Thursday, December 14, 2006

Has Nancy Pelosi gone over to the dark side?

On a different issue (Katrina), I'm on the record saying, "God bless Nancy Pelosi," and I have always had good things to say to her in connection with the Tiananmen Square issue, where she has consistently stood with the campaigners of the China pro-democracy cause.

She is supposed to be Jedi, not Sith.

Of course, she has been rising in power recently, and I wonder whether all individuals, on becoming national leaders, cross over to the Sith. On the whole, I look up to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, but I have been against every President (that's four) since him. I don't think that Jimmy Carter ever crossed over into being with the Sith.

Then again, he is the president who commenced trade with China, normalized relations, and threw Taiwan under the bus in 1979. (Hmmm.... Perhaps I should rethink Jimmy Carter.)

In 2000, Nancy Pelosi was a standout as a Representative fighting against PNTR for Communist China. I might have thought, "Aha! Here is an enlightened, trade defict-aware politician!" In the recent election cycle (that she gets great credit for winning), she recruited a series of Democratic candidates including many who are opposed to the U.S.' recent string of twisted trade deals. The vaunted Democrat victory of November 2006 brought into play "rising protectionist sentiment" in the U.S. House.

Now after the election, Nancy Pelosi has twice voted in favor of measures to grant PNTR to Communist Vietnam (H.R. 5602 and H.R. 6406). In fact, she voted against her own party in order to favor H.R. 6406.

--What gives? The combined record, of being against PNTR for China, and for PNTR for Vietnam, makes for an overall record that is not consistent. Perhaps if you spend too long in Washington, the "trade deficit agnosticism" rubs off on you; has she bought into the anti-protectionist sentiment? Is she someone who would ostracize a protectionist unless that sentiment is directed at China -- her pet issue?

Make no mistake, I am still a protectionist on China; that is to say, I am against China PNTR.
And also make no mistake, I am a protectionist on Vietnam; I am against Vietnam PNTR. That is to say, I am consistent, because the same economic (and human rights, and national security) pitfalls are entailed with both regimes.

For me, it is fitting to go farther. I am against all low-tariff trade with all communists, dictators, tyrants, and thugs, with the exception of importing oil.

I am a practical idealist, and there are principled reasons of idealism as to why the free world should minimize its trade deficit with the world of tyranny. And, there are practical reasons why importing oil is unavoidable. Regimes such as China and Vietnam are able to squeeze out lower prices by way of squeezing their people -- employing slave labor. U.S. businesses are attempting to exploit the opportunity that is posed by these lower prices, but I can name three sets of victims: 1.3 billion people in China, 84.4 million people in Vietnam, and the U.S. Emancipation Proclamation. (In its economic spirit, the Emancipation Proclamation informs us that labor is worth something-not-nothing.)

Everything about free trade with tyranny is bad for the peoples and security interests of the free world. Further, a cut off, represented by rising tariff rates, would mean that U.S. businesses would find that the lowest available prices are from the poorest free world nations. (Not many jobs would come back to the U.S., but they would go to free world suppliers like India, Mexico, and South America.)

My thought as expressed above would be a boon for economies (nations) within the free world.

It could even be fair to offer this thought: We have been bypassing our natural allies -- free world nations -- to go the lowest cost producers, the unfree nations. What incentive is there for Iraq to be democratic? Once democratized, Iraq could look around and see America in love with China (and now Vietnam). If Iraq wants to get supplier and vendor contracts, they would do better to set up a tyranny, and squeeze out the lowest costs by squeezing their people.

The passage of Vietnam PNTR is the latest chapter in America's sordid and unbecoming love affair with slave labor. Iraq could be free, with no business, or Iraq could adopt forced labor, and then be wooed by delegations from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The passage of Vietnam PNTR was recently assisted by Nancy Pelosi, voting against her own party. This, at a time when we would do better to cut off all communists, dictators, tyrants and thugs.

Very naturally at this time and in this circumstance, one could ask pointed questions of Nancy Pelosi. Why does expediency trump consistency? Why swim the opposite way from your party? Why swim the opposite way from the Free China Movement and the China Support Network, along with supporters of human rights for Vietnam -- all of whom were opposed to this deal? Why must age and treachery trump youth and idealism? Why was a trade deficit bad last week, and now suddenly a trade deficit is good this week (Perish the thought!)?

