| CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: NOVEMBER 29, 2000 TOP STORY: CENTRAL FIGURE IN XIAMEN SMUGLING SCANDAL ARRESTED IN CANADA HELD ON IMMIGRATION CHARGE, LAI MAY HAVE DIRT ON TOP COMMUNISTS Lai Chang Xing, the former head of YuanHua who smuggled $6 billion worth in goods into Communist China, was arrested on an immigration charge in Canada. Lai�s web of bribes and kickbacks � which allowed him to avoid customs duties on the goods he smuggled � has led to the arrests of hundreds of local Communists. The People�s Republic of China hinted that Lai should be extradited for trial. Link: BBC According to the BBC, Canada is hesitant to do so because Lai would almost certainly face execution for his leading role in the scandal. Lai insisted he entered Canada legally, and has applied for asylum. Link: BBC One wild card in the mix may be Lai�s evidence on several top-level Communists. Yazhou Zhoukan, a paper affiliated with Hong Kong�s independent Ming Pao Daily reported that Lai has gathered evidence that �can destroy the political power of (PRC President) Jiang Zemin.� The focus is on Jia Qinglin, a politburo member and close ally of Jiang, who has long been suspected of involvement in the scandal. Link: AFP The Communists are so worried about Lai that they�ve order a news blackout on his arrest, according to the Hong Kong iMail web site. Link: BBC TOP TAIWAN STORY: LEGISLATOR CHARGES CHEN RECEIVED $5 MILLION FROM PRC People First Party legislator Chin Huei-chu accused President Chen Shui-bian of receiving $5 million in contributions from Communist China. Chin, who claimed to have documentation backing up the charge, said Chen received the money after pledging to Communist President Jiang Zemin that he would not declare Taiwanese independence, and would open up trade and investment with the Communists. The Taiwan Central News Agency, which reported the story, said the President�s Office called the accusation �fabricated and fictional.� Link: CNA For more news on Taiwan, see the Republic of China (Taiwan) News Section HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS U.S. RESIDENT WHO REVEALED TORTURE OF FALUN GONG MEMBERS CHARGED WITH SPYING Teng Chunyan, a U.S. resident alien who exposed the imprisonment of Falun Gong followers in mental institutions, was charged with spying in a secret trial on Thanksgiving, according to Agence France Presse. Teng, whose trail was revealed by the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in China, had made several trips into the PRC to show the world what the Communists were doing to Falun Gong members. Link: AFP AFP also reported this week that Communist China has denied any access to Teng from her family, including her husband, a U.S. citizen. Link: AFP AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS PENTAGON OFFICIAL IN BEIJING FOR TALKS Walter Slocombe, under secretary of defense for policy, flew into Beijing this week for talks with high-ranking Communist generals and Defense Minister Chi Haotian. The talks are aimed at improving relations between the two militaries, despite the fact the Communist China repeatedly states the U.S. is its most likely future enemy. Link: AFP COMMUNIST CHINA WHACKS U.S. SANCTIONS ON PAKISTAN AND IRAN Communist China criticized the U.S. for imposing sanctions on Pakistan and Iran for buying missile parts and technology from the PRC. A spokesman for the Communist Foreign Ministry also denied the PRC sold the parts and technology. Link: AFP INTERNATIONAL NEWS REPORT BY BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SLAMS UK �DIALOGUE� WITH PRC British Prime Minister Tony Blair�s policy of �dialogue� with Communist China on human rights has came under heavy fire from the House of Commons foreign relations committee. The committee, represented by all parties, whacked the policy as thoroughly ineffective and undermined by a pursuit of business opportunities. Link: BBC COMMUNIST CHINA TACKS TOWARD IRAQ, CONDEMNS SANCTIONS AND �NO-FLY ZONE� Tang Jiaxuan, PRC Foreign Minister, told Iraqi Deputy PM Tariq Aziz that Communist China opposes the �no-fly zones� imposed on it and condemned UN-approved economic sanctions on the country, according to AFP. Link: AFP COMMUNIST CHINA CALLS FOR PEACE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA, NO MENTION OF SPRATLYS Communist China issued a statement calling for peace in the South China Sea. The usually unremarkable document had an odd twist. There was no mention of the Spratly Islands, the greatest stumbling block in the area. The PRC has squabbled with Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan for years over the Spratlys, even exchanging gunfire with Vietnam in the area in 1988. Link: AFP CORRUPTION NEWS TWO COMMUNIST LEGISLATORS KICKED OUT FOR CORRUPTION, EXECUTION POSSIBLE Cong Fukui and Zhang Erchen, two members of the National People�s Congress and former high-profile officials in Hebei province, were kicked out of the NPC for taking �huge sums� in bribes, according to AFP. The web site for the Communist China Daily also reported the two could face execution for their actions. Link: AFP COMMUNISTS BAN OFFICIALS� FAMILIES FROM OPENING NEARBY BUSINESSES In another desperate move to stop rampant corruption, the Communist legislature has banned relatives of officials from running certain businesses in the official�s district, according to AFP. The unusual move is designed to stop the practice of