| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. The Week�s Links: Feature and Opinion Pieces on Communist China September 24, 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. The next Summer Olympics, in 2008, will take place in Beijing. Will the U.S. take part in a Communist Chinese version of the Munich Nazi propaganda event of 1936? Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Link of the Week Baizhi (likely a nom de cyber), Epoch Times, beautifully shreds the myth of Communist Olympic glory, meticulously detailing the cost in broken lives and broke treasuries. On East Turkestan Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. David J. Lynch, USA Today, has a piece on the plight of East Turkestan that is sufficiently skeptical about the Communist claims of bin Ladenism among the Uighur people. Among other things, Lynch notes that the Communist �terrorism� statistics have gone unchanged in two and a half years. Lynch also cites Communist boss Wang Lequan as the source of the terrorism claims, rather than repeat them as fact. The distinction may seem subtle, but it makes clear Lynch is not ready to accept the People�s Republic propaganda (nor should he be). On Jiang Zemin�s Exit Louisa Lim, BBC, and Willy Lam, CNN, disagree on what Hu Jintao�s acquisition of the Central Military Commission Chair means for the U.S. and Taiwan. Lim takes the optimistic view; Lam is more skeptical (we�re with Lam on this one). Phillip Pan, Washington Post, examines the effect on the Communist Party. The BBC also gauges the press reaction. More on Communist China and the United States Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post, writes a badly needed column reminding his readers that the PRC�s �market economy� is a myth. John J. Miller, National Review Online, reports on the Senate campaign of North Carolina anti-Communist Congressman Richard Burr. Massimo Calabresi, Time Asia, tries to make sense of the Keyser affair (see last Update). Heather J. Carlson, Washington Times, talks to Riordan Roett, director of the Western Hemisphere Program at Johns Hopkins University, about the Panama Canal. In the process, he gives her a breathtakingly na�ve description of relations between the U.S. and the PRC. On the Velvet Crackdown (Hong Kong) Huang Zhongrong, Free Times (via Epoch Times) laments Hong Kong�s lack of democracy on one country, one-and-a-half systems. Joshua Kurlantzick, The New Republic, details how the United States is reacting (or, to be more accurate, not reacting). Anthony Spaeth, Time Asia, talks to the most flamboyant of the pro-democracy legislators, �Long Hair� Leung Kwok-hung. The aforementioned Mr. Pearlstein has a post on Hong Kong�s economic future, and is relatively optimistic, although in large part due to his skepticism about the ability of the mainland to provide much competition. On Taiwan Tim Lehmann, assistant director of the Project for the New American Century, details in the Daily Standard the extent of the PRC�s strong-arm diplomacy against the island democracy. On the State of Workers in the Workers� State The BBC�s Lim revisited Mengzi, which became a county capital since she was last there. The abject poverty of old has been replaced by � well, abject poverty plus �a palace for the local emperors that stands as a monument to government waste and extravagance.� Lim followed that great piece with one that painfully described just how poor one rural family is. The Epoch Times (unnamed byline), examines the present and future plight of migrant workers in PRC cities. More On the Economy in Communist China Mark Gongloff, CNN, examines the dangers of Communist China missing its economic �soft landing.� On the Ecology in Communist China Mr. Kurlantzick also has a Washington Post piece on the environmental disaster that Communist China has become, and suggests it may be the issue that brings down the regime (one quibble: it�s not �Xinjiang,� John, it�s occupied East Turkestan). On the Corruption in Communist China The Epoch Times (author unnamed) highlight how a Communist-controlled industry has been felled by corruption, in this case the salt industry. Jiang Xun, BBC (via Epoch Times) advises those who want true reform in Communist China to �eradicate lying as a primary shortcoming of the political system.� On Northern Korea Sign up for the next Northern Korea Report (out on Tuesday). David Frum, National Review Online, makes this excellent point in discussing Kim Jong-il�s nuclear ambitions: �only China could have prevented it � and China chose not to.� Meanwhile, Edward Cody, Washington Post, examines the historical Koguryo/Goguryeo flap, and what it could mean for the future. Miss an Update, Week's Links, or Northern 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. |