The simpler question is that in my headline: Has Nancy Pelosi gone over to the dark side? In a different context, I've said "God bless Nancy Pelosi," but on the matter of Vietnam, I am given to these pointed questions.

For another tidbit, I talked to Wei Jingsheng about Nancy Pelosi, subsequent to the November elections. He knows that she has "worried Beijing." (Congratulations about that, Nancy!) He thinks that it will probably make some difference; however, he also noted that she is probably under heavy pressure from business interests, around about now. Still and all, he pointed out that she has staked quite alot of political capital into the human rights issue.

I suppose that he and I both hope that her rhetoric on China translates into something more than rhetoric. For myself, I should be feeling optimistic at this time, because of all those newly elected Democrats with the "rising protectionist sentiment." The Vietnam trade deal had to be passed, late at night on the last day of the session, by the 109th Congress, because there would be no market for it in the 110th Congress. The 110th could and, in my opinion, should repeal PNTR for both Communist Vietnam and Communist China.

The ugly "race to the bottom" should be stopped, in the interest of saving "the right side of history" -- that of freedom, democracy, and human rights in Asia.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Why we must, IMHO, support Iraq's democracy

In a thousand or so words, I ask the anti-Communist movement to support the admittedly stumbling liberation of Iraq. I hope all of you will give it serious thought.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Friday the 10th of Nov.'06

CSN's Exec. Dir., Curry Kenworthy, encourages blog entries that simply share experience, so here I can talk about Friday's events in New York City.

When 15 million people have recently quit from the Chinese Communist Party, and when the Vice President of the European Parliament will appear with Wei Jingsheng (China's most famous dissident), you would think that there ought to be a splash in the news that goes along with the occasion.

America's news media has been noticeably reticent to cover the entire (a.) Chinese democracy movement; (b.) persecution of Falun Gong; (c.) Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party -- a tract that has gone on to greatness; (d.) the "Bye Bye CCP" campaign with 15 million resignations from the CCP; and (e.) the grizzly scandal of organ harvesting that prompted an outburst, on the south lawn of the White House, by Wenyi Wang. --All of the foregoing is huge news! --All of it has been tidily contained by America's mainstream corporate media.

I attended Friday's forum, that was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. This is New York City! There are numerous news channels, and major international media have bureaus in New York as well. But, just like a good politician upon walking in, my eyes counted the number of television cameras in evidence. The answer? Two. At least one camera was for New Tang Dynasty Television, and it was not evident for whom the other camera was present.

I attended this time as an audience member, or observer for CSN. I was not slated to speak. (On other days, I have given impromptu speeches when I didn't plan to, because the organizers plucked me out of the crowd; but Friday was not like that.) I could just take in the program.

There is an Epoch Times article about the program at http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-11-11/48037.html
The title, China's Global Strategy and Inner Crisis, meant that discussion went to both foreign policy (North Korea, e.g.) and to the CCP-withdrawal phenomenon. Human rights, of course, were on the program, but the take away was that CCP foreign policy was being used as a diversion to distract attention away from the internal crisis as millions of people withdraw and quit from the CCP.

The star, featured attraction -- the keynote speaker, was Edward McMillan-Scott, a British politician who is also Vice President of the EU European Parliament. He recounted his own investigation into Chinese human rights; earlier this year he went to Beijing and met with some Falun Gong practitioners, who were arrested afterwards for meeting with him. At the time, he did not meet with Gao Zhisheng; that meeting was contemplated, but not carried out. (Gao was arrested three months later.)

China has a human rights emergency, and McMillan-Scott has come to the positioning that the Beijing Olympics of 2008 should be linked to human rights, and pressured against in the absence of same.

He is strongly with the "Bye Bye CCP" campaign, and his European Democracy Initiative has its focus moving to China. He concluded by saying, "Everyone knows that the Chinese regime is coming to an end. I just say to the people in China who are guilty of crimes of genocide, such as harvesting organs from Falun Gong prisoners—we know your names. We know what you're doing… and you will be punished. This is the world of 2006 and beyond. It is a world of human rights and democracy, and a world in which the CCP has no place."

Well, everyone knows WITH THE EXCEPTIONS of AP, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN....all those people who were absent from this forum!

I'll continue to blog my experience, because this was my first time face-to-face with Edward McMillan-Scott. During a break, I gained the introductions with him, and promised that I would insert a question into the Q&A period later.

