| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2000 TOP STORY: COMMUNISTS RE-INTENSIFY CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DISSENT CHINESE DEMOCRACY PARTY MEMBER ARRESTED, INTERNET CAFES TO BE SHUT DOWN The wife of the founder of Chinese Democracy Party told Agence France Presse today that the Communist arrested 70-year-old Nie Minzhi, a CDP member, an sent him to a labor camp. The Free China movement reported to AFP that Nie had been sentenced to a year of hard labor; this can be, and often is, down without trial. The CDP ruefully noted the arrest came days after the Senate approved PNTR for Communist China. Link: AFP Meanwhile, Communist authorities announced through the Communist-run Shanghai Daily that they intend to close a number of internet cafes in Shanghai. While the police cited access for minors and the spread of computer games, the cafes have been a �hotbed of dissident activity.� The paper also announced over 1,500 cases of �illegal� publishing had been punished, with over $300,000 in books confiscated. Links: AFP - Internet Cafes, AFP -Book confiscations FOCUS: COMMUNIST CHINA VS. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM INTELLIGENCE OFFICER WHO PRACTICD FALUN GONG DIES IN LABOR CAMP Tao Hongsheng, an intelligence officer sent to a labor camp for his continuing belief in Falun Gong, died in the camp after three weeks in ill health, during which the Communists refused to care for him, according to his wife. The Washington Post, whose story is only on their web site until at least tomorrow, also reported a death on September 10 of a practitioner whom Communist authorities had sent to a mental hospital. Link: Washington Post NEW RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN MINISTERS DRAWN UP Meanwhile, in their latest battle with faiths they can�t control, Communist China drew up tighter rules for foreign ministers. The rules disallow any religious appointments by foreigners, and requires foreigners conduct mass or service only at �lawful sites.� AFP reports the move is designed to halt the spread of underground Christian Churches. Link: AFP CARDINAL PROTESTED CRACKDOWN ON CATHOLICS WHILE IN COMMUNIST CHINA Roger Cardinal Etchegary, a close aide to Pope John Paul II, vigorously protested the arrest of Bishop Zeng Jingmu and other priests while in the PRC with Communist officials. According to the BBC, the Cardinal, who has visited the PRC twice before, also said he regretted being unable to meet with members of the Vatican-loyal underground Catholic Church, which numbers 10 million in Communist China. Link: BBC COMMUNISTS SAY FUTURE CATHOLIC SAINTS DESERVED TO DIE Communist China attacked the Catholic Church for canonizing 120 followers who died for their faith in China from the 1680�s to the 1930�s, according to the Washington Post. The PRC charged the 120 with �violating Chinese law,� and essentially said they all deserved to die. The Communist are also upset that the ceremony will take place on October 1, the anniversary of the �founding� of the People�s Republic of China. Link: Washington Post OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS ZHONG GONG LEADER GRANTED RIGHT TO STAY IN U.S. AFP, citing the Information Center on Human Rights and Democracy, reported a U.S. court in Guam has granted Zhong Gong leader Zhang Hongbao the right to live in the U.S. because he could be tortured if he was returned to Communist China. The court did not grant Zhang political asylum, however. Zhong Gong, like Falun Gong, has been banned in the PRC as a �cult,� and nearly all of its property has been seized. Link: AFP U.S. COURT CASE AGAINST LI PENG TO GO FORWARD A federal court in New York agreed to try a lawsuit filed by survivors of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 against Li Peng, the Prime Minister who ordered the military crackdown on the pro-democracy protestors. While the survivors don�t expect to collect damages against Li, now No. 2 in the party hierarchy, they said the case would keep the memory of the protests, and its horrible, bloody end, alive. Link: AFP EX-CHINESE DISSIDENT BANNED BY SOUTH KOREA ON EVE OF VISIT BY COMMUNIST PM South Korea banned Wang Dan, a leader of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and now a U.S. resident, from visiting the country on the eve of a planned summit in Seoul that includes Communist Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. Human rights groups singed the South Korean government for their second such ban in a week (see Tibet News). Link: AFP COMMUNISTS VOW TO PRESS ON WITH �ONE CHILD� POLICY Twenty years after its founding on September 25, 1980, Communist China declared through the Party-run People�s Daily that the �one child� policy would continue. The draconian attempt at population control, includes forced abortions and, as shown in previous updates, the murder of newborn children. Still, its effective is spotty, and nonexistent in rural areas. