Miraculous escape as Chinese boy is plucked alive from school 'tomb' destroyed by earthquake
By PETER SIMPSON
» Last updated at 10:05am on 14th May 2008
His head pokes through the pile of rubble which is all that remains of his school. Pain and exhaustion are etched on his face.
Standing over him, a classmate holds an emergency saline drip to give him lifesaving fluids and calls for rescuers to hurry with their heavy digging equipment.
But, trapped as he is, this young student is alive against all the odds. more ...
U.S. Identifies Tainted Heparin in 11 Countries
New York Times
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: April 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — A contaminated blood thinner from China has been found in drug supplies in 11 countries, and federal officials said Monday they had discovered a clear link between the contaminant and severe reactions now associated with 81 deaths in the United States. But a Chinese official disputed the assertion that the contaminant found in the drug, heparin, caused any deaths and insisted that his country’s inspectors be allowed to inspect the American plant where the finished heparin vials were made. He said any future agreement to allow American inspections of Chinese firms should be reciprocal.
“We don’t have a strong evidence to show that it is heparin or its contaminant that caused the problem,” said the official, Ning Chen, second secretary at the Chinese Embassy.
Mr. Chen said that illnesses associated with contaminated heparin had occurred only in the United States, which he said suggested that the problem arose in this country.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s drug center, said that German regulators uncovered a cluster of illnesses among dialysis patients who took contaminated heparin. She said Chinese officials had conceded that heparin produced in their country contained a contaminant, though they say it was not connected to the illnesses.
“Heparin should not be contaminated, regardless of whether or not that contamination caused acute adverse events,” Dr. Woodcock said. “We are fairly confident based on the biological information that we have had that this contaminant is capable of triggering these adverse reactions.” more ...
New Data Link Heparin Deaths to Chinese Batches, FDA Says
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 22, 2008; Page A02
Food and Drug Administration officials said yesterday they have new evidence that links hundreds of serious adverse reactions and scores of deaths among patients given the blood thinner heparin to a man-made contaminant introduced during production in China.
Janet Woodcock, director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that the contaminant has been traced to 12 different Chinese companies and has been found in heparin batches shipped to 11 nations, all of it from China.
Chinese officials, however, disputed the finding and said that the compound -- over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate -- could not be "the root cause" of the adverse reactions.
Speaking yesterday at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Jin Shaohong, a top official with the Chinese National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, said some of the batches of heparin associated with severe allergic reactions and distributed by Baxter International did not have the synthetic chondroitin in them. He also said that heparin with the contaminant has been found in many nations, but that none have reported a similar spike in harmful reactions as in the United States. more ...
Bleak Stories Follow a Lawsuit on Oklahoma Foster Care
New York Times
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Published: April 16, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY — From age 4, when she was taken from her drug-using mother, until she turned 18 last year and left the foster care system, Sasha Gray moved a total of 42 times. There were emergency shelters, foster homes, group homes, a brief trial with her mother and short stays in psychiatric care because of defiant behavior.
When she complained that a foster father had climbed into her bed in his underwear, she was moved again, but state workers kept placing other children in the same house until the man was arrested for molesting his niece.
“Instead of properly investigating it, they let it slide,” Ms. Gray said. She now lives with an aunt and despite the traumatic churning of homes and “parents,” she finished high school and is studying to be a nurse.
Ms. Gray’s stories of displacement and abuse while in state custody are unusually common in Oklahoma, according to a new lawsuit and many lawyers, foster parents, former foster children, volunteer mentors and even state employees. more ...
Polygamous raid mystery: Does allegedly abused teen bride 'Sarah' exist?
By Brooke Adams
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/16/2008 06:09:26 AM MDT
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Where is the girl?
Thirteen days have passed since Texas authorities entered a polygamous sect's ranch in Eldorado and removed every child living there, but they still do not know if they have the 16-year-old whose calls for help moved them to act.
And there are questions about whether she really exists.
"It's all a farce," says Annette, one FLDS woman whose children are in state custody.
Says Donna: "They searched. Did they find her?"
Skeptics point to a number of problems with the caller's story, which Texas authorities acknowledge was key to the dramatic raid. No call for help, no raid.
FLDS women who were in state shelters with their children until Monday say investigators appeared desperate to find "Sarah" and were grilling girls by that name.
There also are discrepancies between what the girl said about her "spiritual husband" and what is known about the man later named in the search and arrest warrant first used to enter the YFZ Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. more ...
Polygamous mothers decry loss of children; Texas says it was necessary
By Brooke Adams
and Kristen Moulton
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/15/2008 11:35:00 AM MDT
ELDORADO, Texas - Concealing their anger but not their tears, more than two dozen women of a polygamous sect told reporters they were surrounded by troopers and forced to leave their children in state custody Monday.
In an extraordinary break from past reticence, the women met with reporters at the YFZ Ranch hours after leaving their children and accused the Texas Child Protective Services of lies and trickery.
"They just as well line us up and shoot us as take our children away," said Donna, a 35-year-old mother who left behind a 10-year-old daughter. The women used only their first names.
After a week's stay at two makeshift shelters - described by one woman as a
"concentration camp" - state authorities moved women and children to the San Angelo Coliseum on Monday, promising them they were being taken to a "bigger, better" place. They were told they would be reunited with other family members, the women said.
Once at the coliseum, the women were separated according to the ages of their children.
Mothers of those age 6 or older were herded into a room, each one flanked by a CPS worker. More than 50 troopers, according to the women, lined the room. The women were given a choice: return to the ranch or go to a domestic violence shelter.
Their children, they were told, were no longer theirs. "They told us the state is in charge of them now," said Donna. more ...
China 'gold medal' for executions
BBC News
Tuesday, 15 April 2008 11:02 UK
The Chinese authorities put to death at least 470 people last year, but probably killed many more, human rights group Amnesty International has said.
Amnesty said the hidden extent of executions in China, where figures are secret, might mean the Olympic host was behind the bulk of them worldwide. But China's foreign ministry defended the death penalty, saying China limited it to a small number of criminals.