I'll say that I'm happy that the cause has gained attention from political figures such as David Kilgour (former Canadian MP and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific affairs) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, soon to be US House Speaker), and here was Edward McMillan-Scott. --But, the China Support Network is fully hard-line against Communist China, so I wondered, 'how close are we, really, on the issues'?

My question to him was sort of a firecracker. I mentioned that CSN is in coalitions that say, 'Boycott the Olympics' and 'Boycott Made in China products.' He, in his remarks, said that it took him a while to come around to wanting to use the Olympics as a chip or a card to be played against Communist China. --So, my question was about using trade as a chip or a card against Communist China.

I stressed that China has a pace or a rate of killing of innocent people. I made mine a two part question: (1.) Would he favor using trade against Communist China; and, anticipating that he was hesitant, part (2.) was hypothetical. "If the pace of killing doubled, tripled, quadrupled, or so on, at what point does the human rights emergency justify using trade as a chip against Communist China?"

This was a perilous question, because why accept one rate of killing, but then switch positions if the emergency worsened? (For a human rights person, no rate of killing of innocents is acceptable. So my question sort of set him up for possible embarrassment.) Despite my loaded question, McMillan-Scott is a good politician, and so he sidestepped the pitfall.

He said that he favors that we identify and prohibit the import of products that are made in any way by forced labor, or during incarceration. In this political position, some imports are unacceptable, while other imports are acceptable.

I did not follow up to pin him down; I'm a friendly questioner, not an unfriendly one. But, if we spoke with the Boycott Made In China coalition (where CSN is a member), we would hear that there is no way, from the outside of a product, to tell whether it was made in forced-labor conditions or not. (And even outside of prisons, a lot of the labor conditions are perilous and hazardous exploitation that amounts to human rights abuse anyway.) So, the Boycott coalition would say that the only sure way to avoid such products is to avoid ALL Made In China products. It's part of the justification for boycotting.

If such products could effectively be identified, I would support banning them too. But, the Tibetans (who run the Boycott coalition) have a principled approach. If Chinese products are avoided all together, then so too is the question of trying to identify which ones come from forced (slave) labor conditions.

After the event, I was invited to dinner with top organizers.

I found myself riding in an SUV, driven by Wei Jingsheng, across town in Manhattan. With us was Brian Marple, a good translator. I asked some questions about the loyalties of the Chinese military, and about the Constitution for a future Chinese regime. Apparently, Wei does not feel settled upon one or another draft of Constitution. (More than one draft floats around in the movement.) He would be just as fine with the 1947 Constitution that was made for all of China, but which became the Constitution of Taiwan. That 1947 draft seems to be the default choice, the one that is always there in the absence of agreement about anything newer or upgraded by comparison.

We drove right by 30 Rock, but we didn't stop. Chinese food was in order, and we kept driving. (30 Rock is the home of NBC News. Wei Jingsheng actually lives in Washington. Any time that he sets foot in another city, it would be on business that is of import to the democracy movement. So, in a healthier world, that should be recognized as a newsworthy occasion--he should have been stopping at 30 Rock for a newsmaker interview.) We kept driving, and we chatted some about the impact of Nancy Pelosi as the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

We then arrived at the Chinese restaurant, where more leading figures were already there. The pleasant supper included some top Falun Gong organizers, but not Edward McMillan-Scott, who didn't join us because he was catching a flight.

So, that was my experience of Friday, Nov. 10, 2006. After I parted company with my Chinese friends, I went to a club in Greenwich Village, and took in the concert by a Connecticut group, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Speaking of politics and elections . . .

. . . they can't say we aren't a big tent here at CSN. While the organization's founder (that would be John) seems (mostly) to be rooting for the Democrats this Tuesday; the president (that would be me) is hoping the Republicans can keep the House.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Developing situation about Jia Jia the defector from Communist China

Here is what we know--

October 23, 2006:

This is a Monday. Jia Jia defects, leaving his tour group in Taiwan.

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October 26, 2006:

Epoch Times article, "Chinese Official Defects in Taiwan; Seeks Split from CCP"

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October 27, 2006:

This is a Friday. Jia Jia makes an appearance at a press conference in Hong Kong.
Epoch Times article, "Chinese Defector in Hong Kong After Taiwan Rejects His Political Asylum Request"
Epoch Times article, "Chinese Defector Reveals Officials' Desire to Quit the Communist Party--UPDATED"
China e-Lobby says,

"Taiwan sends back Communist defector: Given the island democracy's proximity to the Communist mainland and concern for espionage, deporting ex-cadre Jia Jia is an understandable mistake, but a mistake all the same (Epoch Times)."