officials routing business to their families. Link: AFP ACCOUNTANT GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR EMBEZZLING $8 MILLION Qian Jin, the top accountant at the Guangzhou and Shenzhen Railway Industrial Company, received a life sentence for embezzling $8 million, according to AFP, which cited the Communist Shanghai Evening Post. Link: AFP OTHER MAINLAND NEWS COMMUNISTS CLAIM �VICTORY� AGAINST ESCAPEES, STOP 123 FROM GETTING OUT AFP reported this week that the PRC said its battle to keep its residents trapped inside its regime was succeeding. Few are fond of the criminal groups that charge obscene amounts to forge documentation for escapees, leaving them with the painful choice of working off the debt for years, or being repatriated to Communist China. Link: AFP �SNAKEHEAD� GETS LIFE SENTENCE FOR HELPING OVER 500 ESCAPE Weng Jinshun, a �snakehead� who arranged for 538 people to escape Communist China, was sentenced to life in prison for his actions. Some of those Weng help to leave were sent back after being caught last year. Meanwhile, police in Liaoning province arrested 123 resident attempting escape. AFP reported both stories. Links: AFP - Weng, AFP - Liaoning province escapees caught CENSUS TO BE REDONE DUE TO ERRORS AND OMISSIONS The clumsy Communist census continues. The PRC has decided to recount the population in parts of Beijing to check against earlier records. The census has been hit with corruption and glaring errors, such as entire apartment buildings in the capital being missed, and ten million left uncounted in Hunan province. Link: AFP REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS NATIONALIST VICE CHAIR SAYS INDEPENDENCE UNLIKELY Wu Po-hsiung, Vice-chairman of the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party, told CNN this week that formal independence for Taiwan was highly unlikely. Wu said the PRC issues threats of an invasion out of fear of a formal declaration, but that this fear was �overblown.� Despite the fact that President Chen�s Democratic Progressive Party supports independence, the idea is not very popular in the island democracy. Link: CNN OPPOSITION NATIONALISTS REACHING OUT TO COMMUNISTS TO ISOLATE PRESIDENT CHEN The Nationalists have been warming up to Communist China in an attempt to show they are better at dealing with cross-strait ties than Chen. The PRC has been eager to isolate Chen, even if it means closer ties with the Nationalists. Link: AFP PRESIDENT CHEN�S ADVISORY GROUP ON PRC FAILS TO REACH CONSENSUS A group of 22 advisors instructed to help ROC President Chen Shui-bian thaw relations with Communist China reached an impasse this week, according to one of the members quoted by AFP. The group released a statement advising Chen to follow the 1947 ROC Constitution in dealing with the Communists, but outside that vague advice, they said little. Link: AFP TRADE TO COMMUNIST CHINA TO BE LEGAL AFTER ROC ENTERS WTO AFP reported this week that Taiwan would open up trade to Communist China after both enter the World Trade Organization next year. Direct trade and investment has been banned by the ROC since the Communists took over the mainland in 1949, but indirect trade and investment has flourished recently. Link: AFP CHEN ASKS U.S. TO TAKE GREATER ROLE IN CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS While meeting with former Vice President Dan Quayle, Chen called for the U.S. to �serve as a better bridge� between the PRC and Taiwan. Relations between Communist China and Taiwan, known as �cross-strait relations,� have been icy since Chen�s election. Communist China rejected the notion of U.S. �interference.� Links: AFP - Chen, AFP - PRC response PRESIDENT CHEN HIT WITH SEX SCANDAL AS PROBLEMS PROLIFERATE Chen�s battle for survival took another twist last week amid charges he had an affair with a foreign policy advisor. The Journalist magazine claimed Vice President Annette Lu, from a different faction within Chen�s Democratic Progressive Party, leaked the story. All deny the affair; Lu is suing the magazine for libel. Link: Asiaweek AMNESTY RECOMMENDED IN FRIGATE SCANDAL TO GET TO TRUTH An advisor to President Chen said he would recommend amnesty for those involved in a 1992 scandal over the purchase of a French frigate. Hsieh Tsun-min said the amnesty was necessary to get to the truth of what happened. The purchase, a departure from normal procurement methods, has been controversial ever since its announcement. Chen vowed to get to the bottom of the issue during last spring�s presidential campaign. Link: Taiwan Central News Agency, via BBC HONG KONG NEWS CAR BOMB EXPLODES, ONE HURT BBC reported a car bomb exploded in Hong Kong today, injuring the driver. This is the third bomb founded in the city over the last week; the other two were defused without incident. Some suspect organized crime. Link: BBC XINJIANG/EAST TURKESTAN NEWS NEWSPAPER EDITORS CANNED FOR VIOLATING �NEWS DISCIPLINE� The Communists fired three editors at two newspapers for violating �news discipline� and reporting independently on the September blast in Urumqi that killed 73 and injured 300. Yang Xiaofeng, of Lanzhou Daily was one of the victims. He sent two teams into Urumqi to investigate the blast, in which a military vehicle carrying explosives accidentally exploded. AFP did not know the other editors� names. Link: AFP No News from Tibet this week. 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]. |