At least 1,252 people are known to have been executed in 24 countries in 2007. Just five countries - China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US - were responsible for 88% of known executions in the world, Amnesty said. About 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 nations last year and up to 27,500 people are now estimated to be on death row.
Swift justice
In its annual report on the death penalty, Amnesty International said China had executed more than any country last year. While there were 470 confirmed executions, the real figure was likely to run into thousands, Amnesty said.
"As the world's biggest executioner, China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions," said the organisation's UK director, Kate Allen.
More than 60 crimes can carry the death penalty in China, including tax fraud, stealing VAT receipts, damaging electric power facilities, selling counterfeit medicine, embezzlement, accepting bribes and drug offences, Amnesty said. Those sentenced to death are usually shot, but some provinces are introducing lethal injections, which the government says is more humane.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Beijing, says justice is usually swift - most of those sentenced to death are executed only weeks after they are found guilty. more ...
Lady Arrested Again After Being Tortured by Police
Olympics fervor taking its human rights toll
Sang Chunlian shows her burns caused by police
during her detention in 2007. (Photo from Victim)
By Ding Cheng
Epoch Times Staff
Apr 14, 2008
CHINA—In April 2008, police from the Shouguang City Public Safety Bureau in Shandong Province arrested Falun Gong practitioner Sang Chunlian. Six months ago, police from the same police bureau sexually abused Sang while she was detained. This time, according to a source, police again tortured Sang to extort a confession.
On September 24, 2007, police arrested Sang, who lived in Houzhang Village, Shouguang City, and detained her in the bureau. That night, two police forced her to sit on the ground, pulled her arms behind her back and pulled her chin up from behind. They slapped her face, stamped on her legs and feet, and burned her arms and hands with cigarette lighters until her flesh was blistered and purple. One policeman even stripped Sang and had the other officers leave the room, saying "I am going to burn her genital area." When questioned about the torture, the head of the Bureau, Nie Zuokun denied it. After her release, Sang exposed her torture for publication on Clearwisdom.net.
On April 1, 2008, police from the same Bureau arrested Sang again. According to the source, Sang was tortured in the Industrial District Police Station in Shouguang City. Police from the Shouguang City 610 Office and the Bureau were involved. more ...
Bush Aide Sees ‘Cop-Out’ in Olympic Boycotts
The New York Times
By BRIAN KNOWLTON
Published: April 14, 2008
WASHINGTON — A top White House official on Sunday criticized foreign leaders who plan to skip the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing following China’s crackdown in Tibet, calling such actions a “cop out” far less effective than the “quiet diplomacy” the United States is pursuing.
“The whole issue of opening ceremonies is a nonissue,” said the official, Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser. “I think it is a way of dodging what really needs to happen.”
Mr. Hadley did not single out any foreign leaders by name. Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany have said they will not attend the opening of the Games on Aug. 8. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has said he may boycott the ceremony if China refuses to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.
“This issue is in some sense a bit of a red herring,” Mr. Hadley said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think, unfortunately, a lot of countries say, ‘Well, if we say that we are not going to the opening ceremonies, we’ve checked the box on Tibet.’ That’s a cop out.”
In an interview Sunday on the ABC program “This Week,” former President Jimmy Carter, who led a 1980 boycott of the Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, said the current situation was not comparable. more ...
For the West, Many Tough Calls on China
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: April 13, 2008
PARIS — As the Dalai Lama begins a contentious two-week visit to the United States and the Olympic torch continues its tortuous journey across six continents toward Beijing, the 2008 Games, already tarnished, have become a political as well as an athletic spectacle, with vying theories of human rights and how best to promote them.
Indian and Tibetan children prayed for peace at Rajghat, the memorial to Gandhi in New Delhi. Their demonstration was organized by Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a children’s advocacy group.
Groups devoted to causes as diverse as press freedom, Falun Gong, Tibet and autonomy for Uighur Muslims in China’s far west have used the Games as leverage to highlight issues that had been relegated to advocacy chat rooms during most of China’s long economic boom.
Aggressive street demonstrations in London, Paris and the United States, and mounting calls for President Bush and other world leaders to skip the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in August as a show of protest against China’s internal policies, have produced a nationalist backlash in China. There, both the leadership and ordinary people resent what many see as a plot to disrupt the Games and damage China’s image as a rising power, which the Olympics once seemed likely to burnish. more ...
Backstage Role of China's Army in Tibet Unrest Is a Contrast to 1989
Use of Police Reflects Heed for Reaction Abroad, Analysts Say
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 13, 2008; Page A17
BEIJING -- As Chinese security forces blanketed Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas over the past month, the regular army remained discreetly in the background, under orders to let police take the lead in suppressing the unrest that exploded in Lhasa and quickly spread to adjoining provinces.
The backstage role played by the People's Liberation Army marked a sharp change from China's last big protests, in 1989. During that crisis, PLA troops using tanks and automatic weapons moved in to quell rioting in Tibet and crush pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unarmed civilians.
The decision to minimize military intervention this time suggested that the Communist Party leadership did not consider the Tibet crisis to be as serious as the 1989 protests, when China's entire ruling system was thought to be under challenge. Analysts here also saw the recent lower-key response as reflecting official concern over the reaction abroad if the army were to deploy massively against internal unrest as China prepares to host the Beijing Olympics in August. more ...
US candidates ride the China bogey
Asia Times
Apr 12, 2008
By Dmitry Shlapentokh
In the recent in the speeches of some candidates in the United States presidential campaign, China emerged in a way almost as the replacement of the USSR of the old days.
It became the dreadful "evil empire", the major enemy of the US in the long run. Still, there is a difference. While the USSR had threatened the US with its missiles, China poses a threat by its huge reserves of US dollars.
Elaborating on this threat, Senator Hillary Clinton provided a scenario in which China could hamper the US's foreign policy. She presented the hypothetical picture of China invading Taiwan and the US contemplating moving its fleet to protect the island. At the same time, China would threaten to dump its huge holdings of US dollars and thereby wreck the US economy. And this, Clinton stated, might, indeed, prevent the US from acting as it should.
