| Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: MAY 29, 2002 TOP STORY: THREE MORE REFUGEES ENTER SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING Three North Korean refugees in Communist China escaped to South Korean Embassy in Beijing last week � one on Thursday and two on Friday, and a fourth �joined them on Monday� (BBC, Washington Post). Communist China demanded that South Korea hand them over � to be sent back to the Stalinist regime and long-time PRC ally � but South Korea refused. Normally, the PRC sends back any refugee from North Korea that it finds � even though this usually means imprisonment, torture, or starvation by the Stalinist regime and long-time PRC ally. Tens of thousands of North Koreans are hiding in the PRC after having escaped a regime that hordes international food aid for itself and its military as the people continue to suffer a near-decade long famine. REFUGEES TAKEN FROM JAPANESE CONSULATE RELEASED AND FLOWN TO SEOUL Meanwhile, the family of five North Korean refugees whom Communist police seized from inside the Japanese consulate in Shenyang are now in South Korea (Washington Post). The refugees told reporters, �We are happy to be here. We were not so happy in China.� Japan was also pleased. Also reporting: CNN Subscribers to the North Korea Report saw this on Monday. Sign up for the latest on the Stalinist regime. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND THE TERRORIST WAR AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RIPS PRC ABUSE OF EAST TURKESTANIS Amnesty International ripped into Communist China for using September 11 as an excuse for �a new wave of executions of people labelled as �separatists� or �terrorists�� in East Turkestan (cited by BBC). Communist China has repeatedly accused pro-independence Uighur Muslims in the region � called Xinjiang by the Communists � of supporting al Qaeda. They have never given any proof of their claims. The brutal PRC crackdown in East Turkestan has fueled the independence movement among the Uighurs. It has also made the Uighurs the most pro-American Muslims on the face of the Earth. AI also ripped Communist China�s Falun Gong War, noting that roughly 200 practitioners were killed while in police custody (CNN). This was the only news reported on East Turkestan this week. AUTHOR OF JULY 6 MEMO ACCUSED OF MISTAKES IN WACKY PRC ESPIONAGE CASE So this is where Hollywood gets its romance-spy script ideas. If I have this right, Kenneth Williams, the author of the July 6 FBI memo highlighting the danger of terrorists training to fly is accused of blowing an ex-informant�s cover. The ex-informant, Harry Ellen claims Williams did this because � and this is straight from the Washington Post � he, Ellen, wouldn�t end an affair with a suspected PRC spy. To make matters more complicated, the suspected spy, Joanna Xie, not only denies espionage, but has also asked for asylum. Xie says the FBI suspicion of her may have led Communist China to believe she is an American spy, and for that reason she would be killed if she went back to the PRC. Check out the latest as it happens on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS (See also News on Communist China and the Terrorist War) COMMUNISTS BLOCK WEB SITE MEMORIALIZING VICTIMS OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION Communist China blocked the web site of Youqin Wang, a woman chronicling the victims of Mao Zedong�s Cultural Revolution. Report: Jay Nordlinger, National Review Online � first bullet OTHER MAINLAND NEWS JIANG TALKS �INNOVATION,� BUT NOT POLITICAL REFORM CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam noted Communist President Jiang Zemin�s latest push for �innovation� within the Chinese Communist Party, part of which will include more actions against the Maoist wing of the party (see below for what they�re planning). Lam also noted, however, that Jiang refused to let anything like real political reform get in the way of �stability,� i.e., maintaining the dominance of the CCP. PRC OFFICIAL DEBT NUMBERS TOO LOW, OFFICIAL GROWTH NUMBERS TOO HIGH According to the investment bank Credit Lyonnais, debt owed by the PRC totals nearly 140% of its gross domestic product (GDP), roughly six times as high as the 23% figure claimed by the government. The debt level is �on a par with . . . recession-struck Japan� (BBC). This massive exposure of debt comes as the Communists� official numbers on economic are also being called into question (Washington Times). MAOISTS LOOK TO BLOCK EFFORTS TO BRING �NON-STATE ENTREPRENUERS� INTO PARTY President Jiang Zemin�s call for bringing �non-state entrepreneurs� (CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam) into the Chinese Communist Party is getting opposition from the party�s Maoist wing. The hard-liners, called �leftists,� are preparing to fight the idea � which Guangdong province has already put into action (see last update) � at the upcoming Communist Party Congress later this year. SHANGHAI AND GUANGDONG PARTIES STICK WITH CURRENT BOSSES The Communist party branches in the city of Shanghai and Guangdong province decided to give their party secretaries � Huang Ju and Li Changchun respectively � another term at their posts. However, CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam reports that rumors have both men in Beijing before their terms expire. INTERNATIONAL NEWS COMMUNIST CHINA TO SLAP TARIFFS ON IMPORTED STEEL Communist China announced plans to impose tariffs �ranging from 7 to 26 percent� on imported steel, according to the Washington Post. The PRC, through the Communist-owned China Daily, said the tariffs were in reaction to similar action by the U.S. South Korea and Japan, meanwhile, were not happy with the Communists� decision. Also reporting: BBC AUSTRALIA TO RESTART DEFENSE TALKS WITH COMMUNIST CHINA Australia and Communist China �have agreed to revive an annual defense talks which fell into disuse two years ago (CNN). The talks had been stopped in 2000 due to Communist anger over Australia�s support for an American missile defense and a trip to Taiwan in that year by the Australian Trade Minister. KYRGYZ PRESIDENT INVITES OPPOSITION INTO THE GOVERNMENT Krygyz President Askar Akayev invited the opposition to join him in governing after the entire cabinet resigned over the deaths of protestors supporting an opposition member of parliament, Azimbek Beknazarov (BBC). One of the issues searing the small country is an agreement to hand over roughly 90,000 hectares to Communist China. Beknazarov and the protestors opposed the deal. REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS CHINA AIRLINES FLIGHT EXPLODES IN MID-AIR, PRC MISSILE RULED OUT . . . China Airlines Flight 611 exploded in the Taiwan Strait in mid-flight from Taipei to Hong Kong over the weekend, killing all 225 passengers and crew. While the cause is not yet known, the ROC military (China Airlines is Taiwan�s major airline) ruled out the possibility of a Communist Chinese missile after speculation had started to point in that direction (CNN). . . .AS SOME USE CRASH TO PUSH FOR ROC-PRC TALKS Meanwhile, CNN�s Willy Wo-Lap Lam reported that �opposition and pro-unification politicians in Taiwan� may use the crash to push Chen towards restarting talks on the �three links� � travel, trade, and mail � with the mainland. Of course, Chen has always supported the links; the Communist have refused to talk about it unless Chen accepts �one China,� i.e., that the PRC must one day rule over the island democracy. Also this week, a number of �tycoons� (BBC) in the ROC have offered to represent President Chen Shui-bian in talks with Communist China after Chen made the suggestion earlier this month. CHEN TOUTS TAIWAN�S DEMOCRACY IN CNN INTERVIEW, REJECTS �ONE CHINA� ROC President Chen Shui-bian, in an interview with CNN, touted Taiwan�s democracy, and pointedly stated that Taiwan �is not a part of the People�s Republic of China.� Chen also said that the PRC�s �one China� demand � that Taiwan agree to its role as a part of the PRC � �cannot be accepted by the 23 million people here in Taiwan.� There�s still time to contact the President and tell him not to appoint pro-PRC Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. No news was reported from Hong Kong or Tibet this week. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. Anyone who wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China you happen to find to the same address. |