The events of the past week will affect the Week�s Links after all; it will be sent out today at 4PM, instead of its usual day, which would be tomorrow.
TOP STORY: PRC BACKING FRANCE ON IRAQ
COMMUNISTS, PUSHING �DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION,� SAY INPSECTIONS SHOULD KEEP GOING
Communist China is toeing the French line of opposition to military action in Iraq, according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN. Lam reported that Jiang Zemin, Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, told French President Jacques Chirac, �The Iraq issue should be resolved through political and diplomatic means within the framework of the UN.�
Jiang, who will serve as President of the so-called People's Republic until March, but will always hold immense power as CMC Chairman, also told Chirac that �China and France should jointly safeguard the credit and authority of the UN.� Communist China also insisted that UN inspections of Iraq's weapons arsenal should be allowed �more time� (CNN). Also Reporting: Cybercast News
The Communists appear to be following to France, again (see 10/2/02 Update). It should be noted that in February 2001, PRC firm Huawei Technologies was caught building a fiber optic network to integrate Iraq�s air-defenses (see 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, 3/21/01, and 9/18/02 Updates), and that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last September that he didn�t know if the PRC is still there.
Check out this story and more on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
AMERICAN FALUN GONG PRACTITIONER ARRESTED
Chuck Li, a Falun Gong practitioner from Menlo Park, California, is under arrest in Communist China for his alleged role in satellite broadcasts by the spiritual movement over PRC television. Falun Gong has been banned in the PRC as a �cult� for almost three years; the crackdown has led to over 100 followers killed in police custody. Report: CNN
COMMUNIST CHINA EXTENDS BORDER TO 200 MILE �ECONOMIC ZONE�
Communist China announced a new law banning �any survey and mapping activities� that �involve state secrets or harm state security� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times), within 200 miles of the PRC coast. The move is based on a 1994 treaty allowing for 200 miles �economic� zones, but the deal never gave signatories national security control that far.
The new law would cover the area where the collision between a Communist fighter jet and an American EP-3 reconnaissance led to the Hainan outrage (see 4/5/02 and 4/11/02 Updates), and could precipitate another.
CHENEY, POWELL TO VISIT COMMUNIST CHINA IN MARCH
Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell will go to the PRC in March, �first in a series of high-level visits by both sides� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN), as the Communist Embassy put it.
U.S. JOINT EXERCISE WITH INDIA AS AMBASSADOR PRAISES U.S.-INDIA TIES
The United States is planning a joint military exercise with India, long-time rival of the PRC, involving fighter aircraft. The exercise �represents an intensification of the new relationship between the U.S. and Indian armed forces� (Washington Post). As this news hit the press, the U.S. Ambassador to India praised the warming ties between the two nations (Washington Times, second paragraph).
HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
DISSIDENT FANG JUE EXPELLED
Fang Jue, a former Communist official who once spent four years in jail for pleading �for direct elections at all levels of Chinese government, freedom of the press and independent trade unions� (BBC, see also 7/24/02 Update) was kicked out of the country by the Communists over the weekend.
This time, however, the Communists pressed no charges against him; they just seized him two months ago and booted him. Human Rights in China put the situation best: �So it appears now that the Chinese government feels it can round up dissenters and eject them from the country at will� (Washington Post).
According to CNN, the Communists basically �gave him a choice: 10 years in jail or exile in the United States.� He picked exile; his family never knew what happened to him until his plane took off for the United States. How nice.
28 NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES IN SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY FLOWN TO SEOUL
Twenty-eight refugees from North Korea who escaped to South Korea's Embassy in Communist China last year are now free in South Korea. The refugees joined more than 100 others hiding in Communist China who escaped to freedom via embassies of democratic governments in the PRC. Report: BBC
Communist China usually sends back to its Stalinist ally any refugee it can find, forcing hundreds of thousands of refugees from the oppressive, starving North to hide in the PRC.
