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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JULY 28, 2004
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or call 1-888-280-7715.
TOP STORY: HONG KONG GOVERNMENT RAIDS PRESS OFFICES
EVEN PRO-COMMUNIST PARTY OUTRAGED AT LATEST MOVE IN VELVET CRACKDOWN
The PRC-appointed regime sent police into eight media organizations in a �series of �cowboy� raids� (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). The raids were so egregious that the regime�s best friend in local politics � the unnamed Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, joined pro-democracy forces in condemning them (Washington Post, last item).
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
AMERICAN CITIZEN HELD AS TAIWANESE SPY
David Wei Dong, a Chinese-born American citizen also known as Dong Wei, �has been imprisoned here since last September on suspicion of spying for Taiwan for the last 14 years� (Washington Post). Dong, an American since 1995, supposedly created a foundation at Saint John�s University to recruit mainland students for pro-Taiwan espionage.
Dong has been held in prison since September, and American consular officials have not seen him in almost two months. While the charges reported in Communist media are �unusually detailed,� the Communists have a history of slapping the �spying for Taiwan� label on anyone they don�t particularly like.
This includes a Hong Kong professor, a leading dissident, and even an American resident who later admitted to breaking U.S. laws and sold technology to the PRC (see 3/28/01, 4/5/01, 7/18/01, 7/25/01, 8/8/01, 12/3/03, 4/21, and 5/19 Updates).
MILITARY WEBSITE HACKED BY MAINLANDERS
A Taiwanese military website �was found to have been hacked� (Epoch Times) this week. It was far from the first hack attack for Military News, but the page titles were changed to an ominous call: �unite Taiwan by 2020!� PRC Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin marked that date last week as the Taiwan surrender deadline (see last Update).
TAIWAN POLICE RELEASES SHOOTING FOOTAGE, ASKS SUSPECT TO TALK
The Taiwanese police �made public video footage of a suspect in the investigation into the election-eve assassination attempt on the president and vice president� (Taipei Times via Epoch Times) and �urged the person in the video to contact them as soon as possible.� The shooting remains unsolved, four months after it occurred (see 3/24 Update).
VICE PRESIDENT IN HOT WATER OVER ABORIGINAL COMMENTS
Fiery Vice President Annette Lu was burned by her own words about Taiwan�s aboriginal community, calling them �black pygmies� (Washington Times, third item). She also �that their farming practices might have contributed to flooding and landslides and suggested that the aborigines should leave Taiwan and search for new land in Latin America.� Oh dear.
TIBET NEWS
COMMUNIST GOVERNOR TO CANADIANS ON TIBET: SHUT UP
Chamba Phuntsok, the PRC �governor� of Tibet, flatly told Canadians that the Communists �don't need a foreign country to act as an intermediary� (Edmonton Sun). As the cadre created �a rosy picture of life for Tibetans under Chinese rule,� 50 anti-Communists gave the truth a forum with a demonstration outside.
PRC MILITARY BAND IN SCOTLAND BRINGS PROTESTORS WITH IT
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo has invited a Communist military band to perform in its annual event. That decision has already brought pro-Tibet activists to Edinburgh, and the Free Tibet Campaign �has threatened to protest at the event� itself (BBC).
NORTH KOREA NEWS
For news on North Korea, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
SOUTH KOREA TAKES NK REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM(?) TO AVOID DEPORTATION TO PRC
An unnamed Southeast Asian country � �diplomats and missionary groups say the country is Vietnam� � Voice of America via Epoch Times) � threatened to send over 400 North Korean refugees back to Communist China � from where they escaped. The PRC sends back any NK refugee it finds, forcing them to live as nonpersons.
However, South Korea �stepped in� (BBC) and agreed to take them before they were sent back. The refugees flew to Seoul in two groups of over 200 each. It is the largest ever transfer of North Korean refugees to South Korea. Also reporting: CNN
WOULD-BE PRC HIJACKER WANTED TO GO TO SOUTH KOREA
A university librarian tried to hijack a Communist Chinese passenger plane and have it fly to South Korea. Yang Jingsong was unsuccessful in her attempt, and is now in PRC custody; they have already deemed her �mentally ill.� Reports: Straits Times (Taiwan), BBC
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
Check out the latest on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
U.S. PACIFIC COMMANDER IN BEIJING FOR TALKS
U.S. Pacific Command chief Admiral Thomas Fargo met with PRC military officials in Beijing over the weekend as �part of a routine trip through the region� (Cybercast News). It comes in the midst of military exercises by both Communist China and Taiwan (see last Update).
