| Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the decision of the International Olympic Committee awarding Beijing the 2008 Olympic Games, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those Games. Those who wish to e-sign the petition can do so at the following page (part of the China e-Lobby web site). CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JULY 25, 2001 TOP STORY: GAO ZHAN SENTENCED TO TEN YEARS FOR �SPYING� ANOTHER U.S. RESIDENT ALSO TO BE JAILED FOR TEN YEARS; CHINESE RESIDENT GETS THIRTEEN; POWELL AIDE HINTS U.S. RESIDENTS MAY BE SENT HOME BY TONIGHT Gao Zhan, a researcher on Taiwan at American University and Chinese-born permanent U.S. resident, was given a ten-year prison term for �spying.� Gao, who had completed all requirements for U.S. citizenship and whose papers were going through the usual red tape, has an irregular heartbeat, and her lawyer applied for leniency on that basis. Link: CNN Gao�s act of �spying� involved giving a number of magazine articles and a book to Li Shaomin, the U.S. citizen teaching in Hong Kong who was held also held for five months, convicted of �spying.� As a number of dissidents inside Communist China can attest, the PRC has a habit of declaring public information it doesn�t like �state secrets.� The Communists deported Li to the U.S. today. Link: BBC � Gao, BBC � Li, CNN � Li The verdict and sentence came just before Secretary of State Colin Powell was to visit the People�s Republic of China. Gao has been in a prison cell since February. The Communists had also imprisoned Gao� husband and 5-year old son � an American-born citizen for a month before sending them home to McLean, Virginia. Link: CNN Gao�s husband Xue Donghua said of the sentence: �I think the Chinese government is trying to show us its hard side, not just to me and my wife, but to the U.S. government.� He also said he would ask for President Bush not to visit the PRC for an October summit if his wife were not released. Xue asked for Congress to pass a bill granting Gao citizenship, saying, �It is time for the U.S. Congress to react immediately �. Links: Washington Post story 1, Washington Post story 2, CNN �Transcript of Xue interview It�s widely believed Gao�s chances of returning to the U.S. are much greater if she is a citizen. The bill�s sponsors are Senator George Allen (R � Virginia), and Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee (D � Texas). The Senate version of the bill is S.702; the House version is H.R.1835. The House members (292 of them) can be reached at [email protected], the Senators (90 of them) at [email protected]. Qin Guangguang, another U.S. resident imprisoned for �spying,� received a 10-year prison term, and his wife, in Beijing, has had her passport and U.S. �green card� taken by the Communists, who gave no account of Qin�s alleged incidents of spying. Qu Wei, a resident of the PRC, was given a 13-year sentence. Link: CNN An aide to Powell said bilateral talks could lead to Gao and Qin being expelled to the U.S. later this evening EST. However, PRC Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi �was non-committal� about their possible return to the U.S. Links: Washington Post, CNN OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS SENATOR HELMS REPORTS TWENTY YEARS OF PRC ARMS VIOLATIONS Senator Jesse Helms (R � North Carolina), former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report detailing violations of promises made by the Communist China not to sell military hardware. The violations include missiles and nuclear weapons parts, and go against �15 formal nonproliferation pledges.� Link: Washington Times Of the violated pledges were �seven related to the proliferation of nuclear technology, six regarding the transfer of missile technology and two commitments undertaken at the time the PRC joined the Biological Weapons Convention in 1997,� according to Helms. Missile parts were sold/given to Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya and North Korea, while Pakistan and Iran also bought �nuclear weapons goods�. Despite the litany of arms proliferation violations Helms noted that �successive U.S. administrations have been reluctant to use nonproliferation sanctions aggressively. In fact, there has been a constant willingness to waive sanctions in exchange for commitments, rather than results.� SECRETARY OF DEFENSE SAYS U.S. MUST KEEP STRONG PRESENCE IN ASIA As the budget for his department is whacked by all sides (see below), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld � in an interview with the Washington Times � stressed, the U.S. would have a continued strong military presence in Asia. Rumsfeld repeatedly expressed concern with Communist China, from its �double-digit� defense spending hikes to new missile deployments and �information warfare technologies.� Link: Washington Times Rumsfeld noted the contradiction in Communist China between its economic growth policies and political repression, and noted the PRC could easily stop its economic �reform.