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OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
HU JINTAO ADDS ALLIES TO PROVINCIAL POSTS, BUT STILL BEHIND JIANG ZEMIN�S FACTION
Communist Party chief Hu Jintao scored �big promotions in the provinces and directly administered cities� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN) for members of his Communist Youth League (CYL) faction. However, Lam notes that �among provincial and municipal chiefs, (Jiang�s) Shanghai Faction affiliates still outnumber CYL-associated cadres by a comfortable margin.�
HU TAKES AIM AT CORRUPTION IN PARTY, OVERDONE REPORTING OF CADRES
Hu also called upon his fellow Politburo members to �self-consciously accept supervision by the masses� (Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN), specifically regarding the massive corruption that runs throughout the party. Also reporting: BBC
In later piece, Lam noted that Hu is also leaning on the Communist-run media to cover �more stories with a direct bearing on the livelihood of the masses� instead of endless coverage of �run-of-the-mill� events.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
MURDOCH MAKES ANOTHER DEAL WITH COMMUNIST CHINA
Australian broadcast mogul Rupert Murdoch has inked another deal with Communist China for a joint venture between Guangdong province and Phoenix Satellite TV, itself a joint Murdoch-PRC venture which �is 38% owned by News Corp, Mr. Murdoch's main corporate vehicle. Another 38% belongs to a former propagandist for the People's Liberation Army� (BBC).
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
TAIWAN AIRLINE MAKES FLIGHTS TO MAINLAND
Meanwhile, China Airlines, the national airline of Taiwan, made a direct flight to the mainland and back, the first since 1949, when the Communists took over the mainland. Reports: BBC, Washington Post, CNN
CHINA WANTS TALKS ON LINKS, BUT INSISTS ON �ONE CHINA�
Meanwhile, PRC Vice Premier Qian Qichen called on Taiwan to lift bans on the �three links� � direct travel, trade, and mail links between the PRC and the ROC. He also asked for a resumption of talks, with one caveat: �both sides hold talks under the principle of �one China�� (BBC). The Communists have repeatedly used �one China� to claim sovereignty over Taiwan despite having never set foot there.
TAIWAN ENVOY TO U.S. CALLS TIES BEST SINCE 1979
C.J. Chen, Taiwan's representative to the United States, called relations between the U.S. and Taiwan �are better than at any other time since the United States dropped its recognition of Taiwan in 1979 and opened relations with communist China� (Washington Times, first paragraph).
NATIONALISTS PUTTING BUSINESS HOLDINGS IN TRUST
The head of the opposition Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party, which ruled Taiwan from World War II until the ROC election of 2000, announced that the party �soon will finalize a deal with Zurich-based Credit Suisse to put its largest holding company in trust� (Washington Times, second paragraph). The �richest party in the world� has assets well over $1 billion.
HONG KONG NEWS
HONG KONG TO �SCALE BACK� ANTI-SUBVERSION LAW
Hong Kong's Communist-appointed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced that it would scale back the infamous �anti-subversion� law, in particular the art involving media reporting of the Communist catch-all, �state secrets� (BBC). Human rights activists in the city are still skeptical about the law. Also reporting: Cybercast News
HONG KONG TRYING TO BE OPTIMISTIC DESPITE ECONOMIC DOLDURMS
The authorities in Hong Kong are trying to sell �a rosy picture of the territory's economy� (CNN), despite the economic malaise that has fallen upon the city since Communist China took it over from the United Kingdom in 1997.
TIBET NEWS
TIBETAN ACTIVIST EXECUTED
Communist China executed Lobsang Dhondup - a pro-independence activist in Tibet - for an alleged role in three bombings. Human rights groups blasted the execution and the trial. The Communists insisted that Dhondup admitted to the bombing, but closed the trial to the public because of claims that it involved - surprise! - �state secrets� (BBC 1/27).
A second activist had his appeal of a suspended death sentence - that usually means life imprisonment - rejected, and ten other Tibetans are under arrest for their supposed roles in the bombings (BBC 1/22). The U.S. ripped the execution (BBC 1/28). Also reporting: CNN, Washington Post
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