-----------------------------------
October 28, 2006:

Epoch Times article, "Correction: Chinese Defector Given His Correct Title"
Epoch Times article, "Top Chinese Official Seeks Asylum"

-----------------------------------
October 29, 2006:

This is a Sunday. A rally in Vancouver is held in support of Jia Jia.
Epoch Times article, "SOS! My Father Is in Grave Danger From The Chinese Communist Regime for Publicly Supporting Democracy"
Epoch Times article, "Mainland Chinese Defector's Son Asks for Support for Father"
The rally's appeal includes these words:
"For the people who love freedom and democracy please support Jia immediately. We appeal especially to the Hong Kong government to protect Jia and support his democratic agenda so that democracy can be achieved in China."

-----------------------------------
October 30, 2006:

China e-Lobby

"reports from a Vancouver rally for Jia Jia (for more on Jia, see Epoch Times, Epoch Times again, and eighth item)"

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November 1, 2006:

China e-Lobby says,

"Jia Jia denied asylum by the United States, too: The Communist statistician who turned on his party (eighth and lead items) now fears arrest - and worse - in Hong Kong; he talked to Bill Gertz (Washington Times). This decision (by Washington) is a terrible mistake; it should be reversed and Jia should be granted asylum."

See below for a Washington Times article and an Open Letter to President Bush from D.J. McGuire about Jia Jia.

Washington Times article:

Chinese defector finds no asylum

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published November 1, 2006

A former high-ranking Chinese technology specialist has defected and is seeking political asylum in the United States in order to promote democratic change in China.
Jia Jia, until recently the head of the government-backed China Shanxi Science and Technology Experts Association in Shanxi, north-central China, said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong that he defected Oct. 23 during a visit to Taiwan because he opposes Chinese Communist Party rule.
"China right now is not free," Mr. Jia said. "I left China because I want to make use of the democratic environment outside the country."
Once China has taken steps to match its economic reform with democratic political reform, Mr. Jia said he will return to China.
Mr. Jia was refused political asylum in Taiwan because, he said, Taiwanese officials feared allowing him to stay would upset China.
The U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, where he is staying temporarily, also has rejected Mr. Jia's appeal for political asylum, telling him that he did not meet the qualifications.
The former technology official said he has been granted permission to stay seven days in Hong Kong under rules governing tourist visits, while he seeks permission to move to another country. Because Hong Kong is part of China, he could be arrested after that period.
Mr. Jia said that if he is forcibly repatriated, he faces torture and possible death because he has spoken out against the ruling Communist Party and in support of democracy.
Mr. Jia advocates the creation of a non-communist federal government in China to replace the ruling-party system.
The increase in protests and civil unrest in China is the result of opposition to communist rule, he said.
"I hope President Bush will help me go [to the United States] and that U.S. citizens will help me to realize a democratic China," Mr. Jia said.
"If President Bush can do that, the Chinese people will thank America for generations," he said.
Mr. Bush vowed to support pro-democracy advocates in his 2005 inaugural speech. He said democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile around the world should known that "America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country."
However, pro-China officials in the White House and elsewhere in the Bush administration have blocked major U.S. government efforts to help Chinese dissidents since doing so would upset relations between Washington and Beijing.
Mr. Jia said he believes "millions" of Chinese Communist Party members want democratic reform, as do millions of others among China's 1.3 billion population.
As many as 14 million of China's 78 million Communist Party members have left the party in recent years, a factor that prompted his defection, Mr. Jia said.
Last year, China's ruling party issued a white paper stating that China will never adopt Western-style democracy.
Mr. Jia said he is not a member of the banned Chinese spiritual group Falun Gong, which advocates the ouster of the Communist Party in China, but he said he has been supported by the group in his efforts to seek asylum.

-----------------------------------
The Open Letter to President Bush from D.J. McGuire about Jia Jia--


Dear Mr. President,

The fate of a very brave man is in your hands.

In Hong Kong, Jia Jia awaits an almost certain arrest by the Communist Chinese regime for trying to bring democracy to the Chinese people. For reasons that are unknown - and even if they were known, they'd be unfathomable - The American consulate in Hong Kong denied him asylum.

I ask you to order the consulate to reverse that decision and grant Jia asylum in the United States.

