| 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. PRC military says �What war on terrorism?� They�re more focused on swallowing Taiwan. Check out the story on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. CHINA E-LOBBY UPDATE: JULY 31, 2002 TOP STORY: COMMUNIST CHINA SNATCHES THREE EXILED DISSIDENTS IN VIETNAM U.S.-BASED ANTI-COMMUNISTS WERE MEETING DISSIDENT LABOR LEADERS FROM PRC COMMUNIST CHINA �KNOWS NOTHING� ABOUT THEIR DISAPPEARANCE Communist China has captured Wang Bingzhang, Yue Wu and Zhang Qi, three Chinese dissidents exiled in the United States, while they were meeting dissident labor leaders, according to the China Democracy Party, cited by the BBC. The so-called People�s Republic said it �knows nothing� about the fate of the exiled dissidents, who met the Chinese labor leaders � and were taken by the Communists � in Vietnam. Fang Yuan, a CDP member, called the capture of the dissidents �testament to the desperate lengths the government will go to stop the evolution of democracy in China.� It also signifies how the dissident labor movement terrifies them. It has also flourished recently thanks to Communists �selling� firms to their managers for a song (and a bribe) while pensions and wages promises made to workers are unpaid. While the number of recent protests is not known, they have in previous years numbered as high as 100,000 � and that�s 100,000 protests, not protestors. The biggest demonstration this year was in the Daqing oil fields, where thousands of workers were prepared to march on Beijing were it not for military intervention (see updates from March 13, March 20, March 27, and last week). FOLLOW-UP: ROC PRESIDENT CHEN WHACKS COMMUNIST MILITARY BUILD-UP REPORT OF PRC BUYING RUSSIAN SU-30MK FIGHTER-BOMBERS �EMERGES� OVER A MONTH AFTER IT WAS PART OF THE TOP STORY IN THE JUNE 26 UPDATE Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian ripped Communist China�s military buildup � including the massive purchase of Russian weaponry � along with the repeated refusal of the Communists to rule out the use of force to swallow the island democracy. Chen publicly said Taiwan would �not change the status quo,� i.e., not declare independence � if the PRC ruled out the use of force (CNN). CNN also reported in the story that news of the Communists buying 40 Russian Su-30MK fighter-bombers �emerged.� This comes over a month after the fighter-bomber deal was part of the Top Story in the June 26 update (the source labeled the warplanes as Su-30MKKs). Nice job, CNN. For more on the island democracy, see Republic of China (Taiwan) News. There is still time to contact the President and tell him not to approve PRC sympathizer Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS NEWS THREE CATHOLIC PRIESTS ARRESTED ON �CULT� CHARGES Communist China sent to a labor camp three Roman Catholic priests for violating its �anti-cult� law � the same law they use to justify the Falun Gong War. According to the BBC, the priests were seized while they were saying Mass. Nearly 10 million Chinese have rejected the PRC-run �Patriotic� Church � risking jail and torture � to stay loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. Also reporting: Cybercast News YAHOO! SIGNS ON TO THE COMMUNIST CENSORSHIP CAMPAIGN Perhaps it�s time to consider another e-mail/web service as the base for the group. Yahoo!, according to the Weekly Standard, has agreed to censor any information that could �jeopardize state security and disrupt social stability, contravene laws and regulations and spread superstition and obscenity.� That�s the phrase the Communists used to cover any information they don�t want to see on the PRC web. The requirement for internet service providers in the PRC to self-censor � which takes effect tomorrow � has been in the works for months, and has been part of a disturbing series of successes for the Communists in recruiting outside � namely American � firms to help them block information from reaching the Chinese people via the internet. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND THE TERRORIST WAR COMMUNIST CHINA CLAIMS �SCORES� OF UIGHURS ARE BIN LADENITES Here we go again. Communist China claimed that roughly 100 Uighur Muslims of East Turkestan trained with Osama bin Laden over the last ten years. This time, they put a face to the accusations � a fellow by the name of Awuti Mamuti. They also included videotape supposedly from 1996 � in which, conveniently, no faces were visible. Report: United Press International, via Washington Times The PRC has repeatedly tried to tie the East Turkestan independence movement to bin Laden; this is the first time they have presented anything purported to be evidence. The Uighurs have suffered a brutal crackdown by the Communists for years; the Communist crackdown has made them one of the most pro-American Muslim ethnic groups on the planet. This is the only news from East Turkestan this week. U.S. NAMES PRC FIRMS SANCTIONED FOR IRAN SALES The Bush Administration released the names of the eight Communist Chinese firms sanctioned for selling arms and biological/chemical weapons components to Iran. Ominously, as Bill Gertz (Washington Times) notes, a number of firms have been hit with American sanctions before. