| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JUNE 27, 2001 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST POLICE KILL ANOTHER FALUN GONG PRACTITIONER FOLLOWER BEATEN TO DEATH WHILE IN CUSTODY, SAYS GROUP Communist Chinese police beat to death another Falun Gong practitioner two weeks ago, according to the spiritual movement�s U.S. office. The deceased, reported by CNN only as Zhang, �was declared dead on arrival at a hospital emergency room on June 12.� His family has been denied access to the body. Link: CNN Anywhere from 100 to 220 have died in the People�s Republic of China since the crackdown against Falun Gong began nearly two years ago. While public protests are rarer these days, practitioners still spread their faith through literature distribution and the internet. Beijing considers Falun Gong the greatest threat to its rule since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests � despite the group�s openly nonpolitical character. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS AIDE TO THE LAST HIGH-PROFILE REFORMIST IN PRC PLEADS FOR POLITICAL REFORM Bao Tong, former aide to ex-Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, wrote a �long essay� for the international and Hong Kong media, detailing the need for real �Western-style political reform� in the PRC. Bao and Zhao were arrested for sympathizing with the Tiananmen Square protestors in 1989. Zhao was the last advocate of real political reform to serve in the Communist Party in such a high-ranking capacity. Link: CNN OTHER MAINLAND NEWS OLYMPIC PERFORMANCE OF �THREE TENORS� SEES ABUSE, ARREST OF NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER One would think a concert with the �three tenors� � Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras � would not require the usual Communist police tactics, especially as the event was designed to highlight Beijing�s 2008 Olympic bid. Guess again. BBC reported that the police �reportedly punched and arrested� a news photographer. Links: BBC, CNN, CNS News ASYLUM SEEKING DOCTOR BLOWS LID OFF PRC PRISONER ORGAN TRADE In a chilling Washington Post story, Wang Guoqi, through exiled dissident Harry Wu�s Loagai Foundation, tells the story of executed prisoners harvested for organs to be sold by local Communists to wealthy residents and foreigners. Wang, seeking asylum in the U.S., also told the harrowing tale of one prisoner who had his kidneys and skin removed while still alive. Naturally, he had been told to keep quiet about this in the PRC. Link: Washington Post AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA ON AMERICANS HELD IN PRC: BUZZ OFF Once again, Communist China has dismissed efforts in Congress to get answers on the capture of U.S. citizens and residents. Several scholars are currently in prison, including American citizen Li Shaomin and near-citizen Gao Zhan. Gao has been separated from her husband and son, who were held for a month themselves before they were released, ever since her arrest in February on trumped up charges of �spying.� Link: CNN BUSH HIT FOR SILENCE ON AMERICANS HELD IN PRC AGAINST THEIR WILL Meanwhile, the near-total silence from the Bush Administration on the issue has garnered harsh, and well-deserved, criticism from Liu Yingli � Li�s Shaomin�s wife � and two Congressmen from his own party. Rep. Benjamin Gilman (Republican � New York) and Christopher Smith (R � New Jersey) blasted Bush�s �cautions approach,� and recommended reprisals against the PRC for not acting �in a civilized fashion.� Link: Fox News COMMUNIST CHINA PREPARING INFORMATION WARFARE CAPABILITIES Communist China is one of several nations building up its capabilities for information warfare, according to Lawrence K. Gershwin, the national intelligence officer for science and technology. In testimony to the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, Gershwin said some of the information warfare building, also taking place in Russia, Cuba and North Korea, is �aimed at the United States.