Jia may be just one man, but the implications of his situation are enormous. As head of the China Shanxi Science and Technology Experts Association, Jia was a well-placed technology specialist. The information he has learned about Communist China's technological industry could be a tremendous intelligence boon for the democratic world, especially given the fact that the civilian and military technology sectors are so deeply intertwined - it could even be reasonably said that they are not separate sectors at all.

However, this is about more than mere intelligence information. Since the release of the Nine Commentaries two years ago, over 14 million Communist Party members have seen the light and left the Party in disgust. In other words, one in every one hundred citizens of the People's Republic of China is a former Communist (within the Party itself, that is more than two out of every eleven members). For understandable reasons, many high-ranking ex-cadres are too fearful to speak out. Jia is arguably the highest-ranking ex- Communist to go public with his call for a democratic China. Millions of other ex-Communists are watching to see if the democratic world will protect and aid Jia.

By granting Jia asylum and protection, the United States will show that the nations of the democratic world are eager to see China join them. Conversely, continuing to deny him asylum sends the unintended signal that the free world is more worried about the Chinese Communist Party than the Chinese people.

This is not the signal we want to send.

Jia Jia can be more than just a leader in the China democracy movement; he can be a symbol to all who have rejected the Communist Party that they have been noticed by the democratic world, and a symbol of encouragement to those considering leaving the Party to do the right thing. That is the main reason why the Communist Party is so eager to ensure Jia is not granted asylum. It is also the main reason asylum should be granted.

Let Jia Jia become China's symbol, rather than its martyr. Please, Mr. President, grant Jia Jia asylum in the United States.

May I humbly submit a suggestion for 2008?

Or, to put it another way, a new Presidential candidate has me smitten.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Remembering 9/11/01

On this the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9-11, here is my three-part series from one year ago on Communist China and its support for our enemies in the War on Terror.

Cross-posted to China e-Lobby

Sunday, August 20, 2006

On Gao Zhisheng's arrest

This news [of star attorney / dissident Gao Zhisheng's arrest] out of China is especially bad. Gao Zhisheng is a non-Falun Gong practitioner--in fact a Christian--attorney who went to bat for Falun Gong. He has strived mightily to prompt China towards the rule of law. We may recall that China has a constitution that assures freedom of religion and the right to criticize the government. Gao was trained because Deng Xiaoping insisted that China must run by the rule of law. His arrest threatens both Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, and is a distressing turn in the weather -- a downturn for human rights. Many feel this indicates that Jiang Zemin is running the show, rather than Hu Jintao.

That is an ominous sign for Taiwan, as well. Jiang is basically a mad man who wants to grab Taiwan, and doesn't mind stepping on dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, and Christians. For the good of China's future, the present state of affairs won't serve. We are a long way from Deng Xiaoping's rule of law. What we should say is, 'Jiang Zemin, you're no Deng Xiaoping! Release Gao. Release Wang Bingzhang. Release Yang Jianli. And, release all Falun Gong practitioners.'

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Recent Coverage in Review

Here are external links to the latest coverage about activism from this quarter:

Association for Asian Research published the article I co-wrote with the Free China Movement and NoManZero:
http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/2905.html

Epoch Times published the speech by D.J. McGuire, given July 21 to a rally opposite the White House:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-7-26/44263.html

And, the wider story about the rally including other speakers is here:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-7-26/44283.html

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Singapore must be liberated

Another day, another regime change suggestion. In my Messages Of The Week, I noted that Iceland, France, and Russia have all been involved in extending Falun Gong persecution to their lands outside of China. I did not go so far as to suggest "liberation" for Iceland, France, and Russia, but I've dubbed them an "Axis of Shame."

Singapore is another nominee for the "Axis of Shame." Reasons why are detailed in this Epoch Times article:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-7-18/44014.html

It's not the first time that Singapore has run afoul of Falun Gong and the China Support Network. In fact, I've called for regime change there before; see below.

REPRINT OF EARLIER MATERIAL--

May 2, 2005 (CSN) -- How would you like to be thrown in jail, simply for leafleting (handing out free flyers and CDs) in a public park? To those who live in freedom, the thought seems outrageous. Likewise, for those who understand the information revolution, we know that similar things are downloaded, from millions of points to millions of users, every day. Should governments stand against the tide of information dissemination?

