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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JUNE 23, 2004
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or call 1-888-280-7715.
TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA PREPARING FOR TAIWAN WAR BY 2010
AS TAIWANESE LEGISLATORS VISIT U.S., PRC ACCUSES ROC OF TERRORIST PLOTS
BUSH MAY BE REVIEWING �ONE CHINA�
Legislators from Taiwan are in the United States to discuss arms sales with Pentagon officials and tour some military facilities (Cybercast News). The People�s Republic responded to the news by blasting �any official exchanges or military co-operation between the US and Taiwan,� (BBC).
Communist China also lobbed this accusation: �pro-independence forces in Taiwan might launch terrorist attacks on the mainland,� which even the BBC found to be �simply a new effort to undermine the leadership of Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian.� Still, it would be good to remember this the next time the PRC tries to call East Turkestan a terrorist haven.
Zhongnanhai�s military is also pushing for �more funds and �faster war preparation� in response to moves by Taipei to secure sophisticated weapons from the United States� (Willy Lam, CNN). The PRC is moving its military forward at an alarming pace in order to establish the ability to win a war against Taiwan �between 2005 and 2010� (Newsmax).
Meanwhile, according to a source cited by the Taipei Times, the Bush Administration is �conducting a secret review of its �one China� policy.� Although the review is �fairly narrow,� any movement away from the current policy � which effectively says the Communists can speak for Taiwan internationally � would be very good news.
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
TERROR-FUELING WAHHABISM ENDORSED BY COMMUNIST CHINA
The next time you hear reports of Communist China �fighting terrorism,� keep in mind this from Front Page Magazine: �official Chinese Islam promotes the Wahhabi ideology from which al-Qaeda sprang.� Communist China funds and controls its own �religions,� including Islam; for which the PRC �has supported an explicit Wahhabi trend.�
Wahhabism is the source for Osama bin Laden�s anti-Americanism, and was also the ideological fountainhead for the Taliban and its pre-9/11/01 supporters in Pakistan � Communist China�s ally for over 50 years. The Uighurs of occupied East Turkestan, by contrast, are largely from the much more tolerant Sufi branch of Islam.
HUNDREDS PROTEST DEMOLITIONS IN EAST TURKESTAN
Hundreds of farmers took to the streets in Ili (Yili?) to protest a Communist plan to demolish their home for a building project. Those forced to move have been paid less than 3% of what they were promised. Note: this report, from Taiwan�s Central News Agency (via Epoch Times) was one of the most sympathetic in tone towards the Uighurs.
NORTH KOREA NEWS
U.S. CAVES TO NORTH KOREA ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS, TAKES LIBERATION OFF THE TABLE
As talks among Russia, Communist China, Japan, the United States, South Korea, and North Korea on the latter�s nuclear weapons begin, there are disturbing reports that the Bush Administration caved into North Korea.
According to the BBC, the Administration is offering the Stalinist regime �tens of thousands of tonnes (UK sp) of heavy fuel oil� if the North promises �to dismantle his plutonium and uranium weapons programmes (UK sp).� The U.S. would give the North three to five months to hide � ahem, �seal� � their nuclear development facilities.
The U.S. is also offering �a �provisional guarantee� not to invade the country or seek to topple Kim�s government� (International Herald Tribune). You read that right, liberating the people of northern Korea is off the table. That�s not all, either; talks would �immediately� begin on �lifting a broad array of American sanctions� against the Stalinist regime.
All of this would come before the North would have to eliminate even one of their nuclear weapons. Who would verify that North Korea is on the road to disarmament? It would be �international inspectors,� i.e., the folks who missed Iran�s nuke program for a decade.
In short, it would be a return to the hideous 1994 Agreed Framework, during which the North agreed to �freeze� its nuclear weapons development in exchange for two nuclear power plants (now half-built), and hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel oil. The North admitted to violating that deal in 2002.
PRC USING NK TALKS AS A CARD TO PLAY ON ROC
Meanwhile, the PRC has decided the above-mentioned talks should be used for �securing American inducements on the Taiwan and other fronts� (Willy Lam, CNN). Previous rounds have led only to American concessions (see 3/3 Update), and if the above is any indication, that trend has continued disastrously.
HYUNDAI THROWING MORE MONEY INTO COMMUNIST CHINA
Hyundai, best known for putting the $ in $un$hine (Not sure what that means? Sign up for the North Korea Report to find out!), announced plans �to spend $740m (�414m) in an effort to boost production at its Chinese operation� (BBC).
Hyundai is the latest in a series of bedazzled automobile producers throwing money into the Communist China, just as car buying in the PRC plummets (see last Update).
