honoring religious groups who remain unbowed by Communist Chinese crackdowns. In addition to Falun Gong, Freedom House honored the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Friends of the Christian Unregistered Churches, the International Campaign for Tibet and the American Uighur Foundation. Link: AFP (See Files from the Falun Gong War for more news on the crackdown) FOLLW-UP: PRIME MINISTER ADMITS EXPLODED SCHOOL MADE FIREWORKS IN PAST Communist Prime Minister Zhu Rongji admitted the school that exploded two weeks ago had been a fireworks factory, but insisted the school had ended the �study through labor� in 1999. As God is my witness that is the exact phrase lifted from the AFP story. BBC also reported Zhu�s comments, which included an apology to the parents of the victims. Links: AFP, BBC According to CNN, Zhu said the scam ended last year. They also reported the Communist-run Xinhua news agency claimed police �found� a suicide note from Li Chuncai, the government�s �lone madman.� (BBC reported the same.) As reported in previous updates, parents of the victims do not believe that �theory.� Link: CNN HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS AMERICAN RESIDENTS AND CITIZEN SON HELD IN COMMUNIST CHINA FOR A MONTH BBC reported the harrowing tale of Xue Donghua and Gao Zhan, Chinese immigrants with resident U.S. status, and their American-born son Andrew. The family was held in the PRC for nearly a month, with the parents not knowing where the Andrew was held. Gao, who sparked the Communists� interest due to two trips to Taiwan in the 1990s, is still in Communist custody. Link: BBC COMMUNISTS LEAD THE WORLD IN ARRESTS OF JOURNALISTS The Committee to Protect Journalists, in their annual report on worldwide media repression, listed the PRC as the leading jailer of journalists with 22 arrests in 2000. Most of the arrests were of internet-based scribes, thanks to regulations that, in the words of the BBC, �turn internet providers into de facto government spies.� Link: BBC COMMUNISTS PLANNING �REBUTTAL� TO THE TIANANMEN PAPERS Willy Lo-Lap Lam (CNN) reports that the Communists are planning a �rebuttal� of the landmark book The Tiananmen Papers, the anthology of documents chronicling the decision to massacre hundreds to thousands of students protesting in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The chief Communist charge is the lack of authenticity of the documents in Papers. Professor Andrew Nathan of Columbia University stood by his work. Link: CNN AFP reported that Communist hard-liners have told Communist President Jiang Zemin that Prof. Nathan and his fellow Papers editor Perry Link �were Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents hiding behind the clothing of scholars.� Link: AFP PROTESTANT CHURCHES ADDED TO LIST OF �EVIL CULTS� AFP, citing the Human Rights in China, reported the arrest of two underground Protestant church leaders charged with forming �evil cults.� HRIC said the arrest of Luo Gang and He Ping, of the underground China Evangelistic Fellowship, were �the first major arrests since the Chinese government began its crackdown on the Falun Gong. Link: AFP DISSIDENT SENT TO LABOR CAMP FOR LEAVING TOWN Communist China has sent Wang Tingjin, a former mathematics professor fired for his pro-democracy beliefs, to a labor camp. Police in his hometown of Bengbu said he was held for trying to leave the PRC, but the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said Wang had simply left town, not the country. Link: AFP LABOR ORGANIZER ARRESTED Li Jiaqing, a paper factory worker who organized and was elected to lead an independent union made of laborers at his factory, was arrested and has been tried for �gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.� Li had staged a protest at the shut-down factory to protest unpaid severance benefits promised by the Communist government, which ran the plant. Link: AFP FILES FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR: SELF-IMMOLATION �GIRL� DIES: Meanwhile, BBC, citing Communist-run TV, reported that Liu Siying, whom the Communists claim was the 12-year-old girl brought by her mother to the self-immolation protest in January, died of �sudden heart troubles.� The rather odd cause of death is yet another twist in the story of the �protest,� with which Falun Gong continues to insist it had no involvement. Link: BBC PROTEST AT UN COMMISSION: Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners protested at the UN High Commission on Human Rights this week. The Commission is considering a resolution sponsored by the U.S. to condemn the PRC�s abysmal human rights record. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS OVER 100 DEAD IN MULTIPLE SHIJAZHUANG BLASTS; ANGER AT CORRUPTION BLAMED No one knows who set off four blasts that killed between 108 and 200 people in Shijazhuang, but most are willing to give the motive. The capital of Hebei province has seen tens of thousands lose their jobs due to the restructuring of state-run textile firms in the city. Also, several corruption cases have angered local residents. Link: AFP (Coming Friday: Opinion by Willy Lo-Lap Lam of CNN on the dilemma facing the Communists) WENLOU VILLAGE, RAVAGED BY AIDS, CUT OFF AND LEFT TO DIE Months after news sources revealed the village of Wenlou was suffering under a 2/3 AIDS infection rate (see previous updates), AFP reports the village remains isolated as it slowly dies. Roughly 500 of the 800 villagers are infected, thanks to blood drives of the 1980s which mixed all donors� blood together before re-injecting the plasma into the donor. Several villagers have been arrested for trying to meet county officials. Link: AFP COMMUNIST PARLIAMENT APPROVES FIVE-YEAR PLAN; PM SAYS NO TO POLITICAL CHANGE In a reminder of how parliaments really work in Communist regimes, the National People�s Congress approved the latest five-year plan by a 97.7% majority. PM Zhu Rongji also let the world now the PRC will �never copy the Western model when we carry out political restructuring ... letting two parties take shifts in running the affairs of the state.