| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 28, 2001 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINESE AID TO IRAQ CONTINUING IN VIOLATION OF EMBARGO Agence France Presse reported last week that the People�s Republic of China is continuing to aid Iraq militarily, particularly in communications and air defense. Diplomats told AFP the number of Communist Chinese in Iraq has �quadrupled,� and that the major aid was �to improve the capacity of Iraqi radar and strengthen the surface-to-air missile defense,� through a fiber-optic network built by the PRC. Link: AFP In his first press conference, President Bush announced the Communist aid to Iraqi air defenses, reported in the last update, �concerned� him, and that �the appropriate response� would be sent to Beijing. His national security advisor, Condoleeza Rice, seemed to back away from those words in her follow-up press conference. Links: Washington Times, Washington Post, CNN, BBC Communist China, meanwhile, announced an �internal investigation� into the matter, and said it �would remedy the situation if Washington's complaints were found to be justified.� This is their first departure from their usual flat denials. Whether or not this is just for Western public consumption remains to be seen. Link: BBC OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS U.S. WHACKS PRC IN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT, WILL SPONSOR UN RIGHTS RESOLUTION Citing, �crackdowns against underground Christian groups and Tibetan Buddhists,� and other gross violations of human rights, the U.S. announced what had been leaked earlier (see previous updates), that it would sponsor a UN Human Rights Commission resolution condemning the PRC�s record. The announcement was part of the State Department�s annual report on human rights throughout the world. Link: BBC Michael E. Parmly, acting assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, said the U.S. would �put in the effort necessary� to get the resolution adopted for the first time. An Amnesty International official said the report �was the first test for the Bush administration, and we're very happy to see that they passed it.� Link: Washington Times � US report AFP quoted White House spokesman Ari Fleischer saying the resolution �will have the support of the United States because President Bush believes it is the right thing to do.� The PRC retaliated with its own �report� on U.S. human rights in retaliation. Links: AFP, BBC COMMUNIST CHINA STILL HELPING ROGUE STATES AND PAKISTAN DEVELOP WEAPONS As the State Department was criticizing the PRC� human rights record, the CIA found the Communists were still providing �missile-related items, raw materials, and/or assistance� to Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and Libya. The report also noted Russia�s continuing support of the PRC through weapons sales. Link: Washington Times HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS COMMUNISTS ADOPT UN ECONOMIC RIGHTS PACT, BUT NOT INDEPENDENT LABOR UNIONS Communist China adopted a UN pact on economic and social rights it signed in 1998, according to the BBC. However, they refused to allow independent unions or the right to strike, cutting out two very big pieces of the pact. Link: BBC DISSIDENTS PUNISHED FOR ASKING IOC TO PRESSURE PRC ON HUMAN RIGHTS As the International Olympic Committee delegation was visiting Communist China to examine their bid for the 2008 Games, BBC reported that dissident Shan Chengfen was arrested for asking the IOC push the PRC on its human rights record, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, AFP reported Liu Jang, who also wrote the IOC, is under surveillance, and her dissident brother was tortured in prison after the letter was released. Links: BBC, AFP PRO-DEMOCRACY DISSIDENT RELEASED Yang Qinheng, a veteran political dissident who most recently exposed the plight of workers laid-off by Communist-run enterprises, had his prison labor sentences cut short and was released today, according to AFP. The Communists forced Yang to work every day at a wage of $1 a month, but he said his suffering was light compared to others, and called on the international community to help PRC dissidents still in prison. Link: AFP UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER TO PRC: END LABOR CAMPS, TREAT XU WENLI BETTER Mary Robinson, UN Human Rights Commissioner called for the end of �re-education through labor,� the Communist euphemism for prison labor camps, while in Beijing over the weekend, according to the BBC. AFP reported Robinson also brought up the case of China Democracy Party founder Xu Wenli, serving a 13-year prison term. He has received minimal medical care in prison despite suffering from Hepatitis B. Links: BBC, AFP, CNN NON-COMMUNIST TV STATION STILL GIVES COMMUNISTS FITS, WINNING MORE SUPPORT A non-Communist unlicensed TV, reported in last week�s update, is gaining support in the countryside and continues to elude Communist attempts to shut it down. According to the BBC, the station allows anyone to place a message as an advertisement for a small fee. Such freedom would easily annoy the PRC. Link: BBC FILES FROM THE �FALUN GONG WAR� 1,600 AWARDED FOR CRACKDOWN ROLES: AFP reported that the Communists awarded 1,600 people, mostly from the police and military, for their roles in the crackdown against Falun Gong, which was again called an �evil cult� and a �cancer.� Link: AFP LONDON ASSEMBLY HITS CRACKDOWN: AFP reported the Communists� rage over a resolution that passed the Greater London Assembly (city council) slamming the PRC for its crackdown on Falun Gong. Communist China wrote all 25 GLA members blasting the resolution. The council was �uncowed.� Link: AFP EU DELEGATION: A delegation from the European Union visited Communist China for human rights talks. According to AFP, the EU delegation strongly criticized the vicious Communist crackdown against Falun Gong. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS SEVEN EXECUTED FOR ROLES IN XIAMEN SMUGGLING SCANDAL Communist China executed seven more figures in the massive Xiamen smuggling scandal last week. BBC did not reveal their names, but said they were not �the most senior figures� in the multi-billion-dollar scheme to evade customs duties. Link: BBC INTERNATIONAL NEWS RUSSIA SET TO SELL AIR RADAR SYSTEM TO PRC; TWO MAY BUILD MISSILE DEFENSE The arms bazaar continues. AFP, citing Interfax, reported Russia is ready to sell A-50 radar systems to Communist China �once Moscow and Beijing sign the deal.� Russia, already the PRC�s biggest arms supplier, has sold four Sovremenny-class submarines and 96 �Sunburn� anti-ship missiles � the most advanced in the world � to Beijing. Link: AFP Communist China also agreed to work with Russia on a missile defense, at least according to North Korea. The plan is considered a counterpoint to U.S. missile defense plans. It�s worth noting that the �rouge states� which fueled the desire for an American missile defense have all bought weapons or military know-how from Communist China. Link: AFP QUESTIONS REMAIN ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S WTO BID Communist China may enter the World Trade Organization next month, or this summer, or not until the fall, depending on to whom to talk. A WTO official said next month, and EU leader said this summer, but a PRC official said not until after the summer. The PRC has dragged its feet on WTO entry ever since it won Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the U.S. Link: AFP BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS PRC TIES SHOULD BE BASED ON �UNDERSTANDING� UK Defense Minister Geoff Hoon said the west should �develop a relationship with China so that we understand each other and therefore can do business with each other.� He made the remarks in a speech to the British Chamber of Commerce. There was no mention in the AFP story about PRC weapons proliferation, military buildup, or saber rattling, the things upon which a defense minister should normally be focused. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS EXILED PRC DISSIDENT WARNS TAIWAN AGAINST BEING TOO SOFT TOWARD COMMUNISTS Wei Jingsheng, a dissident in exile after spending 17 in a Communist prison, took aim at Taiwan�s political leadership for cozying up to Communist China. CNN reported Wei, in Taiwan for a week, said the ROC needed to �care more about the mainland's human rights because democracy can best help safeguard the island's security.� He also said if Taiwan was �too soft, they will consider you too easy to handle.� Link: CNN COMMUNIST CALL TAIWAN�DECEPTIVE� AS TAIPEI DEPUTY MAYOR VISITS SHANGHAI As Pai Hsiu-hisung, deputy mayor of Taipei, visited Shanghai this week for a goodwill visit, Beijing took another shot at the ROC regarding its refusal to accept the Communist definition of �One China.� The PRC said Taiwan was �deceptive� for saying they would agree to cross-strait talks without the �One China� condition. Link: AFP U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT PRAISES ROC GOVERNMENT The government of President Chen Shui-bian won high marks in the U.S. human rights report for making government more transparent and removing �political and personal pressures on the judiciary.� Link: Taiwan�s Central News Agency (CNA) PRESIDENT CHEN SAYS ECONOMIC INTEGRATION MUST BE IN LINE WITH ROC CONSTITUTION President Chen told visiting members of the European Parliament that economic integration between the ROC and PRC must be in line with the ROC Constitution, which protects Taiwan�s �national sovereignty, safety and dignity.� Link: CNA DOMESTIC POLITICS The office of ROC President Chen Shui-bian told reports he was still unsure about whether to hold a referendum on the controversial half-built nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, the opposition has demanded President Chen fire an advisor who said Taiwan sex-slaves �willingly� submitted to the Japanese during World War II. Links: CNA - Power plant, CNA - advisor Hong Kong was quiet this week. TIBET NEWS COMMUNISTS SHOWCASE LOYAL �LAMA� AS TIBET-BACKED BOY STILL MISSING The �11th Panchen Lama,� handpicked by the Communists, told the Communist-news service Xinhua of his love for the party, according to AFP. Xinhua made no mention of the 10th Lama, picked by the Dalai Lama. The Communists detained him in May 1995, at age six, and no one has seen him since that time. Link: AFP TIBETAN MONK AND NUN DIE IN POLICE CUSTODY Saru Dawa died in police custody at the Nyari Detention Center after his arrest at the Communist Chinese-controlled border. He had left India for Tibet to see his ailing mother. Officials at the prison denied Dawa was there until one of them was bribed. They then said Dawa committed suicide. Ngwang Lochoe, a nun who protested the Communist occupation in 1992, also died in prison this week. Links: AFP - Saru Dawa, AFP - Ngwang Lochoe DALAI LAMA TO VISIT BALTICS IN JUNE The Dalai Lama has been invited to visit Lithuania from June 24-26, according to the Baltic News Service. After that he will visit Latvia and Estonia. The Communists have yet to issue their usual denunciation. Link: AFP AUSTRALIAN HEALTH MINISTER IN HOT WATER OVER PRO-COMMUNIST CHINA REMARKS Australian Tibet Council Vice-President Alex Butler criticized Health Minister Michael Wooldridge for his glowing comments on Communist China�s �development� of Tibet. The Washington Times noted not only is Tibet rife with human rights abuses by the Communists, but that children are suffering from malnutrition region wide. Link: Washington Times XINGJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS LAKES IN REGION CUT IN HALF BY COMMUNIST �RECLAMATION� In their continuing battle with nature, the Communists have wiped out half the lake coverage in the region, according to AFP. The culprit is widely believed to be Communists efforts to �reclaim� the desert through massive irrigation. Link: AFP 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]. |