� Such thinking was refreshing to hear, although exceedingly rare in Washington. The Washington Post, however, noted that Rumsfeld�s review might lead to a major curtailment of current forces, in part due to the budgetary issues (see below). Link: Washington Post U.S. CONFIRMS TALKS WITH TAIWAN ON ISLAND DEMOCRACY�S DEFENSE FROM COMMUNISTS The Pentagon confirmed a Washington Times report (see last update) of talks between American and Taiwanese military officials on �discuss issues of interaction and means by which to provide for the defense of Taiwan.� It was the first time the meetings, which go back to 1997, were publicly acknowledged. Link: Washington Times The Pentagon also announced its intention to sell a joint tactical communications system to the ROC. The system, used by U.S. forces already, would enable joint U.S.-Taiwan military actions to occur. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REJECTS COMMUNIST DEMAND FOR HAINAN COMPENSATION The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted down paying $1 million to Communist China over the Hainan outrage. The PRC had sent the bill to the U.S. for �compensation,� but the House, by a 424-6 vote, amended an appropriations bill with language barring any payment. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-California) laid into the PRC for sending the bill. Links: BBC, CNN Communist China, of course, was miffed at the vote, calling it the work of �a few anti-China members.� Four hundred and twenty-four is a few? Meanwhile, DeLay called the $1 million bill �the deluded daydreams of a despotic regime.� In what must be the best evidence yet of the Bush Administration�s soft line on the PRC, negotiations have begun on payment of �reasonable and appropriate cost.� Zero anyone? Links: BBC JOINT CHIEFS HEAD SAYS INDIA-U.S. DEFENSE TIES TO BE REESTABLISHED General Henry Shelton, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced the resumption of the joint Indian-U.S. Defense Planning Group (DPG), which was frozen since India�s nuclear tests in 1998. Shelton also said the sanctions � imposed on India by the U.S. in reaction to the tests � were under review �at the highest level.� The current Indian current government has referred to the aggressive PRC as its reason for the 1998 tests. Link: CNS News BUSH DEFENSE BUDGET DEEMED TOO CHEAP BY ALL SIDES Republicans and Democrats laid into the Bush Administration defense budget again last week for not having enough money. From Republican columnists Bill Kristol and Robert Kagan � who called on Rumsfeld to resign in their joint Weekly Standard column � to Democratic Representative Norman Dicks (Washington), the call for more defense money was loudly bipartisan. Even Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) joined in. Link: Fox News Meanwhile, the Washington Times reports on the transformation of the Administration�s major defense review into �another budget drill.� The paper also hints that the Administration�s shift away for a two-war strategy was dictated not by a dispassionate analysis of world threats, but by budgetary considerations. Link: Washington Times COMPUTER WORM FROM COMMUNIST CHINA AIMED AT WHITE HOUSE CNN reported a new �worm� � a type of computer virus � that hit the Microsoft �security hole� in Windows NT and 2000 last week. It is widely believed that the worm has its origins in Communist China. When the worm hits, it leaves the following message: �HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!� One of the intended targets was the White House web site. Links: CNN story 1, CNN story 2 HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS FALUN GONG PROTESTORS ARRESTED AS SELF-IMMOLATION TRIAL BEGINS During the second anniversary of the PRC banning Falun Gong, Communist police in Tiananmen Square arrested eight protestors. Many around the world also protested the Communist ban. Meanwhile, five practitioners were placed on trial for aiding the self-immolation protest of last January. Falun Gong continues to insist that the suicide, in which two died, was not based on its teachings, which oppose it. Links: CNN story 1, CNN story 2 REPATRATION OF REFUGEES FROM NORTH KOREA STEPPED UP Doctors Without Borders is estimating that Communist China is deporting thousands of refugees from North Korea, despite fears of what would happen to them upon return to the PRC�s Communist ally. The North Korean economy has completely collapsed, and famine is widespread, leading to the high number of refugees in the PRC. Link: Washington Post COMMUNIST ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL INTERNET CONTINUE APACE Communist China has continued its efforts to regulate internet content, and is now looking at �trying to rein in China's news web sites,� which have from time to time annoyed Beijing by exposing corruption. They have also shut down thousands of �internet bars,� ostensibly to fight pornography. Link: BBC The Communists have also pushed foreign businesses and others into �self-censorship.