� Links: AFP - Congress vote, AFP - Zhu�s comments AS COMMUNISTS JOCKEY FOR POSITION, FALUN GONG MAY BE SURPRISE WINNER The PRC nomenklatura are playing the succession game again. AFP reports on the various maneuvers and positions of the key players, from President Jiang on down. Of note, analysts are saying Jiang is weaker today, thanks in part to disagreement within the party on the effectiveness and wisdom of the massive crackdown on Falun Gong. Link: AFP AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS PRC FIRM THAT AIDED IRAQI AIR DEFENSES TRIED TO GET UN APPROVAL FOR OVER A YEAR The Washington Post reported that Huawei Technology, the Communist Chinese firm that helped Iraq build a fiber-optic network for its air defenses, had tried to get approval from the UN Security Council for over a year. This exposes the Communist claim � prior to their renewed denials that anything happened � that they knew nothing about it as a lie. Link: Washington Post INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHILIPPINES BOOT OUT MORE PRC BOATS FROM SCARBOROUGH SHOAL The Philippine Navy boarded, searched, and then sent home ten Communist Chinese �fishing boats� in the disputed Scarborough Shoal. According to AFP, the Philippine authorities found, and seized, �nine boxes of electrical blasting caps, time fuses, dynamite sticks, cyanide as well as several endangered marine species� on the boats. The Philippines also announced they would file a formal protest to the PRC over the incursion. Links: AFP - seizure, AFP - protest UN MISSION IN MACEDONIA CUT SHORT BY PRC OVER TAIWAN RECOGNITION The Washington Times reported this week that a UN peacekeeping force in Macedonia which may have prevented the ethnic unrest now taking place in there was cut short by Communist China. The PRC, angry over Macedonia�s recognition of Taiwan, vetoed the extension of the force. Link: Washington Times OECD SAYS COMMUNISTS STILL NEED TO REFORM MARKETS, CURB POLLUTION The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that Communist China still had a long way to go in implementing real market reforms and bringing prosperity to the impoverished rural interior of the country. They also noted the heavy effect of over-development on the ecology. The group estimated that two-thirds of the people in Communist China get drinking water from contaminated sources. Links: AFP - economy, AFP - environment REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS TAIWAN OFFICIAL WARNS OF �GRAVE� CONSEQUENCES IF PRC FIRES MISSILES Lin Chong-pin, vice chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, told Communist China it should expect �the price would be very high and the damage would be grave� if it launched a missile attack on the island democracy. His comments came amid reports of a second PRC missile base opposite Taiwan (see above), and a pending ROC request for high-tech American arms to stay ahead of the Communists. Link: AFP PRESIDENT CHEN, AT MILITARY DEMONSTRATION IN KINMEN, CALLS FOR TALKS President Chen Shui-bian again offered cross-strait talks with Communist China during a demonstration of military prowess on Kinmen Island. He also pledged, according to AFP, not to �enrage� Beijing, which has repeatedly demanded he accept their version of �One China,� before talks can begin (see below). Link: AFP COMMUNIST CHINA HITS CHEN FOR OPENING PRO-INDEPENDENCE CONFERENCE Communist China whacked President Chen for giving opening remarks to a conference organized by supporters of Taiwanese independence. Although Chen himself has never openly backed independence since his election last year, independence supporters are a major force in his Democratic Progressive Party. The PRC used its news agency Xinhua for the verbal attack. Link: AFP CROSS-STRAIT INVESTMENT TROUBLES The ROC government has banned Communist Chinese officials who are found to be trying to woo investors while in Taiwan. According to AFP, the mayor of Shenzhen and vice-mayor of Ningbo both tried to win investments for their cities while in Taiwan. Meanwhile, CNN examined the possible economic impact of the latest spat over the possible sale of Aegis-equipped destroyers the ROC needs to defend itself. Links: CNN, AFP HONG KONG AND MACAO NEWS IS FALUN GONG ABOUT TO BE BANNED? The Apple Daily reported last week that under pressure from Beijing, Hong Kong would soon ban Falun Gong. HK leader Tung Chee-hwa, a Communist appointee, denied the pressure, but was non-committal on the ban question. Link: Radio TV Hong Kong via BBC LAI CHANXING FEARS HE�S �AS GOOD AS DEAD� IF EXTRADITED TO HK Lai Changxing, the alleged mastermind the multi-billion dollar Xiamen smuggling scandal, told the South China Morning Post that he believes he is �as good as dead� if he is extradited to Hong Kong, a �compromise� being considered by Canada, where Lai is under house arrest. Canada has no death penalty, hopes an HK extradition would avoid execution. Lai�s response: �Hong Kong does what China says.� Link: AFP No news from Tibet this week. XINJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SAYS COMMUNIST CHINA LEADS WORLD IN EXECUTIONS Amnesty International released its report on executions worldwide, and found that Communist China leads the way with over 1,200 put to death, more than the rest of the world combined. Many of the executions were for �political� crimes in this region, where secret trials for �splittism� lead to several executions. Link: BBC QUOTE OF THE WEEK An unnamed U.S. official told AFP regarding what Communist China could do to prevent the sale of Aegis-armed, potential missile-defense ships to Taiwan: �The best way to be certain that Taiwan doesn't need to be defended against missile attacks is not to point missiles at them.� Link: AFP 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]. |