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
WIVES OF JAILED LABOR ACTIVISTS WANT U.S. TO PRESS PRC ON HUSBANDS� BEHALF
The wives of two labor activists currently in jail for their roles in the 2002 labor uprisings (see 3/13/02, 3/20/02, 3/27/02, 4/3/02, and 4/24/02 Updates) made an impassioned plea �for two visiting U.S. Cabinet members to press the Chinese government to release their husbands so they can receive urgently needed medical care� (Washington Post).
The Cabinet members � Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Commerce Secretary Don Evans � were in Beijing �to demonstrate a tough line with China on what it contends are unfair trade practices and violations of international labor standards.� Evans had harsh words for the PRC (BBC), but this Administration has been said many such things, while doing little.
U.S. SLAPS MILD TARIFFS ON COMMUNIST CHINESE BEDROOM FURNITURE
An example of the Bush Administration�s piecemeal policy against PRC imports (see 11/19/03 and 11/26/03 Updates) came with �anti-dumping duties on imports of wooden furniture from China� (BBC). The tariffs go as high as 198%, but American manufacturers wanted 400%.
No action was taken against Communist China�s deliberately devalued currency, which has not only damaged American manufacturing but has also flattened exporters among our allies in Asia. Communist China is the largest exporter to the U.S. except Canada.
KERRY HITS BUSH FOR WEAKNESS ON COMMUNIST CHINA
Meanwhile, Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry blasted President Bush for being �on the sidelines� (China Support Network) as the trade deficit with the PRC hit $124 billion last year. Kerry himself was a supporter of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the Communists in 2000 (see 9/20/00 Update).
OTHER REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
TAIWANESE LEGISLATURE UNANIMOUSLY BLASTS COMMUNIST CHINA ON FALUN GONG
The Taiwanese legislature �united across party lines to unanimously pass a resolution demanding that the Chinese government immediately release all arrested and detained Falun Gong practitioners and end the persecution of Falun Gong� (Epoch Times). Even �pan-blue� members of the legislature backed the resolution.
THE VELVET CRACKDOWN: HONG KONG NEWS
SEVEN MAINLAND COPS ARRESTED; TIPSTER SAID THEY WERE �SPYING ON SOMEONE�
Hong Kong police arrested seven Communist Chinese mainland �public security officers,� i.e. cops (United Press International via Washington Times). A Hong Kong resident tipped the local police to the seven PRC policemen, who �appeared to be spying on someone.�
EMILY LAU�S OFFICE ATTACKED
Meanwhile, a group of unknown thugs �attacked the office of Hong Kong pro-democracy legislator Emily Lau� (BBC). They burned posters and scrawled �All Chinese traitors must die� � an obvious echoing of Communist China�s claim that pro-democracy activists in HK are �unpatriotic.� Also reporting: Cybercast News
TUNG MEETS DEMOCRATS
Communist-appointed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa met with leaders of the city�s Democratic Party, the first such meeting between Tung and his fiercest critics. Report: BBC
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
CHINESE DISSIDENT IN MENTAL HOSPITAL FOR TWELVE YEARS
Wang Wanxing, a dissident in Communist China arrested in 1992 for visiting Tiananmen Square to commemorate those who died three years earlier, has been in a mental hospital ever since. The PRC has repeatedly used mental institutions to deal with inconvenient dissidents (see 12/20/00 and last Update). Report: Voice of America via Epoch Times
NO WORD ON THE FATE OF DR. JIANG YANYONG, ARREST IS LIKELY
There has still been no word on the whereabouts of Dr. Jiang Yanyong, the doctor who best known for exposing the Beijing SARS coverup and then calling for an official reassessment of the Tiananmen Square massacre (see 4/9/03, 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, and 6/10 Updates). His family now assumes he is in PRC custody (Central News Agency, Taiwan, via Epoch Times).
Jiang and his wife disappeared just as he was headed for the U.S. Embassy �China to apply for a visa at a scheduled appointment.� Their family �got a memo from their mother on June 4, saying both of them were okay.� More ominously, the Communists wrote the family a week later, �ordering them to send in Dr. Jiang and his wife�s clothes and daily products.�
That letter has Jiang�s family all but certain �that their father is being secretly interrogated by the Chinese government and will be accused of �overthrowing the state.�� Meanwhile, Ding Zilin, leader of the Tiananmen Mothers group of women who lost their sons in the massacre, wrote to PRC President Hu Jintao calling for the doctor�s release (Epoch Times).
THREE CATHOLIC BISHOPS ARRESTED; VATICAN IN FURIOUS
The Vatican �demanded an explanation from China� (BBC) on the arrest of three Catholic Bishops, including one who is still apparently in Communist custody despite the fact that he is 84. Between eight to ten million Catholics reject the Communist-run �Patriotic� Church in favor of the �underground� Church which remains loyal to Pope John Paul II.