Clinton was not wrong, not just in elaborating on a possible scenario but in another important aspect: in the present world, economic power - in the case of China, a huge currency reserve could indeed be used as a direct weapon. And Clinton's call to stop this situation is pretty much justifiable. However, the point is that she provided no concrete plan on how to do this. She provided no plan on how the US would end the flow of dollars abroad and no plan on how the dollars already in the hands of foreign powers could be brought back to the US without damaging the American economy.
The continuing US trade deficit with China is one of the major reasons for the continuous flow of dollars out of the country; and here the inefficiency of the US economy is a key. These statements could well be challenged; and those who point to the low cost of Chinese goods vis a vis US goods usually underscore the lower cost of Chinese labor. more ...
12 reasons 'bitter' is bad for Obama
politico.com
By MIKE ALLEN | 4/12/08 5:04 PM EST
A Clinton comeback was looking far-fetched. But operatives in both parties were buzzing about that possibility Saturday following the revelation that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told wealthy San Franciscans that small-town Pennsylvanians and Midwesterners “cling to guns or religion” because they are “bitter” about their economic status.
Obama at first dug in on that contention Friday after audio of the private fundraiser was posted by The Huffington Post. Altering course, on Saturday in Muncie, Ind., he conceded that he “didn’t say it as well as I should have.” And he told the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal that “obviously, if I worded things in a way that made people offended, I deeply regret that. ... The underlying truth of what I said remains, which is simply that people who have seen their way of life upended because of economic distress are frustrated and rightfully so."
Here is what he said April 6, referring to people living in areas hit by job losses: “[I]t’s not surprising, then, that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” more ...
Group asks for boycot of olympic sponsers
The group called Peaceful Initiatives has posted a excellent video on youtube.com which proposes a boycott of the sponsors of the Olympic games for four years. This, because of China abysmal human rights record.
To view this video click here... arnie.net and it's associated web sites fully support any initiative which will help bring improved human rights to the people of communist China.
British Leader Says He Won’t Attend Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympics
New York Times
By SARAH LYALL
Published: April 10, 2008
LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that he would not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games this summer.
The prime minister has been under intense political pressure over the issue. Asked about it repeatedly, he has until now refused to rule out going, and even seemed to imply that he did plan to go.
In response to a question at a news conference at 10 Downing Street last week, for instance, he said, “I think President Sarkozy said himself that he expected Britain, because we are going to host the next Olympics, to be present at the Olympic ceremonies, and I will certainly be there.”
But on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the plan all along had been for Mr. Brown to attend just the closing ceremony, as it was “not practical” for him to visit twice.
“There has been no change in our position,” said the spokeswoman, who, following standard government procedure, spoke on condition of anonymity. “I am flummoxed by this media-created storm.”
According to the BBC, it has been widely reported in China that Mr. Brown would attend the opening celebration.
Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, accused Mr. Brown of ducking the issue, particularly when two other European leaders, Angela Merkel of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy of France, have suggested that they may not attend.
“Chancellor Merkel in Germany and President Sarkozy in France saying quite specifically that they might not go to the opening ceremony shows that the debate has always been about the opening ceremony,” Mr. Clegg told the BBC.
“So now suddenly to be asked to believe by No. 10 that they never really intended to go in the first place either smacks of a rather odd way of going about things or just downright incompetence.” more ...
Olympics to 'rebound from crisis'
BBC News
Thursday, 10 April 2008 11:18 UK
The head of the International Olympic Committee has said anti-China protests had created a "crisis" but that the Games in Beijing would "rebound".
Jacques Rogge told a meeting of national Olympic committees in Beijing that the Games would succeed.
But Mr Rogge urged China to respect its "moral engagement" to improve human rights ahead of the Games.
China said it hoped the IOC would steer clear of what it called "irrelevant political factors".
"I hope IOC officials can eliminate all kinds of disturbance and continue to adhere to principles of the Olympic charter," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.
Demonstrators critical of China's rights record and the recent crackdown on protests in Tibet have disrupted the UK, French and US stages of the Olympic torch relay.
The Dalai Lama - who many Tibetans regard as their spiritual leader - said on Thursday that China deserved to host the Games, but that protesters had the right to express themselves in non-violent ways.
Also on Thursday, members of the European Parliament called on EU leaders to boycott the games if there was no resumption of dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama. more ...
Olympic Games May Have Run Their Course
NPR
Morning Edition, April 9, 2008
There is something wonderfully ironic about the Olympic torch, which is making its journey about the world now rather as if it has a big "KICK ME" sign on it for China.
The torch relay was conjured up by the Nazis for the 1936 Olympics and then embedded in our dreamy Olympic consciousness by the magnificent gossamer photography of Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's favorite moviemaker. Now, three-quarters of a century later, it has come back as an unexpected curse to haunt another totalitarian government to which the International Olympic Committee has hitched its wagon. more ...
China vows to keep torch on track
BBC News
Tuesday, 8 April 2008 11:56 UK
Beijing has said "no force" can stop the Olympic flame relay, as it faces protests on the US leg of its journey.
Seven demonstrators have already been arrested in San Francisco after tying "Free Tibet" banners to the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The flame is due to arrive in the city within hours, following anti-China protests in Paris and London.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will discuss the torch relay in meetings in Beijing in the coming days.
IOC President Jacques Rogge said he was "deeply saddened" by the protests in London and Paris and concerned about the next leg of the flame relay in San Francisco.
The IOC is unlikely to scrap the rest of the international leg of the Beijing torch relay, says the BBC's Olympics correspondent Gordon Farquhar.
What is most likely is that the Beijing international relay will continue, and a decision will be taken after the Games in China about the desirability of holding international relays before future Games, our correspondent adds. more ...
Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco
Security concerns high after pro-Tibet protesters caused chaos in Paris
MSNBC
April 8, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO - The Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop amid heavy security Tuesday, one day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China’s human rights record.
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the committee would consider ending the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of such anti-Chinese protests. more ...