Free speech, and the information explosion, seem to be new ideas to the government of Singapore, where their recent treatment of two women of Falun Gong seems like a throwback to the middle ages. A flap and controversy now centers around two women, Ms. Ng Chye Huay and Ms. Cheng Lujin. The seven charges from Singapore include "Assembly without a Permit," and "Possession and Distribution of VCDs without a Certificate."

This, in a nation which purportedly follows the rule of law and has Constitutional protections for religious freedom, free speech, and freedom of assembly.

It should embarrass the government of Singapore to run afoul of Falun Gong, and sympathy protests have occurred in Taiwan, the US, and the UK. "Falun Gong protests, while always peaceful and orderly, are also relentless and brook no persecution," noted John Patrick, Director emeritus at the China Support Network.

Their arrest was in May, 2004, and their verdict, rendered April 27, 2005, ordered the women to pay $20,000 and $24,000 (Singapore dollars) respectively. (Those amounts in US dollars are $12,216 and $14,660, respectively.) They were also denied bail, a procedure that should have kept them free pending appeal. They were sent directly to jail, to remain prospectively up to 24 weeks. The two women have begun a hunger strike in prison, and in Singapore, "refusing to eat" is another charge that they are being slapped with under the Prisons Act.

A Singapore resident in New York expressed astonishment. "The laws don't exist to punish people for doing something good. The courts have better things to do than treat [Falun Gong] practitioners as criminals," said Elaise Poh, as reported in the Epoch Times. Human rights attorney Terri Marsh said, "The crimes that require redress are those perpetrated by the CCP in China," referring to the human rights atrocities that China visits upon Falun Gong practitioners and many other non-communist groups in Mainland China. "Marsh believes the court ruling may have been influenced by Chinese authorities in order to obscure the issue of who the real criminals are, namely, the CCP," per the Epoch Times.

CSN's John Patrick noted, "In light of the constitutional protections and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this becomes a human rights case." The President of Singapore, and four United Nations offices, are already being pressed on the case, through a human rights working group of Falun Gong. Patrick predicted, "The right side of history will prevail, and Singapore should feel ashamed by its authorities' pandering to Communists."
===================================
ANOTHER REPRINT FROM 3 DAYS LATER--

Singapore releases women

May 5, 2005 (CSN) -- The outrage of the week has been last Wednesday's move by a judge in Singapore, to jail two women who had passed out free literature in a public park -- "clarifying the truth" about China's brutal crackdown and persecution against Falun Gong. After a week of incarceration, the two women were released on Tuesday. This was not accompanied by a government statement, even though Singapore should acknowledge and recognize that they violated these women's human rights -- and the judge should apologize.

No such circumstances surrounded the release, though the case became high profile as Falun Gong spotlighted this matter around the world -- bringing to bear a full court press of attention and activism. No, Ms. Cheng Lujin and Ms. Ng Chye Huay were released, because their families paid the exorbitant fines on their behalf. (They were fined $12,216 and $14,660, respectively.) Both women had been refusing to pay these fines, and they continue to want the government to return the fine money. At the China Support Network, Director emeritus John Patrick agreed wholeheartedly. "This leads me to [favor] a regime change in Singapore. I will change my position on that only if and when the government returns that money. I suppose I'm short of sympathy for Communist toadies who perpetrate outrages. My patience [with them] is long since gone."

Is the key to peace in Iraq a war in Syria?

I know you didn't want me to do this, Curry, but as I'm looking for as much feedback as I could on this question, I decided to risk your wrath.

Friday, July 14, 2006

"North Korea confronted the U.S. in an effort to please Beijing."

That's the viewpoint of one analyst regarding the Stalinist North Korea's Projectile Dysfunction; the latest hypothesis on Communist China's encouragement of SNK's threats against Japan is also a must read (third and second items, respectively).

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Syria

I call for its liberation here.

Journalists arrested, Kim Jong-il protected . . .

. . . business as usual for the CCP today.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Stand with India against terrorism and Chinese Communism

A few more words (OK, a good deal more) on my reaction to the India bombings.

Mumbai (Bombay) mourning

Today's China e-Lobby post was to be much more extensive, until a data screw-up junked most of the source links. Then again, perhaps there is a method to the madness, for it will likely force more attention on the terrorist attack in India today - likely committed by terrorists in Pakistan. Lest anyone forget, the Pakistani dictatorship has a long history of two things: support for Islamic terrorists (seventh and lead items), and a fifty-year-plus alliance with you-know-whom. In the meantime, yours truly joins those who mourn the dead, pray for the injured, and stand with the Indian people.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Remembering Iran's solemn day

From the beginning of today's News of the Day:

This Sunday, June 9, is the seventh anniversary of the nationwide anti-Khomeinist student protests in Iran. In their honor, here are some reminders of why we must help the Iranian people take their country back from the Communist-backed mullahcracy.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Kilgour-Matas report on Communist organ harvesting

Here are the links.