DRAMATICALLY MORE PRC-US FLIGHTS COMING
Communist China and the United States signed a deal to �increase the number of flights between the two by 460%� (BBC). The deal is big for United and Northwest airlines; what Communist air carriers will benefit from this is not yet clear.
RALLY FOR FALUN GONG TAKES PLACE IN WASHINGTON
The nation�s capital saw another rally for Falun Gong on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the bloody PRC crackdown against practitioners. Several members of Congress and other activists, including yours truly, spoke at the event. Report: Epoch Times
COMMUNIST CHINESE �VILLAGE� SLATED FOR BROWARD COUNTY
The Communist-owned Shanghai (Group) Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technological Cooperation (SFECO) is planning an �Asian village� for Broward County, Florida. The �village� would have roughly 1 million square feet of both retail and warehouse space, and be worth between $50 and $150 million. Report: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
GROUP OF PETITIONERS BEATEN IN BEIJING
A group of 40 petitioners who lost their home to a bulldozer tried to sue the regime for taking their homes without compensation � on the advice of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China. Before they got there, the PRC court�s hired thugs, excuse me, �guards,� beat them mercilessly. Report: Epoch Times
EPIDEMIC NEWS
AIDS SURVEY TO BE CONDUCTED IN HELIONGJIANG
Communist China and �a website dedicated to Aids issues� (BBC) are teaming up for a �survey of the number of homosexual carriers of HIV.� What will be done with the data is unknown. The PRC�s biggest AIDS problem, however, is in Henan, where an unhygienic Communist blood drive infected one million people (see 9/4/02 and 9/25/02 Updates).
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
PRC PREMIER CRITICIZED BY SHANGHAI PARTY CHIEF; HU AND WEN MAY GO IN 2007
Why would a local cadre feel strong enough to debate and challenge Premier Wen Jiabao, close ally of party boss Hu Jintao? Chen Liangyu has a very good reason � he�s the party boss in Shanghai, headquarters for Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin�s faction. Report: Epoch Times
Just in case folks forgot which post � head of the party or leader of the CMC � was more powerful � Jiang himself cleared that up by �hinting that a second five-year term for (Hu and Wen) is not for certain.� Jiang would thus hand power to his top lieutenant � Falun Gong shooting author Zeng Qinghong (see 6/30, 7/7, and 7/14 Updates).
PRC BUSTS CHILD SELLING RING IT SPAWNED WITH �ONE CHILD�
Communist China sent over 50 criminals who bought and sold children (usually girls) to prison; half a dozen of them went straight to the gallows. The Communists should look in the mirror for blame. The BBC noted that that baby market �is driven by China's strict family planning laws which limit many couples to one child.�
COMMUNIST CHINA WANTS A WOMAN IN SPACE
As part of its ambitious space program (see 7/7 Update), Communist China is �scouting its high schools next year to find candidates to be the country's first woman in space� (BBC).
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA CRITICIZED FOR HEAVY SUDAN PRESENCE
Communist China has a 40% stake in the leading oil exporter in Sudan, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (Voice of America via Epoch Times). This has led many to rightly point to the PRC as a leading enabler of Sudan�s vicious campaigns against southern rebels and Darfur citizens (the latter could be one million fewer by this time next year).
While Communist China imports little from Sudan, the bloodthirsty Islamic regime is �the base for Chinese oil operations elsewhere in Africa.� Communist China�s ties to Sudan go back years (see 8/30/00 and last Updates).
EUROPEAN UNION-PRC MAKE ANOTHER SPACE LAUNCH
Communist China has launched its second spacecraft in cooperation with the European Union. The Tan Ce 2 satellite �will study the planet's magnetic field� (BBC). The first joint launch came in December. Communist China is looking to make a moon landing in 2007 as part of its plan to become a space power (see 7/7 Update).
MORE INDIA-PRC TALKS ON BORDER
Communist China and India held another round of talks on their disputed borders. The two have been rivals before and since a 1962 war in which India lost nearly 40,000 square kilometers to the PRC. The Communists also lay claim to 90,000 more square kilometers in India. Reports: VOA via Epoch Times, BBC
WHOOPS! TOBACCO FIRM TRIED TO BYPASS REGULATORS WITH PRC PLANT
British American Tobacco, which just announced a major investment in Communist China (see last Update), apparently never won the approval of Communist regulators for their joint venture. While the BBC called the situation �a bureaucratic turf-war,� one has to wonder if there weren�t some special considerations involved.
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