Protests cut short Olympic relay
BBC News
Monday, 7 April 2008 17:23 UK
French security officials have been forced to cut short the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay following anti-Chinese protests along the route. The torch was extinguished three times due to the protests before being taken on a bus to the relay's end point. It comes after 37 people were arrested in London as protesters disrupted the torch relay there on Sunday. The Olympic flame is being carried through 20 countries before arriving for the Beijing Games in August.
The Paris relay started to go wrong almost from the start, despite the presence of 3,000 police along the route, riding motorcycles, jogging or on skates. A member of the French Green party was restrained by police after attempting to grab the torch from the first of Paris's 80 torch bearers, former world 400 metres hurdles champion Stephane Diagana, Reuters news agency said. more ...
In Tibetan Monasteries, the Heavy Hand of the Party
By Jill Drew
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 6, 2008; Page A14
BEIJING, April 5 -- Arjia Rinpoche was 47 years old and a senior Tibetan abbot when he first signed a document denouncing the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader.
It was 1997, and about 50 Communist Party workers had come to his monastery to conduct what is called a "patriotic education" campaign -- 45 days of instruction in the Chinese version of history and a requirement that all monks sign a document accepting Chinese rule in Tibet and rejecting the Dalai Lama as a "separatist." For many followers, that amounts to painful renunciation of their religion's central figure.
"It was not our wish, not our thought, but we don't have choices," Arjia said. "We have fear."
Such campaigns are now a standard feature of life in Tibetan monasteries and nunneries. They are one of many tools Chinese leaders use to tighten party control of a religion whose charismatic leader, the 72-year-old Dalai Lama, is revered in Tibet, respected around the world and viewed in Beijing as a threat to the party's supremacy.
After widespread protests swept the Tibetan plateau last month, Chinese leaders responded with a combination of arrests, interrogations and vigorous education campaigns. At least eight people were reportedly killed in a remote town in Sichuan province Thursday in a protest sparked by an attempt to force monks to participate in an education campaign. more ...
China to Beef Up 'Patriotic' Education
By TINI TRAN
The Associated Press
Saturday, April 5, 2008; 2:54 PM
BEIJING -- China vowed Saturday to ramp up a campaign requiring Tibetan Buddhist monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to Beijing.
But resentment over "patriotic education" has ignited protests that have left eight people dead in recent days in a southwestern province and could fuel future unrest despite a massive security presence aimed at quelling the demonstrations.
The Tibet Daily newspaper reported Saturday that the government pledged to "strengthen patriotic education" especially among young monks to help them "become patriotic, religion-loving and law-abiding." more ...
China: New violence in Tibet kills 8 activists
USA Today
April 5, 2008
BEIJING (AP) — New violence has broken out in a volatile Tibetan region of western China, leaving eight people dead, an overseas Tibet activist group said Friday. China's official Xinhua News Agency said a government official was seriously injured.
The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said police opened fire on hundreds of Buddhist monks and lay people who had marched on local government offices to demand the release of two monks detained for possessing photographs of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
Xinhua made no mention of deaths or injuries among protesters, but said a "riot" had flared up Thursday night outside government offices in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture high in the mountains in Sichuan province along the border with Tibet. more ...
China confirms new Tibetan riots
BBC News
Friday, 4 April 2008 16:26 UK
Renewed violence has broken out in a Tibetan area of western China, with reports of several injuries.
Xinhua news agency said rioters attacked government offices in Garze, Sichuan province, on Thursday evening, leaving one official seriously hurt. Tibetan exile groups say security forces fired on crowds of civilians, killing at least eight people. The violence comes weeks after unrest swept through Tibetan areas and Beijing responded with a security crackdown. Protests were peaceful initially, but later turned violent and ethnic Chinese were targeted.
Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting. Foreign media organisations cannot report freely from Tibetan areas, so it is difficult to confirm facts from the area. more ...
Silent Burmese protester jailed
Friday, 4 April 2008 14:25 UK
By Jonathan Head
South East Asia correspondent, BBC News
Burma saw rare protests in late 2007
The Burmese authorities have sentenced an activist to life in prison for mounting a silent protest at the US embassy in Rangoon in August last year.
At a closed trial inside the notorious Insein prison, Ohn Than was sentenced and a given a fine of less than $1.
This, for a protest in which he did not utter a word, but instead carried a placard, calling for parliament to reconvene and prices to be reduced. more ...
White House opposes ban on Bush presence at opening ceremony
A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives on 1 April that would ban President George Bush from attending the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, was “not the best way” to respond to the situation in Tibet, a White House spokesperson, Katherine Starr, said yesterday. “We share concerns on Tibet and other issues, but efforts to prohibit US attendance at this international sporting event are not the best way to address them,” she said, pointing out that the US athletes participating in the games would “represent the best of this country.” more ...
Beijing’s broken promises
When the Olympic bid committee came calling on Beijing in 2001 –before the Chinese capital was awarded the 2008 games — government workers were sent in advance to cover up the damage pollution had done to the city’s parks by spraying thousands of litres of green food colouring on the smog-stained grass. That should have been a warning: Nothing about China hosting the Olympics was going to be as sanguine as it appeared.
Over the weekend, 80 or more Tibetans died protesting China’s six decades of occupation and repression of their country. In scenes reminiscent of the brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protestors in 1989 in Tiananmen Square, Chinese soldiers surged into crowds of unarmed Tibetans, killing scores as they went. more ...
Paulson urges China to have dialogue on Tibet
Reuters
Wed Apr 2, 2008 12:43pm EDT
By Glenn Somerville
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson raised the sensitive topic of unrest in Tibet during a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, urging a resolution to the issue through dialogue.
Paulson was the most senior U.S. official to visit China since protests broke out in Tibet that burst into a deadly riot on March 14. The violence was followed by more anti-government protests across ethnic Tibetan areas of western China.
"As you might imagine, I expressed our concern about the violence and urged a peaceful resolution through dialogue," Paulson told reporters. "I made that point, I felt, in a very appropriate way to the appropriate people," he said, declining to specify to whom he had raised the issue.
