| 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. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JUNE 26, 2002 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA IN TALKS TO BUY $4 BILLION IN RUSSIAN WEAPONS Communist China has begun talks with four Russian firms on buying eight Kilo-class diesel powered submarines, a purchase which would �significantly boost its ability to blockade Taiwan and challenge U.S. naval supremacy in nearby seas� (Washington Post). The submarines are part of a massive $4 billion weapons deal which includes two more Sovremenny-class destroyers. Also included in the deal are a �new batch of S300 PMU2 anti-aircraft missiles and 40 Su-30MKK fighter bombers.� Not surprisingly, the deal easily �cements Russia's place as China's biggest military trading partner,� a dubious title it has held for several years. FOLLOW UP: NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES FLOWN TO FREEDOM IN SOUTH KOREA 26 FROM SOUTH KOREAN AND CANADIAN EMBASSIES IN PRC LEAVE After more than a month of watching North Korean refugees sneak into the South Korean Embassy in Beijing � and futilely demanding that South Korea give them back � Communist China finally allowed the refugees safe passage into Beijing (CNN). By the time the so-called People�s Republic allowed for the refugees to get to freedom, two dozen were in the South Korean Embassy, two in the Canadian Embassy. Communist China, as a matter of policy, sends any North Korean refugee it finds back to its Stalinist ally, where nearly two million have starved to death. The massive famine and political repression � which have combined to lead the North Korean government to steal international food aid from its won people � have led thousands to hide in the PRC. Also reporting: Cybercast News Among those allowed to leave was a man taken from the South Korean Embassy by Communist police (BBC). A South Korean embassy staffer was injured in the scuffle last week (See June 19 update). The Washington Post noted that some within Communist China were worried that this action could lead to more refugees looking to escape, and possibly even bring down North Korea�s regime. Can we be so lucky? Don�t wait for Wednesday for latest on Stalinist North Korea; sign up for the North Korea Report, sent every Monday. Check out the latest as it happens on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS EXILED ACTIVIST REFUSED ENTRY INTO HONG KONG, AMERICAN PROFESSOR DETAINED Communist China refused to allow exiled pro-democracy activist Harry Wu into Hong Kong. Mr. Wu, a leading anti-Communist in the United States, was blocked from giving a speech to a seminar �in the lead up to the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July� (BBC). The U.S. was �deeply concerned� about the refusal to allow Wu into the supposedly autonomous city. Meanwhile, Professor Perry Link of Princeton University was arrested by the Communists and held for questioning before being allowed to enter Hong Kong. Link is one of the authors of the Tiananmen Papers, a book composed of documents smuggled out of Communist China detailing how the cadres decided to end the Tiananmen Square protests with the June 4, 1989 massacre. As the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to Communist China approaches, how have the PRC's anti-democratic moves affected the city? Find out in the Hong Kong News Section further below. RUMSFELD TO SKIP TRIP TO PRC, BUT WILL SEND AIDE FOR MILITARY EXCHANGE TALKS Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that he would send an aide to Communist China for talks on resuming military exchanges between the U.S. and the PRC (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). Rumsfeld said he would not visit Communist China himself, in part due to the Hainan outrage last year (see April 5, 2001 and April 11, 2001 updates). HOUSTON ROCKETS JUMP THROUGH HOOPS FOR CENTER FROM PRC Communist China got the Houston Rockets to dance to their tune in order to draft basketball center Yao Ming (ESPN). Yao is the third player from Communist China to land on an NBA team. The Rockets should be careful; the Dallas Mavericks are having problems with the Communists over their PRC player, Wang Zhizhi, who does not want to leave the U.S., as the Communists are presently demanding of him. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS JIANG AND ALLIES STILL JOCKEYING TO KEEP HIM AT CMC POST Communist China �has failed to set a retirement age for senior cadres� as CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam put it. Lam noted that this was a sign that Communist President Jiang Zemin is more likely to remain Chairman of the �policy-setting� Central Military Commission. The CMC is the little-known but all-powerful body from which Deng Xiaopeng ran the PRC �behind the scenes� until his death. INTERNATIONAL NEWS CENTRAL FIGURE IN XIAMEN SMUGGLING SCANDAL DENIED REFUGEE STATUS IN CANADA Lai Changxing, allegedly the central figure in the multi-billion dollar Xiamen smuggling scandal, was denied refugee status in Canada. Lai, whose firm was involved in bribing hundreds of Communist officials � including possibly some high-ranking cadres says he will be executed if he�s sent back. The Communists have insisted Lai won�t be executed. Reports: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, BBC JAPAN FINDS MISSILES AND OTHER WEAPONS ON NORTH KOREAN VESSEL A North Korean ship that sunk last year after being chased by the Japanese (see January 2 update) had �a Russian surface-to-air heat-seeking missile, portable anti-tank grenade launchers and machine guns� according to the BBC. The vessel sank last year in waters near Communist China, which had hesitated before allowing Japan to recover its Stalinist ally�s ship. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS FRANCE KEEPS DOCUMENTS ON 1991 FRIGATES SALE CLASSIFIED France has �refused to declassify documents� on the sale of six naval frigates to the ROC in 1991 that has inspired numerous investigations of bribery, corruption, and the possible murder of a Taiwanese army captain who probed the contract. Report: BBC There�s still time to contact the President and tell him not to appoint pro-PRC Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. HONG KONG NEWS TUNG APPOINTS MINISTERS, AFTER A SLIGHT HOLD UP BY COMMUNIST CHINA Communist-appointed Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa appointed ministers answerable to him to oversee the civil service, which had previously been run by �politically neutral� civil servants. CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam said the new cabinet has �more businessmen, private-sector professionals, and pro-Beijing figures.� No pro-democracy politicians made Tung�s cabinet. Also reporting: BBC Communist China had held Tung up briefly because it had �not given its consent� to some of Tung�s picks. The BBC, in its story on the hang-up, called it �highly embarrassing for Mr. Tung� (quite an understatement). Pro-democracy leaders referred to the cabinet as �accountable to Tung, but not accountable to either the legislature or the public.� The BBC also listed the new cabinet. DEMOCRACY IN HONG KONG? DON�T BET ON IT CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam notes that developments more ominous than the cabinet �conundrum� are in the works for HK, such as a new law in the works to enforce against acts of �subversion,� i.e., anything that make s the Communists uneasy. This and other anti-democratic moves are, to paraphrase Lam, making life in Hong Kong heavy on �one country� and very light on �two systems.� LIMPING ECONOMY SINKING IN TO HK RESIDENTS Meanwhile, Hong Kong�s economy, which was supposed to be headed for great things under Tung and his pro-Communist friends, is slumping badly. Unemployment is at a record high (as the last update reported, it even broke the record noted by Washington Times in its story), and many are worried that the city may never recapture its past glory. The situation has gotten so worrisome for the Communists that they are planning �a package of new deals� to boost the sagging economy in the City, according to CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam. This may include expansions of state-owned enterprises into HK, and trying to entice the city�s unemployed northward. Lam also noted that a �dangerous mentality of dependence has set in.� TIBET NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA PUFFS UP ITS PANCHEN LAMA PICK Communist China�s Xinhua news agency gave out some puffery, disguised as �details,� about the life of its handpicked choice for the Panchen Lama. As the BBC notes, �many Tibetans do not accept the boy is the real Panchen Lama and instead they recognise (British sp) another boy, chosen by the exiled Dalai Lama.� That boy was arrested by the Communists in 1996, and has never been seen since. No news was reported from Tibet or East Turkestan (�Xinjiang�) this week. 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 you happen to find to the same address. |