| EUROPEAN UNION WALKS AWAY FROM WTO TALKS WITH COMMUNIST CHINA Anyone who tells you that Communist China entering the World Trade Organization is a done deal is talking through his hat. The European Union�s trade negotiator ended talks with Beijing on a trade deal that was to be the final requirement needed to get Communist China into the WTO this year. While both sides hope for a deal soon, they have said that many times before, only to walk away with no deal. This may seem like a temporary reprieve. After all, when money is involved, people tend to split the difference and get on with the profits. However, in this case, there may be deeper problems. The EU is insisting that European companies get majority control of telecommunications ventures. The PRC has insisted on the 50 percent limit they won in the US deal, which ensures the Communists have veto power over all commercial decisions involving their major enterprises, all of which at least half-owned by either the government or the military. At stake here is control for the Communist Chinese, which is more important to them than the international capital they need to keep the state-owned economy going. Unless the EU backs down, there will likely be no deal. The EU, unlike the United States, can be tough as nails on trade talks, and they have a history of protectionism well beyond what is normally healthy for their economy. In this case, that protectionist impulse has served them well, and may likely be the obstacle Communist China can�t remove. FRENCH EDUCATION MINISTER CALLS FOR REMEMBERANCE OF TIBETAN VICTIMS Meanwhile, within Europe, Jack Lang, France�s new Education Minister, has asked for all localities to fly the Tibetan flag every March, �so that we are not the silent witnesses of the annihilation of the Tibetan people.� Over 1,200,000 have died since the Tibetan independence uprising of 1959. "We must all remember what happened in the month of March 1959 on the 'Roof of the World,' those days when the powerful Chinese army began a bloodthirsty crackdown on the Tibetan people's desire for independence," Lang wrote. It should be noted that Lang serves under Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. U.S. HOUSE TO VOTE ON COMMUNIST CHINA TRADE IN MAY Unfortunately, the American �right� is not nearly as strong as the European �left� is becoming on these issue. House Republicans are scheduling the vote on making Normal Trade Relations with Communist China permanent for May 22-26. The House is the only body where opponents of PNTR have a chance of scuttling the �deal.� The good news is only 140 members of the House are in favor, according to a Reuters poll. There are still enough undecideds to tip the balance one way or the other. U.S. ENVOY HOSTS CHINA MILITARY SATELLITE COMPANY U.S. Ambassador Joseph Prueher hosted a gathering of two U.S. Satellite firms with Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), last month. CASC, a company owned by the Chinese military, met with representatives from Loral and Hughes, the two satellite firms who gave Communist China valuable information and technology as part of their explanation for a failed satellite launch in 1996. Both firms are under investigation for possible violation of national security concerning the technology transfer. CASC�s Hong Kong representative is Lt. Col. Liu Chao-ying, daughter of the highest ranking member of the People�s Liberation Army, and source of $50,000 in laundered donations to President Clinton�s re-election campaign. A Loral spokesman said the meeting agenda included discussion of ChinaSat8, a satellite for launch by ChinaSat, another state-owned Chinese company which recently launched the first in a series of satellites designed to aid the PLA in combat communications and intelligence. ChinaSat8 was approved for export by the Clinton Administration, but the approval was repealed by Congress as part of legislation transferring export authority from the Commerce Department to the State Department. An embassy spokesperson denied any discussion of ChinaSat8 took place. COMMUNIST CHINA GRANTS �SPY� RARE RE-TRIAL In a highly unusual move, Beijing�s Supreme Court last month ordered a retrial Hua Di, a legal immigrant to the United States who was sentenced to 15 years for �leaking state secrets.