Paulson met with President Hu Jintao, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, among other officials. He is due to meet Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday. more ...
Rep. forms Tibetan Caucus, reiterates Olympic boycott
Daily Pilot[Wednesday, April 02, 2008 20:21]
U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has formed a caucus in the House of Representatives to support Tibetans in the face of China’s crackdowns on unrest in the region.
Rohrabacher and Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) have founded the Tibetan Caucus, which seeks to oppose reported human rights violations by the Chinese government.
“We urge you to join the Tibetan Caucus to uphold the rights of the Tibetan people and give a voice to those that the Chinese regime has silenced,” he and Abercrombie wrote in a letter to Congress.
Rohrabacher used the occasion to repeat his call for a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, calling the country a repeat human rights violator that lacks the moral stature to host the games.
“Just as Hitler used the 1936 Olympics as a platform to showcase his fascist propaganda, it’s wrong for the United States to support such a prestigious event in a venue hosted by a similarly fascist regime,” he wrote. more ....
Olympics 'worsening China rights'
BBC News
Wednesday, 2 April 2008 05:36 UK
China's human rights record is getting worse, not better, because of the Beijing Olympics, a rights group says.
According to Amnesty International, China is clamping down on dissent in a bid to portray a stable and harmonious image ahead of the Games in August. It urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world leaders to speak out against abuses, including China's handling of protests in Tibet.
US President George W Bush is facing calls to boycott the Games' opening. "It would be clearly inappropriate for you to attend the Olympic Games in China, given the increasingly repressive nature of that country's government," a group of 15 US politicians wrote in a letter to Mr Bush on Tuesday. Mr Bush has said he plans to attend the ceremony but Germany's Angela Merkel says she will not. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out a boycott.
An IOC team is currently in Beijing to assess its readiness for the Games.
'Beyond reach'
In a report entitled China: The Olympics Countdown, the London-based group said the Olympics had failed to act as a catalyst for reform in China. more ...
Tibet tense as Olympic torch heads for Beijing
Reuters
By Lindsay Beck
Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:34pm EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - Tibet's capital Lhasa was calm on Sunday following a brief burst of unrest weeks after a bloody uprising against Chinese rule, but in Greece and Nepal flurries of pro-Tibet protest continued.
A small group of activists tried to stop the Olympic flame reaching the Athens stadium where Greece handed it to China, but they were quickly removed by police.
Details of an incident on the streets of Lhasa on Saturday remained unclear. A mobile text message to residents from police said security checks carried out earlier in the day had "frightened citizens" and caused panic in the city centre.
The International Campaign for Tibet and Radio Free Asia quoted witnesses as describing people "running in all directions and shouting". It was not clear if the security check was in response to a protest or if the check itself caused the panic.
"Severely battle any creation or any spreading of rumors that would upset or frighten people or cause social disorder or illegal criminal behavior that could damage social stability," read the text message, reprinted by the Free Tibet Campaign and International Campaign for Tibet.
Beijing is preparing to receive the Olympic flame on Monday, for the start of a domestic and international relay China's government had hoped would symbolize national unity ahead of Games in August.
Instead, China finds itself trying to deflect criticism over its policies in Tibet and its response to unrest there, and could face the prospect of weeks of protests as the Olympic flame circles the globe.
In Nepal, home to more than 20,000 Tibetans, police scuffled with Tibetan protesters, who have marched almost daily since mid-March, and detained at least 113. more ...
Merkel says she will not attend opening of Beijing Olympics
Ian Traynor in Brussels and Jonathan Watts in Beijing
The Guardian,
Saturday March 29 2008
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.
As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.
The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics.
Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.
"The presence of politicians at the inauguration of the Olympics seems inappropriate," Tusk said. "I do not intend to take part."
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, confirmed that Merkel was staying away. He added that neither he nor Wolfgang Schäuble, the interior minister responsible for sport, would attend the opening ceremony.
Hans-Gert Pöttering, the politician from Merkel's Christian Democratic party who chairs the European parliament, encouraged talk of an Olympic boycott this week and invited the Dalai Lama to address the chamber in Strasbourg, while another senior German Christian Democrat, Ruprecht Polenz, said a boycott should remain on the table.
"I cannot imagine German politicians attending the opening or closing ceremonies [if the Tibetan crackdown continued]," he said. Merkel enraged the Chinese leadership a few months ago by receiving the Dalai Lama in Berlin for private talks. more ...
Bush calls Hu to urge Tibet talks
BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 27 March 2008, 01:23 GMT
US President George W Bush has urged China to begin dialogue with Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Mr Bush called his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to raise his concerns about the unrest and to urge him to ease access for journalists and diplomats.
Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of being behind the demonstrations - the biggest against China for 20 years, which have left several people dead. The Dalai Lama has criticised violent protests and urged dialogue with China. The anti-China protests began on 10 March and developed into violent rioting in Lhasa.
China says 19 people have been killed by rioters incited by Tibetan separatists. The Tibetan government-in-exile says about 140 people have been killed in a crackdown on protesters by Chinese security forces.
Delayed response
"The president raised his concerns about the situation in Tibet and encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. She said Mr Bush had also called on China "to allow access for journalists and diplomats".
Foreign journalists have largely been blocked from covering the unrest, though China allowed a group of foreign reporters into the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on Wednesday for the first time since the violence began.
The government said the group, which does not include the BBC, would be able to interview "victims of criminal acts". more ...
Photos provide the real picture on Tibet violence
Since the protests began, the Chinese government has consistently denied the high death tolls in Tibet. Exile groups claim as many as 100 people have died, many of them shot. The Chinese government claims only 16 have died, and they have denied shooting anyone.
Claims from both sides are difficult to verify because reporters have been expelled from the area. See the wounded and killed people of Tibet in photos more...
Tibetans Expect Little Help From World
AP[Sunday, March 23, 2008 01:06]
(AP) DHARMSALA, India - Nearly six decades of struggle against the might of China has taught the Tibetans one thing: Ask the world for little, expect less.
