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CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: DECEMBER 31, 2003
Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available! My book detailing Communist China�s history of aiding terrorist states, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and al Qaeda can be ordered here, at Barnes and Noble, or at Amazon. � D.J. McGuire
TOP STORY: FALUN GONG TV BROADCASTER BEATEN TO DEATH BY POLICE
Liu Chengjun, sent to jail for 19 years for his role in a Falun Gong broadcast over PRC-run television in Changchun last year (see 3/13/02 and 5/22/02 Updates), died last week. The Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that Liu �had been severely beaten after his detention in March 2002, and had also been ill� (BBC).
The spiritual movement itself reported, �eyewitnesses described blood stains all over his body.� The Communists burned Liu�s body after it died. Communist China has brutally persecuted Falun Gong, killing hundreds of jailed practitioners, since it banned the movement in July 1999.
OTHER NEWS ON THE FALUN GONG WAR
COMMUNISTS CLAIM FALUN GONG �INSPIRED� RAT POISONER
Communist China added another scurrilous lie to its war against Falun Gong, claiming that a man who used rat poison to kill 16 people �was inspired by the Falun Gong spiritual movement� (BBC). Falun Gong specifically does not allow any hurtful actions, including suicide or self-inflicted injury, by its members.
MOTHER OF JAILED PRACTITIONER�S VISA TO EXPIRE
Sun Zhongwen is in a Communist jail cell, serving a four-year sentence for �procession of Falun Gong materials� (Epoch Times, Hong Kong). Her mother went to Hong Kong to win support for her son�s release. Now, as her visa to the city is about to expire, the Communist-appointed regime in HK is ready to send her back to Beijing.
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS
GUANGDONG KILLS ONE FARMER, FORCES ANOTHER TO CONFESS TO INCITING A "RIOT"
In their attempt to seize land from farmers in two villages, Guangdong Communists killed one farmer and forced another, Lau Shucan, to confess to �inciting� (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times) his fellow farmers to protest the plot by the provincial cadres. The Communists were pulling their usual buy-the-land-for-a-pittance seizure routine.
According to the wife of the farmer who �confessed,� the Communist statements against him were faked � one man mentioned four times in one affidavit �denied in an interview ever speaking to the government about the case at all.� Lau�s attorney was not allowed to cross-examine any Communist witnesses.
COMMUNISTS ADMIT TO POLICE KILLING 460
Communist China�s own Ministry of Justice admitted to �abuse of power and misconduct by law enforcement officers (that) has lead to 460 deaths and 117 cases of severe injury in the first ten months of this year� (Radio Free Asia via Epoch Times). The Ministry also admitted to �over 2,400 cases of corruption.�
ZHENG ENCHONG�S APPEAL DENIED; WIFE UNDER SURVEILLANCE
Shanghai�s Communist courts denied Zheng Enchong an appeal of his �leaking state secrets� conviction, while Communist police have his wife under surveillance �24 hours a day� (Epoch Times). Zheng had represented several Shanghai residents thrown out of their homes to clear way for development spearheaded by �private� businessman Zhou Zhengyi.
Zhou is currently under investigation for corruption, an investigation slowed heavily by the fact the he has friends in Central Military Commission Chairman Jiang Zemin�s �Shanghai� faction. The Communists once kidnapped Zheng�s wife to stop her efforts on her husband�s behalf (see 6/4, 6/11, 6/18, 10/29, and 11/26 Updates).
CORRUPTION NEWS
DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF CADRE GETS SLAP ON THE LIST FOR HIT AND RUN DEATH
Su Xiuwen, daughter-in-law of a high-ranking cadre in Heliongjiang Province, spent less than two months ion jail for killing a woman in the province by driving into her. The case has angered many in Communist China, while �Chinese Internet police have been deleting most of the postings� (Epoch Times) on the subject.
BUSINESSMAN EXECUTED FOR �AMASSING A FORTUNE�
Communist China executed Li Yaoqi, ex-chairman of Hainan International Investment Group, for �illegally amassing over $5m over a period of six years� (BBC). In the interim, the firm went bankrupt. Still, the PRC is the only place where this is a capital offense.
