| Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JULY 24, 2002 TOP STORY: PRC PRESSURING PREGNANT WIVES OF TAIWANESE INTO ABORTIONS �ONE CHILD� POLICY THE CAUSE; ROC DEMAND PRC STOP, EXTENDS VISA STAYS FOR WIVES SO CHILDREN CAN BE BORN IN TAIWAN, NOT ABORTED IN COMMUNIST CHINA Once again, Communist China established itself as the only place in the world where the pro-lifers and pro-choicers can join in agreement and outrage. This time, the BBC reported that so-called People�s Republic is trying to force wives of Taiwanese men into abortions and sterilizations, due to the hideous �one child� policy. The island democracy was furious. Also reporting: CNN, Cybercast News According to the report, �six such women were harassed, fined or told to have abortions or sterilization (UK sp),� according to the ROC Straits Exchange Foundation. Taiwan insisted that the policy should not apply to these women, as their children would have Taiwan residency. The ROC also extended visa time for pregnant wives �until after their children are born - to avoid coerced abortions in China.� Each year, a fraction of mainland women married to Taiwanese men are given resident status in the island democracy. While we have always been supportive of Taiwan, a small kernel of advice may be in order: let them all in. For more on Communist China�s �one child� policy, see American-Related News; for more on Taiwan, see Republic of China (Taiwan) News. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND THE TERRORIST WAR U.S. SANCTIONS EIGHT PRC FIRMS FOR SELLING ARMS, BIO-WEAPONS MATERIAL TO IRAN The U.S. imposed sanctions on eight PRC-run firms for �sales of advanced conventional arms and chemical- and biological-weapons components to Iran,� according to a State Department official who spoke to Bill Gertz (Washington Times, July 19). As Gertz himself notes, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea have all been on the receiving end of numerous Communist Chinese weapons sales. The State Department confirmed the sanctions, though not the targets, the next day (Gertz, July 20). Communist China, of course ��reacted angrily� to the sanctions (CNN, BBC). Also reporting: Washington Times, July 23 For more on the PRC and its links to terrorist states, see the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. The North Korea Report has the latest on the Stalinist ally of Communist China. Sign up now to receive it every Monday. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS FOUR SENATORS ASK PRESIDENT TO SEND AIM-120 MISSILES TO TAIWAN In a letter sent to President Bush, four senators called on him to send to Taiwan 120 AIM-120 missiles �as soon as they are produced� to Taiwan to counteract the Communist AA-12 missile. As Bill Gertz (Washington Times) noted, the ROC has already bought the missiles, but they are planned to be stored in the U.S. � American law prohibits the U.S. introducing �advanced missile capability� into the region. The senators noted that with the testing of the AA-12s (see July 10 and July 3 updates), it is the PRC that has introduced such capability into East Asia. The transfer will still require State Department approval. The four senators were Republicans Jon Kyl (Arizona), Jesse Helms (North Carolina), Robert Smith (New Hampshire), and the Senate�s most ardent anti-PRC Democrat, New Jersey�s Robert Torricelli. BUSH CANCELS UNFPA FUNDS, �ONE CHILD� CITED AS A REASON The Bush Administration has decided to cancel $34 million in funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) due to its believed cooperation with Communist China and its hideous �one child� policy (Washington Post). Secretary of State Colin Powell said the UNFPA �allows the Chinese government to implement more effectively its program of coercive abortion.� Also reporting: Washington Times Communist China ripped the decision (CNN), but then it also insisted, through State Family Planning Commission spokesperson Chen Shengli, that there was �no such thing� as forced abortions in the RPC (BBC). Perhaps Chen should check with the six women in the Top Story. COMMUNIST CHINA RIPS OPPONENTS IN U.S., TESTS ANTI-DEFENSE MISSILE Communist China took a few shots at two reports on its military buildup and increasingly aggressive behavior, charging that those who produced them or focus on them have �fabricated this China threat� (BBC, CNN). Xie Feng, the PRC�s spokesperson for its Washington Embassy, also whacked U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. As they were angrily insisting on their peaceful intentions, the Communists also tested the medium-range CCS-5 Dong Feng-21 missile, designed specifically to trick and overwhelm a missile defense. The only nation currently looking at building a medium/long-range missile defense � to protect against attacks from PRC military customers Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. � is the United States. U.S. STILL CONSIDERING CLOSER MILITARY TIES WITH PRC As noted in last week�s update, the U.S. is looking at reestablishing military exchanges with Communist China � suspended after the Hainan outrage (See April 5, 2001 and April 11, 2001 updates) � as part of a move to warm PRC-U.S. relations. This comes despite a Pentagon concern report, also cited in last week�s update, that the PRC military is in the midst of an aggressive buildup. Report: Washington Post Note: In last week�s update, the title of story cited here incorrectly stated that President Bush wanted to renew military contacts with Taiwan, not the PRC. That has since been corrected on the web site. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR: PRC CALLS GROUP �AGAINST CIVILIZATION� They must really be worried. Communist China has gone global in its Falun Gong war, saying the spiritual movement was �launching a challenge against civilization� (CNN). Ever since it banned Falun Gong three years ago this week, the PRC has conducted a crackdown that has killed tens of practitioners � in police custody � and called the group a �cult� and a �quasi-terrorist sect.� DISSIDENT FANG JUE FREED, BUT COMMUNISTS REVOKE HIS BEIJING RESIDENCY Communist China released Fang Jue, a government employee-turned-dissident who spent four years in jail after calling for democracy in the PRC. However, the Washington Times (third story) cited Human Rights in China, which reported that the Communists refused to �renew his Beijing residency status.