As Tibetans rose up in recent weeks against China’s harsh rule over the Himalayan region and China sent forces to quell the protests, Tibet’s government-in exile-sent its envoys to far-flung capitals with appeals for help.
But guided by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, they kept their requests modest. They know few countries have little appetite to cross China, particularly at a time the world is counting on the emerging superpower to keep the global economy ticking as the United States appears headed into a recession.
"His Holiness says we have to be realistic," said Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who has come to embody the Tibetan struggle since he fled to India in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against China.
From the exiled Tibetan leaders, there were no calls for sanctions, like those imposed when Myanmar suppressed pro-democracy protests last year, or even a boycott of this summer’s Beijing Olympics.
more ...
China puts out its Tibet version
CNN News
updated 3:55 a.m. EDT, Sun March 23, 2008
CHENGDU, China (AP) -- With restive Tibetan areas swarming with troops and closed to scrutiny from the outside world, China's government has turned up efforts to put its own version of the unrest before the international public.
Information barely trickled out of the Tibetan capital Lhasa and other far-flung Tibetan communities, where foreign media were banned and thousands of troops dispatched to quell the most widespread demonstrations against Chinese rule in nearly five decades.
The Chinese government was attempting to fill the information vacuum with its own message, saying Sunday through official media that the restive areas were under control.
The government has also disseminated footage of Tibetan protesters attacking Chinese and accusations of biased reporting by Western media via TV, the Internet, e-mail and YouTube, which is blocked in China. The media barrage underscored that the government campaign is moving into a new phase of damage control ahead of the much-anticipated Beijing Olympics in August.
On Sunday, Communist Party newspapers accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the riots in Tibet to try to mar the Olympics and overthrow the area's communist leaders. It was China's latest attempt to demonize the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in the eyes of the Chinese public, which is strongly supportive of the Olympics. Video Watch demonstrators in India voice support for the Dalai Lama »
"The Beijing Olympics are eagerly awaited by the people of the whole world, but the Dalai clique is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence," the People's Daily said.
While China's rigorous policing of the Internet is far from foolproof, its official Internet is pervasive and there is no easy access to an alternative in the country. The difficulty of confirming what is going on inside Tibet may also be hindering a stronger world reaction.
"They've successfully managed the messages available to the average Chinese citizen, and this has fueled broad public support for a heavy-handed approach to controlling unrest," said David Bandurski, a Hong Kong University expert on Chinese media. "There will be no nuances to Tibet coverage." more ...
China shows its brutal side in Tibet
Edmonton Sun[Saturday, March 22, 2008 18:02]
Paramilitary police march in a street in Zhongdian, in a Tibetan area known as Shangri-La, in Yunnan province Saturday March 22, 2008. Thousands of troops have moved into Tibetan areas outside Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) following last week's anti-government riots in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Paramilitary police march in a street in Zhongdian, in a Tibetan area known as Shangri-La, in Yunnan province Saturday March 22, 2008. Thousands of troops have moved into Tibetan areas outside Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) following last week's anti-government riots in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
The authoritarian crackdown by the Chinese state on the people of Tibet is in full swing. Since foreigners and journalists are now banned from the country and Tibetans can be jailed for speaking to foreign media, there's little anyone outside China can do now to influence events. The People's Liberation Army will do what it does, and all expressions of public dissent in Tibet will be ruthlessly crushed -- again.
The greater question is what do the rest of us do next. Will we turn a blind eye, as we have in the past?
China's repression in Tibet is not a theory, or a political position. It is a fact, backed up by numerous independent accounts. In 1950 China invaded and took over Tibet by force. Since then China has deliberately flooded the country with ethnic Han Chinese immigrants, in effect making Tibetans a minority in their own land. Tibet's Buddhist monks, the country's traditional spiritual and temporal leaders, have been either repressed or co-opted by Beijing. more ...
Tibetan exiles reel at images of their dead
Matt Wade, Dharamsala
March 21, 2008
TIBETANS in exile in India have gathered outside the monastery and temple complex in Dharamsala that is home to the Dalai Lama each day since protests started in Tibet.
Information from inside Tibet has been posted regularly at the entrance to the complex known as the Tsuglagkhang, and there is always a crowd of people reading the notices. But it has been getting harder to look at the material being posted on the wall. For the past few days, grim colour photos of the disfigured bodies of Tibetan protesters killed in Tibet have appeared.
They are gruesome images of bodies in pools of blood. Some appear to have gunshot wounds, conflicting with Chinese claims that no live ammunition has been used on protesters. Yesterday, one young monk studied the photos with an ashen face. Eventually he turned away and wiped tears from his eyes with his maroon tunic. He walked slowly back into the monastery. more ...
Chief of firm involved in breach is Obama adviser
From Kate Bolduan
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign, a source said Saturday.
John O. Brennan, president and CEO of the Analysis Corp., advises the Illinois Democrat on foreign policy and intelligence issues, the source said.
Brennan briefed the media on behalf of the campaign this month. The executive is a former senior CIA official and former interim director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
He contributed $2,300 to the Obama campaign in January. When asked about the contribution, a State Department official told CNN's Zain Verjee, "We ethically awarded contracts. Political affiliation is not one of the factors that we check." more ...
Chinese hackers: No site is safe
We Tapped into Pentagon...
CNN
By John Vause
ZHOUSHAN, China (CNN) -- They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access to the world's most sensitive sites, including the Pentagon.
The leader of these Chinese hackers says there "is always a weakness" on networks that allows cyber break-ins.
In fact, they say they are sometimes paid secretly by the Chinese government -- a claim the Beijing government denies. "No Web site is one hundred percent safe. There are Web sites with high-level security, but there is always a weakness," says Xiao Chen, the leader of this group.