COMMUNISTS STEAL $60 MILLION FROM WOMAN, THEN ARREST AND DEPORT HER
Ma Ping, an Australian businesswoman, lost $60 million when her Bank of China deposit disappeared. That was the least of her problems � she has since been charged with corruption, thrown into prison, and then deported. Her husband is still in a Communist jail, while her daughter �cried so much that she damaged her vocal cords� (Epoch Times).
COMMUNIST CHINA DELAYS UN TORTURE INSPECTION IN ORDER TO �PREPARE�
The PRC �postponed a long-awaited inspection visit by its special rapporteur on torture� (BBC), claiming it �needs more time to prepare and that this should be read as a sign of just how much importance it attaches to the visit.� You mean it�s not part of a coverup? You could have fooled me (Falun Dafa Information Center via China Support Network).
CORRUPTION NEWS
CADRE IN COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP ACADEMY SOLD DIPLOMAS
Ye Bin, former Administrative Vice Principal of the Communist Leadership Academy in Hainan Province, has been fired for �making money by selling 6,000 fraudulent diplomas� (CNA via Epoch Times). Ye and his cohorts cleared over $2 million selling fake degrees.
�OVERHEATED� ECONOMY DRIVEN BY CORRUPT CADRES LOOKING FOR PROJECTS TO LOOT
Communist China�s supposedly �overheated� economy is being driven by a slew of building projects. However, no matter what the project � office building, apartment complex, or factory � they have one common thread, according to the Epoch Times: a group of cadres who use the project to acquire �investment� money, which they promptly steal.
BAD MILK IN GUEINYANG POSIONED 150 KIDS
The bad baby milk in Gueinyang (called Guiyang in the last Update) poisoned 150 children before it was recalled (CNA via Epoch Times). Bad baby milk first surfaced in Fuyang city, which allowed a plant to produce substandard milk because the factory attracted foreign investors (see 4/28, 5/5, 5/12, 5/26, and 6/10 Updates).
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
FARMERS IN SICHUAN SUE CADRE FOR LAND SEIZURE
Over 4,000 farmers have taken Sichuan cadre Liu Youlin to court for his seizure of 15,000 acres of land, which disposed 30,000 farmers and made Liu and his cohorts over half a billion dollars after they �sold� the seized land to developers. The cadres pocketed, on average, over 1,000 times what they paid the farmers as compensation (Epoch Times).
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND RIPS COMMUNIST OBSESSION WITH DAMS
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has taken Communist China to task for the �devastating environmental impact� (BBC) likely to come from the PRC�s planned orgy of dam building. The Yangtze River could suffer under 46 dams, which could �destroy the habitats of endangered species on the river,� while the Salween may have to cope with 16 dams.
EASTERN PRC CADRES HEADED INLAND TO BUY COAL . . .
The crippling power shortages in Communist China (see 12/10/03, 12/17/03, 3/31, and 6/10 Updates) have forced several cadres from the Pacific Coast to look inland for fuel for electricity. The city of Shanghai and the province of Zhejiang have conducted �travel and negotiate for coal� (CNA via Epoch Times) trips to the rural interior to prevent blackouts.
. . . AS SHORTAGES HIT COMMUNIST CHINA AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Those jurisdictions may need the coal sooner than they thought. Already, 24 provinces have limits on electricity use, leaving many cities with �forced blackouts to curb consumption� (Epoch Times). The inconsistent power is already beginning to damage Communist China�s quest for foreign investment.
BATHHOUSE WATER PRICES COULD RISE TENFOLD
The water shortage in Beijing has already led to a general water fee hike of 29% (see last Update). Now, particularly high water users are being smacked with even higher fees. Beijing Bathhouses could see their water bill rise tenfold. Report: CNA via Epoch Times
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK CONDUCTS RESCUE EXERCISE WITH COMMUNIST CHINA
Great Britain and Communist China �started their first joint maritime search and rescue exercises� (BBC). While in and of itself, a rescue exercise is innocuous, it�s �part of a push by Beijing to boost military co-operation with other nations.� Given the UK�s waffling on the European Union�s arms embargo on the PRC (see 6/2 Update), this is not good.
VOLKSWAGEN FORCED TO CUT CAR PRICES AS DEAMND PLUMMETS
The plummeting demand for cars in Communist China (see last Update) is already taking its toll on foreign car makers hooked by the �one billion customers� mantra. Volkswagen, �in an effort to stimulate flagging demand� (BBC), has been forced to cut prices on its cars.
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