� Link: Washington Times U.S. TO REMAIN �NEUTRAL� ON BEIJING�S OLYMPIC BID The Washington Post reports this week that the Bush Administration has chosen not to oppose Beijing�s bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. The Administration will �remain neutral,� which angered members of Congress, including Rep. Tom Lantos (D � California). Lantos is sponsoring a resolution opposing Beijing�s bid. Links: Washington Post, Op-ed piece by Rep. Lantos on Beijing�s Olympic bid in the Washington Times Meanwhile, Steven Mufson, also of the Post, notes that the main complaint Beijing has with the selection process � namely, too much �politics� � is also the one thing that keeps the city � suffering from massive pollution and other problems � in the running. Link: Washington Post COMMUNIST CHINA STILL WARY ABOUT U.S. Despite the Bush Administration�s best efforts to show otherwise (PNTR, the �neutral� stance on the Olympics, etc.), Communist China is apparently still worried that U.S. policy toward it is too hostile. The Washington Post notes that the PRC is adopting a wait-and-see attitude for now, but is still antsy about the Administration�s position on Taiwan � even with the cancellation of the sale of Aegis-armed destroyers. Link: Washington Post INTERNATIONAL NEWS PRC DEPLOYS NAVAL WARSHIPS IN DISPUTED SPRATLY ISLANDS, ANGERING PHILIPPINES Communist China has deployed several naval wars in the hotly disputed Spratly Islands, breaking a promise to the Philippine government that such deployments would not occur. The deployments � in and island chain claimed by the PRC, the ROC, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei � is part of a larger military development in the South China see, which includes missile deployments in the nearby Paracel Islands. Links: Washington Times � first report, BBC � Communist denial, Washington Times � Philippine reaction WILL FAMILY SEEKING TO ESCAPE NORTH KOREA BE SENT BACK? A family of seven has asked Beijing to let them stay instead of being returned to North Korea, where starvation and Communist mismanagement has made it one of the few places that make the PRC look like a haven. Communist China is being pressed to let the family stay � but North Korea has been a PRC ally for 50 years, and other North Korean escapees have been routinely sent back. Link: BBC, CNN COMMUNISTS IMPLEMENT TARIFFS ON JAPANESE GOODS Despite their professed desire to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Communist China followed through on its threat to slap prohibitive tariffs on a wide array of Japanese goods � including cars, mobile phones, and air conditioners. This is in response to Japanese tariffs, which would expire on November 8, on three little-known agricultural products. Links: BBC, CNN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RING �BROKEN� IN FRANCE France arrested six people involved in aiding residents of Communist China escape to the West. The arrest came after about 50 escapees were captured in the Paris area. The immigration networks routinely charge tens of thousands for help in getting out, then force them into indentured servitude until the debt is paid. Sadly, once western governments discover them, they are usually sent right back to Communist China. Link: BBC REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS COMPUTER HARDWARE MANUFACTURING TO BE OUTSOURCED TO TAIPEI As various U.S. computer firms shift away from making servers and other hardware in favor of dealing with software exclusively, analysts say the biggest beneficiary of the move will be Taiwan. Compaq announced a shift away from the computer hardware market, and on analyst called the trend �the next generation of outsourcing business for Taiwanese companies.� So much for the PRC �hollowing out� Taiwan�s economy. Link: CNN HONG KONG NEWS PARENTS OF RESIDENTS FIGHTING DEPORTATION COLLAPSE DURING HUNGER STRIKE The parents of two residents of Hong Kong fighting deportation to the mainland collapsed in the midst of their hunger strike as their children�s case was heard in HK�s court of final appeal. The children are part of a lawsuit filed by those told in 1999 that Hong Kong�s Basic Law allowed them to stay as children of HK residents, only to have Beijing to reverse the ruling at the request of the Communist-appointed government. Link: CNN TIBET NEWS MAJOR BUDDHIST CENTER NEAR TIBET RAZED BY COMMUNISTS Communist China has cracked down on a large Buddhist center, which housed up to 10,000 followers, in Sichuan province on the Tibet plateau. Kenpo Jigme Phuntsog, a Tibetan monk, founded the center. Several thousand have fled the area since the PRC began �knocking down housing for monks and nuns.� No �outsiders or foreigners� are allowed in either. Link: Washington Post No news from 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]. |