"Xiao Chen" is his online name. Along with his two colleagues, he does not want to reveal his true identity. The three belong to what some Western experts say is a civilian cyber militia in China, launching attacks on government and private Web sites around the world. Video Watch hackers' clandestine Chinese operation »
If there is a profile of a cyber hacker, these three are straight from central casting -- young and thin, with skin pale from spending too many long nights in front of a computer. One hacker says he is a former computer operator in the People's Liberation Army; another is a marketing graduate; and Xiao Chen says he is a self-taught programmer. "First, you must know about the Web site you want to attack. You must know what program it is written with," says Xiao Chen. "There is a saying, 'Know about both yourself and the enemy, and you will be invincible.'"
CNN decided to withhold the address of these hackers' Web site, but Xiao Chen says it has been operating for more than three years, with 10,000 registered users. The site offers tools, articles, news and flash tutorials about hacking.
Private computer experts in the United States from iDefense Security Intelligence, which provides cybersecurity advice to governments and Fortune 500 companies, say the group's site "appears to be an important site in the broader Chinese hacking community." more ...
Bush: U.S. is not headed for recession
President rejects any further stimulus measures for now
MSNBC
updated 1:15 p.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 28, 2008
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday the country is not recession-bound and, despite expressing concern about slowing economic growth, rejected for now any additional stimulus efforts. "We acted robustly," he said.
"We'll see the effects of this pro-growth package," Bush told reporters at a White House news conference, acknowledging that some lawmakers already are talking about a second stimulus package. "Why don't we let stimulus package 1, which seemed like a good idea at the time, have a chance to kick in?"
Bush's view of the economy was decidedly rosier than that of many economists, who say the country is nearing recession territory or may already be there. "I'm concerned about the economy," he said. "I don't think we're headed to recession. But no question, we're in a slowdown."
Story continues below ↓advertisement
The centerpiece of government efforts to brace the wobbly economy is a package Congress passed and Bush signed last month. It will rush rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 to millions of people and give tax incentives to businesses.
On one issue particularly worrisome to American consumers, there are indications that paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline is not out of the question once the summer driving season arrives. Asked about that, Bush said "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. ... I know it's high now." more ...
IN THE DRAGON'S LAIR
US prowls for China in the Philippines
Asia Times
Feb 28, 2008
By Herbert Docena
Since the closure of its military bases in the country in 1991, the United States has incrementally regained, transformed and deepened its military presence and intervention in the Philippines. The manner in which the US has attempted to re-establish basing in the Philippines illustrates its attempts to radically overhaul its global offensive capabilities to become more agile and efficient while overcoming mounting domestic opposition to its presence around the world.
The objectives with which the United States has sought to achieve this in the Philippines - a country that is firmly within what US analysts and strategists call "the dragon's lair" - point to the
emerging US strategy toward what it has officially identified as the one country with "the greatest potential to compete with the United States" - China. In this strategy, the Philippines, by virtue both of its location as well as its political disposition towards the US relative to its neighbors, plays a crucial role. more ...
The Middle East...China's new playground? Posted 12:00AM
The Washington Post
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
China and the Middle East...A new frontier and a big challenge for the US.
The Global Power Barometer has been tracking for nearly two years the rise of Chinese diplomatic activity in Africa. It began first when countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and many others switched their diplomatic penchant from Taipei to Beijing after heavy economic incentive packages were offered by China across the continent. Now only five countries in Africa still maintain ties with Taiwan: Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Malawi, The Gambia and Sao Tome and Principe. By 2006 many global analysts had taken significant notice of China's prowess in Africa, observing large Chinese expatriate communities across Africa, in charge of projects such as mining in Zambia, steel plants in Zimbabwe, transportation planning in Namibia and oil exploitation in Sudan. Beijing hosted a massive summit for African leaders in 2007 (with 43 member nations attending) and Chinese President Hu Jintao has visited more African nations than most people in the Bush administration could probably name.
Recently, global thought leaders have been taking note of a new trend: China's growing role in the Middle East. On Sunday, one of China's state news agencies, Xinhua, reported that an Egyptian leader praised Beijing for its positive role in Sudan. This is significant, given the massive international criticism China has been receiving for its blind eye turned toward Khartoum's role in the genocide in Darfur. China, a supplier of arms to Sudan, and with a large stake in Sudanese oil, now comes under fire from international rights organizations especially in light of this year's Olympics to be held in Beijing. Egyptian expert Hani Raslan, head of the Sudan and Nile Basin Studies Program of the Al-Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies praised China's role in Sudan, saying: "China provides humanitarian aid, builds water projects, hospitals and schools in Darfur to promote local development and improve people's lives. China doesn't interfere in Sudan's internal affairs. China's investment in Sudan can help improve the expertise of the local people." (For the full story, see China key articles).
Such praise for Beijing has not been in large supply in the Middle East, but key developments have taken place that suggest China's role in the region is increasing. Some pundits have suggested that China is seeking to build a military base in the Middle East, likely in Iran. Given China's lukewarm reception for increased sanctions on Iran given its nuclear program, and considering generally warm relations between Tehran and Beijing, this could be a viable project. It is worth noting, however, that Iran has brushed off any rumors to this effect. more ...
US arrests four 'Chinese spies'
Four people have been arrested in the United States for allegedly passing secret defence information to China.
BBC News - Last Updated: Monday, 11 February 2008, 20:26 GMT
A 72-year-old former Boeing engineer is accused of giving China details about the space shuttle and other aerospace programmes.
In a separate case, two men and a woman are accused of handing over US defence department documents about Taiwan.
A US justice department spokesman said the cases represented serious breaches of national security.
more ...
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Olympic gag row leads to review
British Olympic officials have insisted there is no intention to gag athletes from making political comment in China during the 2008 Games in Beijing.
BBC - Sports Last Updated: Monday, 11 February 2008, 09:04 GMT
UK Olympians had been required to sign contracts which would have prohibited political demonstrations or propaganda. But the British Olympic Association (BOA) has said it will now look again at the wording of the draft agreement. Chief executive Simon Clegg said the BOA had "no desire to restrict athletes' freedom of speech".
For the last 20 years team members have been obliged to sign a contract as a condition of taking part in the Games. But for the first time a clause had been inserted into the Team Members Agreement stating athletes must not comment on politically-sensitive issues during the event in Beijing. more ...
