| Link of the Week A.M. Rosenthal, in the New York Daily News, calls on all Americans �who devote at least part of their minds to the everlasting struggle with dictatorships� to loudly denounce the Chinese Communists� treatment of there own people as the Olympiad approaches. On the American �spies� coming home Editorial in the Washington Times welcomes Li Shaomin back to the U.S., and reminds us that there are still over 20 Americans languishing in PRC jails who �could easily be forgotten.� They also note the following: �the release of one man is not the consummation of what it means for China to be a democratically reformed society.� Salvatore F. Cordo, executive director of the Friends of Li Shaomin, examines the effect of Li�s capture on future U.S.-PRC relations. This is an insightful piece that weighs the effect of economic �engagement� in Communist China, and finds it rightly wanting. Editorial in the Washington Post tells the Bush Administration to put the brakes on �engagement� with Communist China until �the Chinese American academics are released and the campaign against the intellectuals is stopped.� Although written before Beijing released Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang, it is still relevant, especially for those still trapped in Communist China, be they American or Chinese. Tim Luard, BBC, notes that despite the �release� of Li, Gao, and Qin, the orchestrated arrests, trials and imprisonments means �enough has been done to intimidate all kinds of . . . foreign-based academics who will no longer dare do any kind of research on China that could conceivably be interpreted in the wrong light by the communist authorities.� Rose Tang, CNN, looks at the arrests in a similar light to Laurd�s. On the Falun Gong War Think the Communist campaign against Falun Gong is working? Think again. John Derbyshire, in National Review Online, reveals a family argument on the matter in his latest �China Diary� entry. The debate was spirited, but the large majority backed the spiritual movement. As he says, �Where their nationalist passions are not engaged, the Chinese people can see through their government�s propaganda with no difficulty.� On the Beijing Olympics of 2008 The Editors of National Review articulate, brilliantly, why the Games should be somewhere else, anywhere else. John Derbyshire, also in NR Online, observes the reaction to the decision in Communist China. Michele Malkin, in the Washington Times, talks about the other problem with the Games in Communist China � the PRC�s tendency to bend, and break, the drug rules. Sound familiar? On U.S. Defense/Foreign Policy Robert Kagan continues his broadside against the Bush defense budget in the Washington Post. James Hackett, in the Washington Times, asks why the Administration is siding with the PRC against Taiwan in the latter�s efforts to get its President, Chen Shui-bian, invited to the next Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shanghai in October. This meeting is where the first Bush-Jiang summit will take place. Grace Vuoto notes Communist China�s diplomatic duplicity in her Washington Times column. 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. |