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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JANUARY 28, 2004
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available! Find out more about Communist China�s history of aiding terrorist states, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and al Qaeda: here, at Barnes and Noble, at Amazon, or call 1-888-280-7715 � D.J. McGuire
TOP STORY: HU JINTAO VISITS FRANCE, GETS RED CARPET TREATMENT
CHIRAC DISSES HUMAN RIGHTS AND WHACKS TAIWAN AS PARIS POLICE ARREST FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS; FRENCH OPPOSITION STANDS WITH SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT
French President Jacques Chirac hosted People�s Republic President Hu Jintao, in what some called �an effort to create stronger ties with China in a step away from American international domination toward creating a more �multipolar� world order� (Cybercast News).
While Hu was given the red-carpet treatment, Falun Gong practitioners were rounded up by Paris police and detained, under a previously unknown French law that declared, �Yellow is illegal� (Epoch Times, HK, 1/28). Yellow is the spiritual movement�s symbolic color. Of course, many non-yellow wearing practitioners were also rounded up.
Falun Gong had also been banned from Chinese New Year celebrations last week under massive Communist pressure, which was then extended in Chinese newspapers in Paris with missives like: �Everything needs to be done to prevent Falun Gong from creating trouble.� The movement held its own parade in the French capital (Epoch Times, 1/26).
The feting of the Communists, who backed Chirac�s efforts to block the American military action in Iraq, has even extended to its Paris Book Fair in March, which did not invite Nobel Laureate Gao Xingjian, a Chinese exile living in the city (see 10/18/00 Update).
Chirac also ripped Taiwan for its March 20 referendum on pursuing a missile defense if the Communists don�t remove the 500 missiles pointed at it. Chirac called the move a �grave error� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN) and even �dangerous� (Taiwan News). Taiwan insisted the referendum would go forward (Voice of America via Epoch Times).
For more on the island democracy see Republic of China (Taiwan) News.
Not everyone in France agreed with Chirac�s shameful actions. Jack Lang and Robert Badinter, both former Socialist Ministers (in France the Socialists are more anti-Communist than the �right�), stood with Falun Gong in a press conference where the spiritual movement made its case for inclusion in the Lunar New Year events.
Hu addressed the French Parliament. Dozens of French MPs boycotted, and one who did not, MP Philippe Foillot from the center-right Union for French Democracy, chose a more colorful protest: he wore a white gag over his mouth during the speech (Washington Post).
FRENCH FM CALLS FOR LIFTING OF EU BAN ON ARMS SALES TO COMMUNIST CHINA
Meanwhile, Dominique de Villepin, France�s Foreign Minister, �renewed French calls to end the EU's China arms trade ban� (BBC). France and Germany are pushing for an end to the ban imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre (see 11/12/03 and 12/10/03 Updates). Also reporting: Newsmax
FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS IN FRANCE SUE PRC CULTURE MINISTER
Hu brought Communist Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng along for the trip to Paris. Four Falun Gong practitioners promptly sued him in French court for �incitement to massacre and persecution� (BBC) of the movement. One of the plaintiffs was a native of France. Falun Gong has suffered under a Communist crackdown since July of 1999.
For more on the PRC persecution of Falun Gong see News From the Falun Gong War.
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
COMMUNISTS FIGHTING THE EAST TURKESTAN DESERTS THEY HELPED TO GROW
Communist China is �fighting a war against its deserts, which are expanding and joining to create a massive dustbowl� (BBC). Of course, the East Turkestan deserts are expanding thanks to the Communist mandated �mass migration� to suppress the Uighurs. This policy �brought over ploughing and overgrazing, making the desert spread even faster.�
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
NORTH KOREA NEWS
NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES SENT BACK BY PRC, SOME TO ALL-BUT-CERTAIN DEATH
Communist China is still sending back to North Korea every refugee it can find, ensuring that some refugees end up in camps for �incorrigibles,� i.e., �camps designed to kill those categorized as unreformable under the communist system� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times).
The refugees are essentially nonpersons in Communist China, and if captured, they can be subjected to harrowing atrocities even before being sent back (see 1/14 Update).
COMMUNIST CLAIMS HISTORICAL TIES TO KOREAN KINGDOM
Communist China is claiming that the ancient Korean/Manchurian Kingdom of Goguryeo was �an ethnic kingdom of ancient China� (Washington Post). With the seemingly academic claim, the Communists could �laying the groundwork to dispute the current border with North Korea and, if they find it to be in their interest, claim more territory.�
The Communists used the same historical routine to claim control over Tibet; thus leaving open the possibility � not mentioned by the Post but certainly worth pondering � that they could lay claim to, and occupy, northern Korea should the Stalinist regime meet any untimely demise, or tries to move out from under the PRC�s thumb.
For more on Communist China�s Stalinist ally, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
BUDDHIST NUN WHO ESCAPED TIBET HELD IN JAIL BY HOMELAND SECURITY
Sonam, a Buddhist nun who escaped Communist-controlled Tibet and then Nepal, is languishing in a Richmond prison because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) believes �The fact that Sonam lived in Nepal for three years indicated that she could have safely stayed there and did not need to come to the United States� (Washington Post).
Perhaps if DHS had checked out the 12/27/00, 6/4/03, 7/2/03, and 10/15/03 Updates, which reported Nepal�s policy of sending back to the PRC any Tibetan refugee it finds, they might reconsider their position, which would be laughable if it weren�t so damaging.
This was the only news regarding Tibet this week.