U.S. in role of wounded giant at Davos
International Herald Tribune
By Mark Landler
Published: January 23, 2008
DAVOS, Switzerland: The United States has filled various roles at the World Economic Forum over the past decade: dot-com dynamo, benevolent superpower, feared aggressor, and now, wounded giant.
On the first day of this conference, a parade of bankers, economists, and political officials expressed deep fears about the faltering American economy, peppered with blunt criticism of its institutions, chiefly the Federal Reserve, which some accused of sowing the seeds of today's crisis.
George Soros, the financier who made a fortune betting against the pound, went so far Wednesday as to say that the downturn would put an end to the long status of the dollar as the world's default currency.
"The current crisis is not only the bust that follows the housing boom," Soros said. "It's basically the end of a 60-year period of continuing credit expansion based on the dollar as the reserve currency." more ...
The worst market crisis in 60 years
FT.com
By George Soros
Published: January 22 2008 19:57 | Last updated: January 22 2008 19:57
The current financial crisis was precipitated by a bubble in the US housing market. In some ways it resembles other crises that have occurred since the end of the second world war at intervals ranging from four to 10 years.
However, there is a profound difference: the current crisis marks the end of an era of credit expansion based on the dollar as the international reserve currency. The periodic crises were part of a larger boom-bust process. The current crisis is the culmination of a super-boom that has lasted for more than 60 years.
Boom-bust processes usually revolve around credit and always involve a bias or misconception. This is usually a failure to recognise a reflexive, circular connection between the willingness to lend and the value of the collateral. Ease of credit generates demand that pushes up the value of property, which in turn increases the amount of credit available. A bubble starts when people buy houses in the expectation that they can refinance their mortgages at a profit. The recent US housing boom is a case in point. The 60-year super-boom is a more complicated case. more ...
U.S. presses China over Iran
CNN News
updated 2:32 a.m. EST, Thu January 17, 2008
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte sought
Chinese backing Thursday for new U.N. sanctions against Iran, warning
that Tehran's alleged uranium enrichment and missile development programs
remained a threat, the Associated Press reported.
Negroponte said he would raise the issue in talks with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo at the fifth session of their semiannual U.S.-China Senior Dialogue, that will also to touch on Taiwan, Sudan, human rights and efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program, Negroponte said.
China, which has extensive business links to Iran, has repeatedly opposed a new U.N. resolution, arguing that negotiation rather than economic pressure was the best way to engage Tehran.
The Bush administration is pushing for fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program even as a new report questions their impact. more ...
Fear factor whips up waves in Taiwan Strait
Toronto Star Newspaper
Jan 13, 2008 04:30 AM
Joseph Nye
Opinion polls indicate that one-third of Americans believe that China will "soon dominate the world," while nearly half view China's emergence as a "threat to world peace." In turn, many Chinese fear that the United States will not accept their "peaceful rise." Americans and Chinese must avoid such exaggerated fears. Maintaining good Sino-American relations will be a key determinant of global stability in this century.
Perhaps the greatest threat to the bilateral relationship is the belief that conflict is inevitable. Throughout history, whenever a rising power creates fear among its neighbours and other great powers, that fear becomes a cause of conflict. In such circumstances, seemingly small events can trigger an unforeseen and disastrous chain reaction.
Today, the greatest prospect of a destabilizing incident lies in the complex relationships across the Taiwan Strait. China, which regards Taiwan as an integral part of its territory that has sheltered behind the U.S. navy since the days of the Chinese civil war, vows that any Taiwanese declaration of independence will be met by force. more ...
A New Digital Cold War?
Sound of Hope - Jan 13, 2008
Just when it seemed that cyberspace was safe again, there is reason to believe that a new cyber army is waging war. In 2005 the Pentagon logged over 79,000 intrusion attempts into their network. From this about 1,300 were successful, including the penetration of computers linked to the Army's 101st and 82nd air force and 4th infantry divisions.
The attacks aren't directed at just one government agency either. In August and September of the same year, Chinese hackers penetrated US State Department computers in several countries. As a result, hundreds of computers had to be replaced or taken offline for months, to make the necessary provisions.
Jim Melnick, a retired Pentagon computer network analyst, told Time magazine that the Chinese military holds hacking competitions to identify and recruit talented members for a "cyber army." more ...
US Lawmakers to Focus on China
Associated Press
By FOSTER KLUG – Janusry 12, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world will be watching China closely as it gears up to host the Olympics this year. So will U.S. lawmakers, who hope to use the attention generated by the summer games to highlight their complaints about China's government.
Lawmakers, in hearings and in legislation, will scrutinize what some see as unfair Chinese economic policies, its secretive military buildup and its human rights abuses. China already has been targeted by presidential candidates.
"The Chinese want this `Show' — with a capital `S' — to showcase their government to the world," Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in an interview. Congress, he said, should use that as leverage to "bring maximum scrutiny and light to their egregious human rights abuses."
Smith champions legislation that would stop U.S. technology companies from aiding countries that restrict Internet access. American Internet companies have been denounced for turning a blind eye to abuse in China so they can crack that lucrative market.
The Bush administration's criticism of China is usually muted. Lawmakers, however, are more vocal in asserting that China has failed to live up to its responsibilities as an emerging superpower. more ...
Journey to the dark side
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Asia Times - Jan 4, 2008
By Tom Engelhardt
This is what "homeland security" means in the US today. It means putting your country in full lockdown mode. It means the snarl at the border, the nasty comment in the waiting room, the dirty cell, the handcuffs, even the chains. It means being humiliated. It means a thorough lack of modulation or moderation. Arriving here now always threatens to be a "tempest-tost" experience whether you are a citizen, a semi-official visitor, or a foreign tourist. (After all, even Senator Ted Kennedy found himself repeatedly on a no-fly list without adequate explanation.) Think of these three cases as snapshots from the borders of a country in which the presumption of innocence is slowly being drained of all meaning. more ...