OTHER MAINLAND NEWS
CNPC GAS WELL EXPLODES, KILLS OVER 200; FIREWORKS FACTORY BLAST KILLS 35
A gas well at a PRC-run China National Petroleum Corporation gas field exploded on Christmas Eve, unleashing a toxic cloud �creating a 25-square kilometer �death zone�� (CNN). Over 200 have died, and over 9,000 others have fallen ill (Voice of America via Epoch Times). Also reporting: National Post (Cdn.)
The lack of concern for safety at the Communist-run firm, and the appalling lack of initial response on the part of the local Communists, is sadly typical, as Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN, noted. Industrial accidents such as this �are estimated to have killed almost 140,000 people last year,� yet another damning indictment of the �workers� state.�
Days later, a fireworks factory in thoroughly corrupt Liaoning Province exploded, killing 35, flattening a four-story building, and further making Lam�s point. Report: World Net Daily
SARS RE-APPEARS IN COMMUNIST CHINA
A television producer in Guangdong province caught severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) last week, the first case in months. SARS began last year in Guangdong; a four-month PRC cover-up allowed the disease to reach Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Canada (see 3/19, 3/26, 4/2, 4/9, 4/16, and 4/23 Updates). Report: Singapore Straits Times
COMMUNISTS GIVE STUDENTS EXPIRED VACCINE
Meanwhile, Communist China administered an expired hepatitis B vaccine to about 750 students. The vaccine was about to expire when the Xiaodian Disease Prevention Station sent it to Shangxi University to give to the student population. Report: Central News Agency (Taiwan) via Epoch Times
COMMUNISTS PLAN TO STOP MASSIVE OVERDEVELOPMENT
Communist China has decided to slow down the massive overdevelopment of infrastructure and factories. The PRC has a history of approving roads, dams, and factories that would never even be considered in a free market; the results has been several ecological disasters, including rivers running dry. Reports: Washington Post, VOA via Epoch Times
MAO TURNS 110
The 110th birthday of Mao Zedong, founder of the People�s Republic and murder of �between 60 million and 80 million� (London Telegraph via the Washington Times), passed with numerous Communist propaganda events (Asia News via Epoch Times).
NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA, EAST TURKESTAN, AND THE TERRORIST WAR
COMMUNIST CHINA SAYS THEY MAY FORGIVE IRAQI DEBT
Communist Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told U.S. envoy James Baker that the PRC �will consider cutting the debts owed by Iraq as a humanitarian gesture� (BBC). As of this hour, �it is not clear whether Beijing has received US concessions in exchange.� Let�s hope the Administration wouldn�t give something up for mere �consideration.� Also reporting: CNN
Communist China helped improve Saddam Hussein�s air defenses for years, tried to sell missile-launching patrol boats to him, and did sell his Ba�athist regime components for missile fuel (see 2/21/01, 2/28/01, 3/7/01, 3/14/01, 3/21/01, 12/18/02, 3/19, 4/9, and 12/17 Updates). Of course, the Communists also opposed the liberation of Iraq.
Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page.
NORTH KOREA NEWS
NORTH KOREA AGREES TO MORE SIX-PARTY TALKS
North Korea agreed to a �second round of multilateral talks aimed at ending the standoff over its nuclear weapons program� (Cybercast News) after a visit from PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The North repeated its offer to �freeze its nuclear program,� if the U.S. resumes economic aid and took the regime of the list of terrorist states. Also reporting: BBC
AUTHORS CALL FOR BLOCKADE OF NORTH KOREA, LOOK TO PRC TO OUST KIM JONG-IL
David Frum (Member since 2003) and Richard Perle call for �a Cuba-style military blockade and overt preparations for war� (London Telegraph) against North Korea if the Stalinists do not agree to �the complete and immediate abandonment of its nuclear programme (UK sp).� The authors make the call in their new book, An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror.
Sadly, the authors believe, �Such steps, with luck, will prompt China to oust its nominal ally, Kim Jong-il, and install a saner regime in North Korea.� Perle was once retained to help the now-dead Hutchison Whampoa-Global Crossing deal (see 3/26 and 5/7 Updates).
For more on Communist China�s Stalinist ally, sign up for Monday�s North Korea Report.
OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA JOINS MAD COW BEEF BAN
Communist China joined several others, including Taiwan (see last Update), in banning American beef due to the finding of mad cow disease in one cow. Report: CNN
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
IN RARE JURY TRIAL, RUSSIAN PROFESSOR ACQUITTED OF PRC ESPIONAGE
Russian professor Valentin Danilov, accused of �agreeing to turn over classified space technology to the Chinese� (Washington Post), won an acquittal unprecedented in Russian spy cases. Is it overly suspicious to wonder why the first spy suspect to be acquitted may have helped the PRC, Russia�s biggest arms customer? Also reporting: National Post (Cdn.)