� They do this via �isolated crackdowns on individuals or companies in the hope that this will then make people more aware of the line in China which they should not cross,� according to Duncan Clark, head of BDA, a consulting firm in Beijing. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS AS JIANG CALLS FOR �UNIFYING CADRES� THOUGHTS,� LEFTISTS STEP UP PRESSURE Communist President Jiang Zemin called for unity in the party � in part, according to a source, to help him against �opposition from different factions in the party and government.� In particular, hard-liners � known as �leftists� � are going after Jiang for his apparent efforts to move toward economic efficiency and open hand to businessman. There is no disagreement on the omnipotence of the Party, however. Link: CNN, Willy Wo-Lap Lam LI PENG FOR PRESIDENT GAINING SUPPORT The butcher of Tiananmen Square � Li Peng � is apparently gaining support from fellow hard-liners in his quest for the job of PRC President. CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam says Li�s effort � driven in part by his desire not to be placed on trial for ordering the massacre in 1989 � �has enjoyed the support of conservative party elders as well as numerous former associates in the State Council.� Link: CNN � Lam JIANG ADMITS RURAL REFORM PLANS NOT WORKING Jiang, while in Anhui province, admitted his plans for reforming rural governments have run into obstacles. Peasants by the thousands have been protesting illegal taxes imposed by local Communists to pad their salaries. Jiang had proposed raising the basic farm tax rate and having the PRC cover the rest of local expenses, but Beijing doesn�t have the money, the some regions have had �difficulty� with the higher tax. Link: CNN - Lam INTERNATIONAL NEWS RUSSIA TO SELL 38 GROUND ATTACK JETS TO PRC FOR $2 BILLION Russia signed a deal with Communist China to build 38 Su-30 KKK ground attack jets at a price of $2 billion. This is in addition to 40 Su-30s contracted in 1999 � ten have been delivered so far. This contract calls for deliver in two years. The new planes will give the PRC a �potent� threat to Taiwan, according to Ken Allen, ex-Air Force officer and expert on the Communist Chinese air force. Link: Washington Post REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS FORMER PRESIDENT LEE TENG-HUI LEAVES NATIONALISTS, FORMS NEW PARTY Lee Teng-Hui, the former President of the ROC who ushered in democratic government via free elections, has left the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and formed the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). The new party backs Lee�s tough line on Communist China, which the Nationalists have greatly softened since losing ht presidential election last year to Chen Shui-bian, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. Link: CNN � Lam Lee�s actions, among other things, have caused PRC President Jiang to reassess the cross-straits situation. The �new thinking� he seeks is not to ease cross-strait ties, but to see �how reunification can be speeded up.� Jiang would also like to �ensure that candidates fielded by both Chen's DPP and Lee's TSU will be defeated by the KMT and other pro-unification parties at legislative elections slated for December.� FORMER PREMIER REPEATS CALL FOR ECONOMIC INTEGRATION WITH COMMUNIST CHINA Meanwhile, Vincent Siew � former ROC Premier and current vice-chairman of the Nationalists � affirmed the new, softer line by calling again for economic integration with Communist China, citing the European Union as an example. Link: CNN ROC ECONOMY SUFFERS HEAVY REVERSAL The global economic slowdown has hit Taiwan hard. Exports are off, particularly to the U.S., and 1st quarter economic growth was at a quarter-century low of 1.06%. Wu Chung-shu, of Academia Seneca, called the ROC�s situation �its worst economic crisis in three decades.� Link: BBC EX-MILITARY OFFICER MAY HAVE DEFECTED The China Times reported that ex-Lieutenant Colonel Liu (no first name given) had defected to the Communists in exchange for a promotion to full colonel. The paper reported that Liu was �one of a number of Taiwanese veterans� who took the offer of �promotion and family settlement,� by the PRC. Link: BBC HONG KONG NEWS OVER A HUNDRED PROTEST FALUN GONG CRACKDOWN About 140 protested the Communist crackdown against Falun Gong in Hong Kong last week. The protests came on the anniversary of the Communist ban on the movement, and coincided with protests in Beijing and throughout the world (see Human Rights and Freedoms News). Link: BBC TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA TO BUILD �LIBERATION� MONUMENT ON POTALA PALACE Communist China is set to build a �35-meter high monument� at the Polota Palace, once the home of the Dalai Lama, to commemorate their conquest of the Tibetan people. The Tibetan government-in-exile had harsh words for the Communist plans to glorify their �peaceful liberation� of 1951. Spokesman Thubten Samphel referred to it as �50 years of untold suffering for Tibetan people.� Links: BBC, CNN 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]. Please visit our web site. |