Here's the money quote: "Based on what we now know, we have come to the regrettable conclusion that theallegations are true. We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."

Cross-posted to China e-Lobby

Some good news on the DIA-spy-case front

Lonnie Henley, the high-ranking intelligence officer who publicly came to the defense of Ronald Montaperto is now under investigation himself. While using the he-didn't-spy-that-much defense is stupid on its own, saying it as an intelligence official in the midst of an espionage investigation is breathtaking in its gall. It's good to see the intelligence community deciding this is worth a hard look.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Handling North Korea

I quite agree with D.J. McGuire, that North Korea must be liberated. But as for how to handle it, were I George W. Bush, I might now be enunciating five words for Kim Jong Il: "Treachery will get you nowhere." If any offers were on the table for North Korea, it is time to take those offers off the table.

Three years ago in April'03, I authored, with Majer Zhou, our article, "Just say 'no' to North Korea." The idea was that there should be no reward for nuclear blackmail -- taxpayers in the free world should not be tapped to give Kim Jong Il a bonus for bad behavior. As a result, "treachery will get you nowhere" is rooted in the same idea. This article is consistent with the earlier one.

The earlier article advised against military action against North Korea, and in part that was said in order to buy time for National Missile Defense (NMD) to become operational. If the U.S. is able to shoot down North Korean missiles, then a military action becomes viable, while such action should be out of the question if NMD is not ready.

At this time, I still would not reach for military action as a first resort. Now is a good time to reinforce Japan, reinforce South Korea, and reinforce Taiwan. Now is a good time to increase support for North Korean political dissidents, their programs, and anti-communist efforts globally (yes, including the China Support Network). Also, now is a good time to prioritize North Korean refugees, putting more attention on their issues, efforting solutions in the international community, and even spending a little more for refugee camps (to save them from the dangers of starvation and ill health). Attention in the mass media on this would be good. Why are these refugees there? --The answers to that question would be the deprivations of the Kim Jong Il regime. The answers to that question are the major points that political dissidents attempt to make. (And above, I also suggested more for dissidents, and yes that means attention in the mass media as well as funding.)

And of course, under good policy that I would follow, Kim Jong Il would hear a large crashing sound from outside his window: The collapse of the Communist Party in China. When that goes down, then it will be possible to *completely* pull the plug on the North Korean regime (unless bleeding hearts in South Korea move in the reverse direction, plugging in the regime).

It's a shame that George W. Bush doesn't take suggestions coming from here. Policies towards North Korea, China, and Vietnam all need adjustment. Above, you've read my North Korea suggestions, which are consistent and compatible with my China and Vietnam suggestions. Would that all three policies became adjusted! --The Bush foreign policy of the 'Bush Doctrine' that was announced in Inaugural II is a good one in its words (freedom for all), but it is not followed up by way of deeds. That makes the Bush Doctrine into a toothless piece of convenient lip service, expedient for the purposes of good White House PR, and yet a false and hollow promise for the world's people. Asia is the region that still has the tyranny, but has lacked the attention from policy makers while they all focused on the Middle East. Asian people are people too! The imperative for freedom knows no exceptions. Efforts for freedom in Asia need to be more than just speeches and lip service.

We need a consistent policy about Asian dictatorships. Asian dictatorships are a bad thing, and we should oppose them!

North Korea must be liberated

Here's why.

What the "engagement" crowd will do

Sometimes, one wonders whether the "engagement" crowd is willing to acknowledge the threat from Communist China if the facts are put in front of them. After all, one would like to believe that people are flexible and reasonable enough to recognize when they are wrong about something (as I did when I abondoned "engagement" in the 1990s).

Then you see soemthing like this, and it's hard to avoid despondency.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Independence Day

Today, Jim Davin (CSN Intern) and I went down to the National Mall to hand out information about China during the Independence day parade. We left my house at 9 am with 6 boxes of flyers about organ harvesting in China. At the parade site, we met up with some Falun Gong practitioners and gave them most of the boxes so that they could hand out information. Then we hit the street. Things were quite well arranged. Right next to where we parked, there were thousands of Vietnam Pilot Vets. I went up to each of them and thanked and then gave them a copy of the Nine Commentaries. They were surprised that anyone would actually go up to them and thank them, so they were quite receptive to taking a many page report, in spit of some suggestion that no one would want to read such a long document at the parade.

