| 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. As Communist China�s allies and customers enter the cross-hairs, check out the latest on �Communist China and the Terrorist War,� either directly or via our main page. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 27, 2002 TOP STORY: JIANG TELLS BUSH TO STAY OFF IRAQ BUSH STRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS, ARMS SALES, BUT MEETINGS WITH JIANG GO NOWHERE Communist Chinese President Jiang Zemin told President Bush that the People�s Republic would not support military action against Iraq, and warned Bush against action that would in Jiang�s words �bully� Saddam Hussein, a military client of the Communists. Jiang made the comments while Bush was visiting him and � get this � praising the PRC for its support in the terrorist war (The Times of London). President Bush put the focus of his talks with Jiang on human rights, particularly recent arrests of over 50 Catholic bishops, (Los Angeles Times 1), in the PRC and Communist arms sales to Iran, North Korea, and � yes � Iraq (CNN), but no deal was reached. Jiang did announce that he and his heir apparent, Hu Jintao, would visit the U.S. later this year. Also reporting: Washington Post Jiang�s response on human rights, reported by the BBC, was (you might want to sit down for this one) that he �could not interfere in China's legal system because of judicial independence.� According to CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam, there was no progress on Taiwan, or missile defense or much of anything besides the forming of a few commissions and pledges to cooperate against terrorism. According to the Washington Times, the arms deal � had the two men agreed to it � would have included the U.S. allowing American companies to launch satellites from PRC rockets again. The Communists also wanted existing weapons contracts with the axis, as well as Pakistan to be �grandfathered� into the agreement. The U.S. does not. Also reporting: Cybercast News Service Communist China is planning to send Liu Jieyi, their top negotiator on arms control, to the U.S. next month to hammer out the deal on weapons sales (Los Angeles Times 2, Washington Post 2). BUSH STRESSES FREEDOM, PLEDGES TO DEFEND TAIWAN, AT TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY Bush also addressed students at Tsinghua University, and exhorted them to embrace freedom, especially religious freedom (Cybercast News Service). Bush told the students that �liberty, paired with law, is not to be feared� (CNN 1, BBC). The Communists took the references to freedom and religion out of its printed transcripts (Los Angeles Times). Bush also took some questions; most were softballs, except for one on Taiwan. Bush�s responded to it as such: �(T)here is (something) called the Taiwan Relations Act and I honor that act, which says we will help Taiwan defend herself if provoked.� Eugene Chien, ROC Foreign Minister, was thrilled with the remarks (CNN 2). The student was not so happy (Washington Post). Also reporting: Washington Times NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND THE TERRORIST WAR AS ASIAN ALLIES RETREAT FROM BUSH�S WORDS, CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE BACKS THEM America�s friends in Asia are starting to back away from President Bush�s tough talk on Communist North Korea � PRC ally for over 50 years (Washington Post). However, the Canadian National Post noted a Canadian intelligence report that found North Korea is still in fact building nuclear weapons, in clear violation of an agreement with the U.S. not to do so in exchange for two nuclear power plants. NORTH KOREA REJECTS BUSH�S OFFER OF TALKS Meanwhile, North Korea flatly rejected President Bush�s call for talks on its arms sales to terrorist states. An unnamed official, apparently following Jiang�s penchant for unintended humor, also charged Bush with �trying to change by force of arms the system chosen by the Korean people� (Los Angeles Times). OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS HUTCHISON WHAMPOA MAY BUY OUT GLOBAL CROSSING Bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing has an offer from Hutchison Whampoa, the firm owned in part by the PRC and in part by its favorite Hong Kong businessman: Li Ka-Shing. Global�s �worldwide fiber-optics route . . . would provide communist China with a worldwide and very capable spy network of data communications,� according to a Global official who talked to World Net Daily. Courtesy Ron Vogel: Member since 2000. HU JINTAO TO VISIT U.S. IN LATE APRIL PRC Vice President Hu Jintao � expected to be chosen the next General Secretary of the Communist Party later this year � will meets President Bush in the U.S. in late April, according to CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam. Lam notes that Hu, under pressure from hard-liners in the Communist interior, will likely follow a policy somewhat more hostile to the U.S. than Jiang�s stance, which Lam called �conciliatory.� INTERNATIONAL NEWS JIANG VISITS VIETNAM Communist President Jiang Zemin began a three-day visit in Vietnam today. He is expected to sign an agreement, but the BBC did not know of what type. The two regimes have fought two wars since 1979, the latter in 1988 over the fate of the still-disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS CHRISTIANS FREED, BUT CHURCH ORDERED SHUT DOWN Communist China released 47 elderly members of a non-Communist Christian church, but ordered the nursing home, in which some of the church members lived and gathered, to be shut down. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy noted the several of the prisoners � some in their 80s and 90s� as the BBC noted � were prohibited from having water or being able go to the bathroom. FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR: AMERICANS DESCRIBES COMMUNIST BEATINGS Corroborating statements by a British Falun Gong protestor who was beaten by Communist police (see last update), several American protestors told Cybercast News Service off their brutal treatment at the hands of police in Beijing during the demonstration earlier this month. One protestor was �dragged by her hair, lifted up by three police and then thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious.� OTHER MAINLAND NEWS HU JINTAO WINS PRAISE FROM RIVAL; SEEN AS SIGN OF HIS UPCOMING PROMOTION Hu Jintao, PRC Vice President, won warm praise from Zeng Qinghong, head of the Party�s Organization Department. According to CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam, Zeng, a long-time rival to Hu, was signaling his early support for him � another clear sign that Hu is set to take over as the head of Chinese Communism. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS TAIWANESE BASH CLINTON FOR PARTICIPATING IN REUNIFICATION CONFERENCE Taiwanese in the ROC and Australia lambasted former President Bill Clinton�s address to the 2002 World Congress on the Peaceful Reunification of China in Syndey, Australia. According to Cybercast News Service, Clinton spoke at a conference that bashed pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and is widely considered a front for Beijing. The PRC had warm praise for the conference. While numerous Taiwanese were upset, the Taipei Times was particularly harsh in its assessment, asking, �What will a former US president do for US$153,000?� The paper went on in its blistering editorial to say, �By publicly embracing the unification propaganda of China, a country notorious for human-rights violations, Clinton insulted another fundamental US value: advocacy of freedoms.� Zing! Correction: In last week�s update, the speaking fee Clinton received was reported to be $300,000. That was in Australian dollars, not American dollars as originally reported. WHAT�S IN A NAME? TOO MUCH FOR THE COMMUNISTS In yet another sign of control-freakishness, Communist China is complaining, loudly, about a move by the ROC to make their de facto embassies more recognizable. The BBC reports that the island democracy will change the name of the offices � called the Taipei Cultural and Economic Representative Offices in most countries � by substituting Taiwan for Taipei. This is what irks the PRC. HONG KONG NEWS UNEMPLOYMENT HITS RECORD HIGH Unemployment hit a record high of 6.7% in three-month period from November 1, 2001 to January 31, 2002 (BBC). The Hong Kong government admitted that unemployment could continue to rise this year. Courtesy Ron Vogel: Member since 2000. No news from Tibet or East Turkestan was reported 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. |