TAIWAN SPONSORS LUNAR NEW YEAR PARADE IN WASHINGTON
As it does every year, the island democracy of Taiwan sponsored a Lunar New Year parade in Washington last week. As expected, the Communists were miffed, but the residents of the city�s Chinatown � mostly from Hong Kong or Taiwan � marched despite them (Washington Post).
NEWS FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR
MOVEMENT FOUDNER TALKS TO NEW TANG DYNASTY TELEVISION
New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), the scrappy, anti-Communist network started by Chinese exiles to challenge PRC-controlled China Central Television (see last Update) scored a coup with an interview of Li Hongzhi, the reclusive founder of Falun Gong (Epoch Times).
Li, in exile in the U.S. to escape persecution, demanded �some form of resolution and justice� for hundreds of practitioners who have fallen victim to the brutal persecution of the spiritual movement began in July of 1999.
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
FAMILY OF �CORRUPT� CADRE SAY PRC BEAT HIM INTO CONFESSION AND KILLED HIM
The family of Zhu Shengwen, former deputy mayor of Harbin, is heatedly challenging the Communists� claims that he leapt to his death from a prison window due to depression. Zhu�s family also insist that the Communists beat him into confessing to take bribes to cover up his efforts to stop larger corruption in the city (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times).
This is another sign that in the PRC, some corruption charges are often diversions or lies hiding the real depth of the problem. A more well-known example of this was Liu Yong, who was tortured into confessing to running a Mafia ring in the thoroughly corrupt city of Shenyang (see 9/13/00, 12/27/00, 6/20/01, 10/17/01, 3/13/02, and 12/24/03 Updates).
NUMBER OF CYBERDISSIDENTS IN COMMUNIST PRISONS PASSES 50
Communist China now has �at least 54 people who have been imprisoned for emailing, setting up websites or exchanging pro-democracy messages online� (BBC). That doesn�t include �an unknown number of people remained in detention for disseminating information over the internet about the spread of the Sars virus.� Also reporting: Washington Post
MIGRANT WORKERS IN COMMUNIST CHINA LARGELY STIFFED ON WAGES
Migrant workers in Communist China are largely stiffed on wages promised by Communist-run firms and �joint ventures,� almost all of which include Communist firms. The workers have resorted to protests and petitions to get the wages they earned; in some cases, all they get are beatings and torture. Report: Epoch Times
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
HU JINTAO USING GRANDSTANDING FAVORS AS SUBSTITUTE FOR REFORM
PRC President and Communist boss Hu Jintao is hearing it from anonymous reformers within the party � and one cadre, Zhu Houze, even willing to put out his own name � for shunning real political reform in favor of �qinmin� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN), or �be nice to the people.� This has led to Hu acting in the �saintly emperor� role.
The emperor has no interest in his people�s views, shooting down �institutional changes whenever such innovations threaten the ruling elite's monopoly on power.�
TWO DEAD IN �SUICIDE� BLAST; FALUN GONG NOT BLAMED YET
A �suicide bombing� (BBC), if the Communists are to be believed, killed two people in a Zhengzhou railway station. The cynics among us are waiting for the Communists to blame the incident on a Falun Gong practitioner.
COMMUNISTS SHUT DOWN SCHOOLS FOR AIDS ORPHANS
In what RFA (via Epoch Times) euphemistically called �a misguided effort to divert media attention away from the uncontrolled AIDS epidemic in China,� the Communists are shutting down schools for AIDS orphaned children in Henan province. Henan is where a PRC blood donation scandal led to one million AIDS victims (see 9/4/02 and 9/25/02 Updates).
MILLIONS OF KIDS IN COMMUNIST CHINA CAN�T GO TO SCHOOL
Speaking of schools, one would expect a Communist state to at least make sure it could match the U.S., where education is not only available for all, but mandatory for all. One would be wrong. In the PRC, public school does not exist in many impoverished rural areas, despite a �law� guaranteeing education for all children. Report: RFA via Epoch Times
ILLEGAL ORGAN SELLING ON THE RISE IN COMMUNIST CHINA
Illegal selling of organs, including the hideous practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners (see 7/3/01 Update) is one the rise again in Communist China, sparking concerns of the donation racket becoming a disease superhighway. Reports: RFA via Epoch Times (1/21 and 1/26)
YEAR OF THE MONKEY BEGINS; COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA CONTINUES
The Lunar New Year (a.k.a. Chinese New Year) began last week; under the dozen-year cycle, last Thursday began the Year of the Monkey. The PRC, always for a propaganda excuse, trotted out taikonaut Yang Liwei to usher in the New Year. Report: BBC
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
INDIAN PARLIAMENT TO DISSOLVE FOR EARLY ELECTIONS
The Indian Parliament will dissolve next Friday for elections in April, about six months ahead of schedule. The governing Bharatiya Janata Party, which has moved the longtime rival of Communist China closer to the United States than at any time in four decades, is hoping recent state election victories will lead to re-election. Report: BBC
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
VICE PRESIDENT LU RIPS GERMAN NUCLEAR SALES TO COMMUNIST CHINA
Vice President Annette Lu, one of Taiwan�s most fiery anti-Communists, blasted Germany for agreeing to sell Communist China nuclear reactor equipment. Report: Central News Agency via Epoch Times
TAIWAN�S CANDIDATES CELEBRATE NEW YEAR
Chen and his main opponent in March�s election � Nationalist Lien Chan � celebrated the Lunar New Year, and used the occasion to advance their candidacies. The Taiwan Solidarity Union � founded by ex-President Lee Teng-hui and likely to back Chen�s re-election � also marked the holiday. Report: Taipei Times via Epoch Times
No news on Hong Kong was reported this week.
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