Meanwhile, Jim was getting his sea legs. At first, he wasn't sure what to say, but I gave him some simple phrases, such as "Human Rights in China" or "Freedom in China" and "Please read this." At first when the rejection level was high for him, he was ready to head back, but then as his righteous thoughts strengthened, and his confidence gained, he kept on surprising me, by seeing, "Just 10 more minutes." That process went on for maybe an hour. I was quite proud of him.

We probably went through almost a bankers box of flyers. There were so many people there, just waiting in line to get in, and once the momentum set in, no one would refuse a flyer from me. I was also handing out flyers for New Tang Dynasty TV's Chinese New Celebration. I had a lot of fun talking about it, and kept on encouraging people to take their friends, their family, their whole school.

In total, we were there for about 4 hours handing out flyers. I am quite glad that we had a chance to let people know about freedom in China on this day when America is celebrating it's own freedom.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Going further in this vein

For anyone interested in a more detailed account of why Europe's hypocrisy on the Uighurs has me so upset, here it is.

European Elite Hypocrisy - Too much to handle

The big story here in the U.S. is the Supreme Court's decision effectively invalidating the military-tribunal process the Bush Administration uses for enemy combatants in the War on Terror. This has naturally led to an orgy of "coverage" on the American military's terrorist prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Now, CSN has no official position on "Gitmo," for the obvious reason that it would be impossible for us to hammer one out (yours truly finds it imperfect but necessary, I'm guessing John and Demetrius have no use for it at all, and I don't know where Curry stands). That said, someone has to speak out about the hypocritical reaction of many European elites to this issue.

Plenty of them have wailed and gnashed their teeth over the existence of the prison, so one would expect that when the United States finds several detainees that are in fact not threats to the civilized world, but can't be returned "home" because their homeland (say, East Turkestan) is occupied by a vicious, brutal dictatorship (say, the Chinese Communist Party), these "betters" of European society would be more than willing to agree to American requests to take these poor souls in, right? Wrong (third item).

So forgive me if I sound harsh, but the next time a European critic of Guantanamo opens his or her mouth, they should be reminded of their rank hypocrisy on this issue (Albania excepted: see fifth, third, third, fifth, and second items).

Friday, June 30, 2006

Wonder which one he'll pick

Vietnam's new Communist leader says he wants closer ties to the U.S. and the CCP (second item). Any guess which one he'll take when forced to choose?

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Back to normal

Today's news of the day actually covers today (rather than an entire week).

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

News of the Week

Well, it took long enough, but the China e-Lobby is up and running again.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Tibet campaigners want blog attention in early July

The World Tibet Day (multi-city coordinated event, observed annually since 1997) will be July 2 this year. See www.worldtibetday.org.

At CSN, we've been approached by activists who also want to make a "Bloggers for World Tibet Day" occasion on July 6. See below.

July 6 is literally the birthday of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. This year, he will turn 71. It seems the activists' idea is to apply that day, and try to get as much activity happening in the blogosphere as possible.

Below, I repost the email which came in to CSN.

Dear Friend,

Please join us to blog about Tibet on July 6, 2006 - 'World Tibet Day' which is the birthday of HH the Dalai Lama. We urge the blogging world to declare it as "Bloggers for World Tibet Day". Please spread the word and blog about Tibet on July 6th. Let us create a momentum for freedom of Tibet as never before. If you don't have a blog please visit us to know more about the struggles of Tibetans and see if you can help in any other ways.

We have set up a blog at http://voiceofambition.com/Tibet to track all the information and provide one stop for all blogging activity about Tibet. We also want to provide authentic information about various Tibet organizations. Please join us. If you can help us maintain the blog please contact us at blog.friendsoftibet[AT]gmail.com . You can write articles to be published at this blog. If you don't have time you can send us links to good articles about Tibet and provide us any information that can further the cause of freedom of Tibet. Thank You and Regards,

Voice Of Ambition Team
http://voiceofambition.com

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Sound the trumpet!

It is a great honor for me to christen the China Support Network blog (even if it is just to point everyone to the latest News of the Day).