� In Communist China, no one allowed to live in a city unless they have residency status there. MILITARY STOPPED DAQING MARCHERS FROM ENTERING CAPITAL This is one story that could land in every news category. Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN), in examining the growing power of the military in Communist politics and foreign policy, notes that without the Communist armed forces, �disgruntled workers from Daqing Oilfield and other hotspots in the rust-belt northeastern provinces might have descended upon the capital last March.� Like much of the interior of Communist China, the northeast region is an economic disaster, in part thanks to local Communists making deals with factory managers, who �buy� them for a song, and reneging on promised pensions to fired factory workers. The Daqing oil protests were the largest and best known from this past spring (see March 13, March 20, and March 27 updates). AS INTERNET USE RISES, COMMUNISTS LOOK TO BLOCK MORE FOREIGN SITES Internet use in Communist China surged to over 45 million between January and June of this year, according to the BBC, which also reported that the PRC is forcing internet �caf�s� to install new software �which can prevent access to up to 500,000 foreign websites. According to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, the software can also �tell police when surfers try to access illicit pages.� OTHER MAINLAND NEWS JIANG TRYING TO KEEP GENERAL SECRETARY POST Remember the great Communist reshuffle scheduled for this fall? Well, hold the phone, because Communist President Jiang Zemin is trying to keep his post as General Secretary of the Party, in addition to the very powerful but little-known post of Chairman of the Central Military Commission. One of Jiang�s leading supporters, according to the Washington Post, is none other than Tiananmen butcher Li Peng, currently the number two in the party hierarchy. To be fair, Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN) first mentioned this in a link from last week�s update, but the Post is taking it a lot more seriously. COMMUNIST-RUN AND CORRUPTION-RIDDLED BANK OF CHINA OFFERING STOCK Bedazzled by the old �one billion customers� routine, investors from throughout the world are ready to throw good money after bad in the initial public offering (IPO) of the PRC-run Bank of China. Never mind that, as the Washington Post noted, its former and current presidents are under a cloud of corruption and that nearly a third of the bank�s loans are �non-performing.� The BBC reported that the IPO is expected to be �a rare stock market success story� thanks in large part to great interest from the public. Wall Street is apparently less impressed. A number of stock analysts, including one who spoke to CNN anonymously, don�t think the Bank can sustain its opening price. MASSIVE WATER TRANSFER INCHING FORWARD A massive water transfer from the southern Yangtze River to the drought-stricken north is only �a green light from the central government� away from beginning. The plan, which includes building networks of �canals, aqueducts, and tunnels� (BBC), is already getting criticism, including worries about drying up the sources of the water and fear that the project will go the way of the disastrous Three Gorges Dam. INTERNATIONAL NEWS SOUTH KOREAN SECRET DEAL WITH PRC ON GARLIC ANGERS FARMERS South Korea agreed to a secret deal with Communist China that ended Seoul-imposed tariffs on garlic � of which the PRC is the world�s largest producer. However, as the BBC reports, the government �kept its pact with China secret,� infuriating local farmers. Outgoing President Kim Dae-jung has fired his chief economic advisor over the affair. LI KA-SHING WINS CONTROL OF AUSTRALIAN POWER COMPANY CitiPower, an Australian power company serving the city of Melbourne, is now under the control of Hong Kong tycoon and PRC sympathizer Li Ka-Shing. Two of Li�s companies made the combined bid for the company (CNN). Hutchison Whampoa, another Li firm partially owned by Communist China, currently runs two container ports in the Panama Canal, and almost won control of telecom giant Global Crossing. This was all the news from Hong Kong this week. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS TAIWAN MILITARY ECHOES PENTAGON WARNING ON PRC�S MISSILE BUILDUP The ROC military released its own report on its Communist counterpart, and pointed specifically to the PRC�s missile buildup as a sign it was ��losing patience� over reunifying the two rivals peacefully� (BBC). The Taiwanese military noted that the Communists would have 600 missiles aimed at the island democracy by 2005, �enough to significantly alter the balance of power.� MAINLAND AFFAIRS COUNCIL CHAIR: TAIWAN IS �FLEXIBLE� ON ISSUES Tsai Ingwen, Chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council � i.e., the chief Cabinet official dealing with Communist China � said the island democracy was �flexible� on many issue regarding cross-strait relations. However, according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN), Tsai also said any talks with the PRC must come without preconditions � such as the Communist insistence that the ROC accept �one China.� NAURU DROPS TAIWAN FOR PRC Taiwan suffered a small diplomatic defeat when Nauru, a �tiny Pacific island� (BBC), dropped diplomatic ties with the island democracy in favor of Communist China. The move dropped the number of nations who still have formal diplomatic relations with the ROC to 27. That includes the Vatican and several from Africa and Latin America. PRESIDENT CHEN BECOMES LEADER OF DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY ROC President Chen Shui-bian took tighter control of his Democratic Progressive Party by taking over the chairmanship of the party. According to the BBC, Chen made the move � indicative of past Presidents from the now opposition Nationalist Party � to bring party policy more in line with his own. There is still time to contact the President and tell him not to approve PRC sympathizer Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. No news from Tibet or East Turkestan this week Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. Anyonewho 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 you happen to find to the same address. |