EUROPEAN UNION AND COMMUNIST CHINA LAUNCH JOINT SPACE MISSION
Communist China and the European Union launched a joint space mission Monday. It�s the first international mission for the PRC. Much of Communist China�s space program is controlled by, and for the benefit of, the Communist military. For that reason, this project �has alarmed America� (London Telegraph).
BRITISH SUBJECT HELD OVER ALLEGED COMMUNIST DEBT
Andrew Hollingworth, a British subject, is in jail for �failing to pay a �300,000 debt� (BBC), if the Communists are to be believed. Hollingworth insists he actually owes far less, and his father believes the unnamed firm used �a corrupt system� to wrongfully imprison his son.
NOMINAL HEAD OF KHMER ROUGE REGIME ADMITS TO GENOCIDE
The nominal head of state during Cambodia�s Khmer Rouge dictatorship �has admitted that the government at the time committed genocide� (BBC). The regime killed between 1.5 and 2 million before being dislodged in 1979; it then fought a guerilla war for almost two decades. Communist China was the Khmer Rouge�s ally and supporter throughout.
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS
COMMUNIST CHINA TRYING TO PULL MORE STRINGS IN TAIWAN ELECTION
Communist China is using �both bluster and conciliation� (Taiwan News via Epoch Times) in its effort to block Chen Shui-bian�s re-election. The PRC is hosting a number of Taiwanese businessmen, and providing some criticism of the opposition Nationalist Party � although some called it �an attempt to create a false distance between China and the party.�
The Nationalists, who have formed a �pan-blue� presidential ticket with the People�s First Party, have tacked much closer to the Communist line since Chen, a Democratic Progressive, defeated them in the 2000 presidential election. They recently reversed course as Chen has drawn even with �pan-blue� nominee Lien Chan (see last Update).
It was Lien�s newfound �willingness to consider Taiwan independence as an option� that brought for the Communist criticism, but one analyst said the PRC �mildly� criticized Lien, compared to its vituperative remarks against Chen over the years. Chen�s Democratic Progressive Party explicitly supports independence for the island democracy.
JAPAN EXPRESSES �CONCERN� OVER REFERENDUM AS CHEN SIGNS VOTE LAW
Japan expressed �concerns over rising tensions across the strait� (Taiwan News via Epoch Times), in particular the planned Taiwanese referendum over whether to demand the PRC removes its 500 missiles pointed at the island democracy. President Chen signed the referendum bill into law this week (BBC); it takes effect Friday.
FIVE BUSINESSMAN HAVE DISAPPEARED, DUE TO THE PRC �SPY� CLAIM
Communist China has apparently arrested five Taiwanese businessmen operating on the mainland as part of their supposed arrest of 43 �spies� (see last Update). The Taiwanese government rejects any claim of a spy arrest, and one of the wife�s of the missing businessmen insists her husband was never a spy. Report: Washington Post
SARS VICTIM RETURNS HOME
The ROC army researcher who fell ill with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) left the hospital this week �after it was decided he could no longer infect others with Sars� (BBC). The medical researcher contracted the disease in a military lab (see 12/17 Update).
FOREIGN WORKERS PROTEST CONDITIONS
About 600 laborers from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam marched to protest what they called unfair treatment against them by the island democracy. In particular, they asked for wages, benefits, and protections equal to that of local workers. Report: Taiwan News via Epoch Times
HONG KONG NEWS
COMMUNISTS EVISCERATING DEMOCRACY PROVISIONS OF BASIC LAW
Communist China presented an interpretation of the Basic Law that effectively nullified the law�s provisions for full democracy in the city by 2007. Under the interpretation, the PRC must approve �any amendments to the election procedures for the chief executive and the Legislative Council after 2007� (Epoch Times).
One defender of the interpretation but it this way, �If the people of Hong Kong were to decide on the matter, that would amount to letting Hong Kong become independent.� Now, Communist China grip on the city is assured, as would be expected under what is now best described as one-country, one-and-a-half systems.
No news was reported from Tibet this week.
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