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNISTS ANNOUNCE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING FOR NEXT MONTH BBC reported the Communists have announced the next central committee meeting will be held next month. In theory, this is the most important meeting for the Communist Party. However, the decisions are made long before the meetings occur. Still, it is usually a good time to see if the Communists plan any tactical changes in their battles with the democratic ROC, political dissidents, Tibet and East Turkestan, or Falun Gong. Link: BBC XIAMEN CORRUPTION TRIAL JUDGE SUDDENLY RESIGNS Chen Bingfa, the judge handling the trails in the massive Xiamen smuggling scandal, suddenly resigned this week, according to AFP. Citing the Hong Kong press, the agency reported Beijing is worrying the local courts are themselves to corrupt to deal with the scandal. Nearly 100 officials are on trial, with many more trials pending. Link: AFP XIAMEN CORRUPTION TRIALS LIKELY TO LEAD TO A �HEAVIER HAUL� OF EXECUTIONS In a rather questionable use of language, the Communist-run China Daily predicted more officials would face execution for their roles in the smuggling ring which brought in $10 billion in goods without imposing customs duties. The paper, cited in the Washington Post, said �a heavier haul is expected from the Xiamen case.� Link: Washington Post DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF EX-MILITARY HEAD ARRESTED FOR ROLE IN XIAMEN One of those in the �haul� could be Zheng Li, daughter-in-law of Liu Huaqing, ex-vice-chairman of the highly powerful military commission. Zheng was arrested this week for her role in the massive scandal. Her former boss, intelligence chief Ji Shengde, is charged with taking over $12 million in Xiamen-related bribes. Link: AFP EX-DEPUTY GOVERNOR KICKED OUT OF COMMUNIST PARTY FOR CORRUPTION The Communist Party expelled former Hubei Deputy Governor Li Daqiang for corruption, according to AFP. Citing the Communist-run People�s Daily, the agency reported Li had taken nearly $35,000 in bribes during his tenure as Deputy Governor. Expulsion from the party usually precedes the filing of charges in corruption cases. Link: AFP AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS MORE QUESTIONS, FEW ANSWERS IN LEE CASE A Congressional committee scolded FBI Director Louis Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno for their handling of the Wen Ho Lee case, according to the Washington Post. Freeh noted in his response that Lee had copied highly classified secrets, and insisted the 58 counts dropped against Lee �could be proven today.� Sadly, how Communist China got its hands on those secrets did not appear to be a topic of discussion. Link: Washington Post ANTI-U.S. ALLIANCE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND COMMUNIST CHINA DEVELOPING A report from the House of Representatives has cited growing arms transfers from Russia to Communist China and cooperation against a planned U.S. missile defense as evidence of a possible alliance between Russia and Communist China. The report, which faults the Clinton Administration heavily for its policies on Russia, is based on evidence that has been reported in several previous updates. Link: Washington Times. PRESDIENT CLINTON WARNS AGAINST U.S. TROOP WITHDRAWAL President Bill Clinton said on Sunday that despite the possibility of a thaw in relations on the Korean peninsula and reform in the PRC, America should maintain a strong military presence in Asia. He also said free trade with the Communists, established through Permanent Normal Trade Relations last week, would not guarantee reform, a statement missing from his comments on PNTR while it was debated in Congress. Link: AFP NEW YORK LAW FIRM CHARGED WITH AIDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM PRC Federal prosecutors charged the law firm of Robert Porges with aiding the massive international effort to smuggle residents of Communist China into the U.S. The prosecutors charged the firm faked political asylum stories for the immigrants. Some escapees are willing to pay $40-50,000 to criminal organizations just to leave Communist China; many are forced into servitude to pay it off. If discovered, most are deported. Link: Washington Post INTERNATIONAL NEWS VIETNAMESE PRIME MINSTER VISITS BEIJING, TWO SIDES PLEDGE TO RESOLVE SEA BORDER Phan Van Kai, Prime Minister of Vietnam, is in Beijing this week for talks with his Communist Chinese counterpart Zhu Rongji. The two Communist regimes agreed to resolve their sea border and fishing disputes by the end of the year. According to the BBC, the planned accord would include the Spratly islands, which the two fought over briefly in 1988. Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines also claim the Spratlys. Link: BBC 18 ESCAPEES STOPPED IN ESTONIA Border guards in Estonia detained 18 escapees from Communist China, according to AFP. The escapees had left Communist China through South Korea. The agency reported the escapees hoped to enter Italy. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS PRESIDENT CHEN CALLS COMMUNISTS� �ONE CHINA� POLICY �UNDEMOCRATIC� In an interview with CNN, ROC President Chen Shui-bian insisted his country would not be �rushed� into forced reunification in its effort to ease tensions with the PRC. �The presentation of only one single option, one single goal (reunification), rejecting all other possibilities and choices, is undemocratic,� said Chen. He also said a cross-straits thaw �requires efforts on both sides.� The other side remains aloof, to put it mildly. Link: CNN EX-PRESIDENT LEE TO VISIT CZECH REPUBLIC NEXT MONTH Former President Lee Teng-hui, whose efforts to raise the ROC�s international profile won him much scorn from Communist China, will visit the Czech Republic next month on the invitation of President Vaclav Havel, according to AFP. While Communist China had not responded as of this afternoon, one can expect it will be very unhappy. Link: AFP CASE OF DEAD MILITARY CAPTAIN RE-OPENED CNN reported President Chen Shui-bian has reopened the case of Navy Captain Yin Ching-feng, a procurement official who died seven years ago. Many believe Captain Yin was murdered as part of a kickback scheme. Corruption was a major issue in the spring presidential campaign; Chen vowed to clean up Taiwan�s democracy. Link: CNN COMMUNIST CHINA REJECTS COMPARISON OF KOREA THAW WITH CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS Communist China, through Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi, categorically rejected suggestions that Beijing and Taipei could follow the example of North and South Korea�s warming of ties, according to AFP. Sun said the two situations are �totally separate things.� The ROC has repeatedly using the Koreas as an example in their quest to relax tensions. Link: AFP FORMOSA GROUP ANNOUNCES PLAN TO BUILD LARGEST MAINLAND HOSPITAL The Formosa Group conglomerate has announced it intends to build the largest hospital in Communist China, according to AFP. The hospital will be wholly owned by Formosa, in violation of an ROC ban against investment in Communist China. Over $40 billion is invested in the mainland anyway, usually indirectly, and Chen has proposed dropping the ban in the past, but only if the PRC starts talks on reducing tensions. Link: AFP HONG KONG NEWS COMMUNIST SLAMS CIVIL SERVICE FOR NOT BEING SUPPORTIVE OF TUNG CHEE-HWA Communist Vice Premier Qian Qichen criticized Hong Kong civil service chief Anson Chan for �discordant relations� with Communist-appointed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The Communist minister told Mrs. Chan, a holdover from the U.K. government, that she should �give better support� to Tung, whose popularity has hit an all-time low of 32%. Link: AFP BORDER OFFICIALS GIVEN JAIL TERMS FOR HELPING 12 ESCAPE TO HONG KONG A Communist court sentenced two border officials to prison this week for helping twelve people escape to Hong Kong, according to the Legal Daily. The paper, cited by AFP, said the guards were paid nearly $11,000 to let the twelve through in four groups last fall. All were later caught and sent back to the mainland. Link: AFP TIBET NEWS FRENCH CABNIET MINISTERS MEET WITH DALAI LAMA, EARNING COMMUNIST CHINA�S IRE The Dalai Lama, Tibet�s spiritual leader, met with French Education Minister Jack Lang and Environment Minster Dominique Voynet this week on the last day of his 10-day visit to France, despite Communist Chinese objections, according to AFP. Lang, a member of the governing Socialists, previously called on France to fly flags at half-masts every March to remember Tibet�s victims of Communist oppression. Link: AFP SOUTH KOREA DENIES VISA TO DALAI LAMA FOR VISIT, CAUSES OUTRAGE IN THE COUNTRY The government of South Korea, in a shocking reversal, informed a committee preparing for the Dalai Lama�s November visit that it has decided not to grant him a visa. The Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade made the announcement, and cited a proposed visit by Communist Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji that same month. The committee and the press were outraged at their government cowering to the PRC. Link: AFP COMMUNIST CHINA REVERSES COURSE ON DALAI LAMA�CLINTON BOOK AFP, citing Callaway Editions, reported that Communist China has agreed to release seized copies of �The Clinton Years,� a photographical history of the Clinton Administration. The book was seized because it had a picture of President Clinton with the Dalai Lama. Link: AFP No news from Xinjiang/East Turkestan this week. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving this. 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