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS PRC LOOKING TO HIGH-TECH ARMS TO COUNTER UNITED STATES Bill Gertz (Washington Times) reports that the PRC is coveting numerous high-tech weapons systems, such as cyberwar capabilities, and space-based weaponry, to counter the United States military. Gertz cites a Pentagon report, likely the same one mentioned in the July 17 update that noted the effect of the military buildup on the balance of power between the PRC and Taiwan. FROM THE FALUN GONG WAR: PRC RIPS CONGRESS FOR SUPPORTING FALUN GONG Congress passed a resolution calling for �the release of thousands of Falun Gong followers held in jail or in re-education camps� by Communist China (BBC). Within days, Communist China � through its Xinhua news service � took shots at Congress for the resolution, saying the Congress acted �with ulterior motives.� While they were at it, they threw more insults at the �cult� they have tried to crush since 1999. SITE OF U.S. 1952 PLANE CRASH FOUND IN PRC American officials appear to have found the crash site for a 1952 plane on an intelligence mission that never returned, according to the BBC. The remains of the pilots have yet to be found. OTHER MAINLAND NEWS JIANG BATTLING TO KEEP TOP COMMUNIST PARTY JOB AS WELL AS CMC CHAIR PRC President Jiang Zemin is apparently very serious about staying on as Communist Party General Secretary as well as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. CNN�s Will Wo-Lap Lam (July 29) reports that Jiang plans �to offer attractive concessions to his political foes � such as big promotions for their prot�g�s � in return for their support.� Such a move would block would-be heir-apparent Hu Jintao. While it was expected for months that Jiang would hang on to the very powerful CMC Chair, his efforts to keep the top party post have surprised the cadres in the party. Lam notes that Maoists and would-be reformers are less than pleased at the prospect of Jiang hanging on, but it might not be enough to force him out. Lam also said the move would be a �devastating blow� to any prospect of reform in the PRC. Jiang�s lobbying efforts will apparently kick into high gear this week at the annual Communist cadre conference in Beidaihe in �one-on-one meetings.� The cadres started streaming in last week (BBC). However, as Lam noted in a later report (July 30), many of them, including the ones most likely to oppose Jiang�s plans to remain, have yet to make an appearance at the cadres� favorite seaside resort. BANK OF CHINA SHARES GOBBLED UP, THEN UNLOADED; STOCK FALLS The PRC-run Bank of China had no problem selling shares in its Hong Kong initial public offering last week. However, as the BBC reported, those who bought the shares sold them rather quickly themselves, knocking 5% of the price of the stock on the opening day of trading. According to CNN, the Bank is looking for another cash influx: it plans to sell shares in the mainland soon. INTERNATIONAL NEWS MORE REFUGEES MAKE IT INTO SOUTH KOREAN EMBASSY IN BEIJING Another group of North Korean refugees hiding in Communist China entered the South Korean Embassy in Beijing last week. The BBC put the number of refugees at �seven or eight.� Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans desperate to escape the Stalinist regime � thanks in part to a famine that has killed nearly 2 million � are hiding in the PRC. They hide because Communist China sends back any North Korean refugee it finds � the two Communist regimes have been allies for over five decades. North Korea also has been stealing international food aid to keep the families of party members and the military fed, while the ordinary people starve to death. The North Korea Report has the latest on the Stalinist ally of Communist China. Sign up now to receive it every Monday. ISRAEL CANCELS EINSTEIN EXHIBIT IN PRC AFTER IT ASKED TO NIX JEWISH REFERENCES Israel had planned a multi-city exhibition of �letters, photographs and essays by Albert Einstein� in Communist China. Then the Communists had the audacity to request the deletion of �a passage describing Einstein as a Jew who supported the formation of a Jewish state� (Washington Post). Naturally, the exhibit is now off. One PRC analyst who insisted on anonymity said this of the crazy request: �I think our government just didn't want this exhibition right now and used this as an excuse.� Israel, for its part, called it �insulting� (New York Post). EUROPEAN UNION RESTORES MOST UNFPA FUNDING NIXED BY U.S. The European Union announced it would fill $32 million of the $34 million in United Nations Population Fund money the Bush Administration blocked due to the UNFPA�s cooperation with the PRC and its hideous �one child� policy. While the EU said it would not directly fund UN activities in Communist China, it does free up millions in UN money for funding of said activities. Report: Cybercast News REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) NEWS ROC TO IMPROVE DEFENSES AGAINST POSSIBLE COMMUNIST-LAUNCHED CYBERWAR The Taiwanese military announced in a report that it would �enhance its information and electronic warfare capabilities� to protect against Communist cyber-attacks (Cybercast News). The report noted that Communist China �could by 2010 have successfully developed computer viruses capable of disabling Taiwan's military computer systems.� ISRAEL MAY HELP IN BUILDING DIESEL SUBMARINES FOR TAIWAN Israel has offered assistance to one of the American firms competing to build eight diesel-powered submarines for Taiwan, so long as it does �not adversely affect its own relations with China� (Washington Times). Unlike most European countries, who simply refuse to help so as not to anger the Communists, Israel only asked that its assistance not be mentioned in Northrop Grumman�s �sales pitch� to the ROC. No news from Hong Kong or Tibet this week Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. Anyonewho 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. |