� According to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, a Hong-Kong based human rights group that monitors the country, the Communist hierarchy is divided on Hua�s guilt. The center also noted the upcoming vote on PNTR in Congress as having a major influence on the decision (see above). Mr. Hua, who sufferes from a rare form of cancer, had served as an expert at the Central Commission on Military Science until the crackdown in Tiananmen Sqaure caused him to seek political exile in the United States. The Communists have a history reversing these gestures after the Congress votes, so look for the second trial to last into June, and no doubt it will have the same verdict as the first. TIANANMEN MOTHER ARRESTED On the same day Mr. Hua�s victory hit the press, police arrested Su Bingxian, a mother of one of the Tiananmen Square protestors killed by the Communist Chinese military. Mrs. Su was bringing correspondence to Ding Zilin, whose son was also lost in Tiananmen. The correspondence was a letter of support from Lois Wheeler Snow, widow of Edgar Snow, an American journalist whose sympathetic portrayal of the Communists during the 1920s-1940s civil war made him a hero among Chinese Communists. In a reminder of the ideological �purity� the Communist Chinese demand, state security agents prevented Mrs. Snow from delivering the letter to Mrs. Ding personally before Mrs. Su�s attempt. Mrs. Ding wrote to the foreign press demanding the authorities to release Mrs. Su immediately. She also wrote, �I appeal to President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji to immediately put an end to these violent acts in contempt of human rights." Mrs. Su was released on Tuesday, the day of the Qing Ming holiday honoring the dead, but as a condition of her release they forced Mrs. Ding to leave Beijing for her home province. "It's not that I want to go,� she told foreign reporters, �They tell me I have to go. It's been like this every year. I can come back after June 4." June 4, 1989 was the day the Communist killed thousands in the Tiananmen Square massacre. HUTCHISON WHAMPOA CHAIRMAN LOOKING TO TAKE OVER CANAL An Army intelligence report, recently declassified, stated that Li Ka-Shing, head of the Hutchison Whampoa corporation, was planning to take control of the canal through a management contract that gave it control of the two container ports at either end. The company, which is roughly half-owned by the Communist Chinese government, was looking to canal operations to compensate for lost revenue within China due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and a drop in natural resources production. Communist China is the third-largest user of the port. A spokesperson for Hutchison denied any attempts to take over all canal operations. President Clinton had said he didn�t think there would be any problems �from the Chinese running the canal.� He later said he misstated the situation, and that Panama will run the canal. COMMUNIST CHINA OIL SUBSIDIARY HEADED FOR IPO A subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), which is wholly owned by the Beijing government, is headed for an Initial Public Offering on Thursday. A coalition of several groups has asked the Clinton Administration to stop the IPO. The efforts of the group -- which includes Amnesty International, Students for a Free Tibet, the U.S. Business and Industrial Council and the William Casey Institute � have already reduced the amount of the IPO by 70%. Two other Chinese companies � Sinopec, the second largest oil company on the mainland, and Boashan Iron and Steel � have had their IPOs delayed by the group. CNPC has come under increasing criticism for its activities in Sudan, where the hardline Arab Islamic government has been slaughtering black Christians and pagans, who largely support the rebels in that country�s ongoing civil war. PROTESTS In Sichuan province, 500 workers at the closed Liuzhi mine demonstrated against low unemployment benefits after their state-owned mine shut down, leaving 40,000 miners unemployed. The miners gathered to protest on the tracks of the Guiyang-Kunming railway, blocking rail traffic for hours. Since the mine declared bankruptcy in December, the railway has experienced a number of demonstrations. One in December involved nearly 10,000. A second protest in February involved over 20,000 according to the Washington Post. The protestors assembled at the closed mine demanding to speak to the mine officials. The mayor showed up instead, and the protestors responded by barricading the headquarters and over turning cars. The protests lasted for over two days, until some 500 troops have been ordered to the region to quell the unrest. Although the army troops fired shots over the crowd, none of the injuries noted by the locals were fatal. Information not reported by the Post was reported by the Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China. TAIWAN Despite numerous rumors of talks, the only public statements from Beijing so far on the election of Chen Shui-bian have involved insistence that he accept �one China,� and fresh threats of �smashing� any attempts at independence. Many expect the Communists will increase their bellicose threats after Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party supports Taiwanese independence, is sworn in on May 20. Chen�s choice for premier -- Defense Minister Tang Fei � will not be opposed by the Nationalist Party, of which he is a member. The party of outgoing President Lee Tung-Hui did say Tang had to stop participating in Nationalist activities, and the Nationalists would not officially endorse his government. Speaking of defense, we can expect a ruling from the Clinton Administration on Taiwan�s latest arms request later this month. |