Russia and China

Russia, China, Communism (2005-2006)

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December 2006

FBI Comes Clean on Lennon Files: "...what the reports do reveal are the extent of Lennon's contacts to New Left leaders in Great Britain in 1970 and '71 and his affiliations with several antiwar groups at the time."

As journalists die, a Russian paper faces grim future [registration required]: "Russia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist.... Novaya Gazeta...has lost three reporters in the past six years. One was bludgeoned to death.... Another died of an allergic reaction relatives suspect was caused by poisoning. A third, Anna Politkovskaya, was shot dead two months ago.... As opposition voices are slain, exiled or intimidated into silence, Novaya is one of the last outposts of free speech left in Russia...." [WSJ, 12-8-06]

November 2006

The next two links illustrate a typical Communist strategy: Use public assassinations to threaten dissenters and to frighten potential resisters into compliance. Communist denials mean nothing; power and pragmatism, not truth or integrity, determine policy:

Symposium: To Kill a Russian Journalist: "The murder of internationally renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in early October 2006 was yet another troubling sign of Russia’s retreat into its totalitarian past. ... These killings have become a trademark of the post-Soviet era and they seem to have become accepted as the norm inside Russia and in the outside world.... People believe that this macabre process will continue as long as Putin enjoys the unconditional support of leaders of the free world.

      [Statement by Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, the former acting chief of Communist Romania’s espionage service... the highest ranking official ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc:] "Khrushchev introduced a new 'methodology' for 'wet affairs' (the KGB’s euphemism for bloody operations), requiring: (1) political assassinations be handled strictly orally; (2) any evidence pointing to the KGB should be dismissed out of hand as ridiculous; (3) after each political assassination the KGB was surreptitiously to spread 'evidence' accusing the CIA or other convenient 'enemies' of having done the deed....

      "Twelve Russian journalists who reported on Putin’s human-rights abuses in Chechnya or the corruption of his government have been killed in contract-style murders since he became President." See the first link at Russia & Communism

A new methodology for 'wet affairs': "Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium-210, a rare radioactive element. 'He was killed by a little tiny nuclear bomb. It was so small you could not see it,' said the elder Litvinenko. 'The people who killed him make big nuclear bombs and they should not be trusted.'...

      "Russian music critic Artemy Troitsky explained that the assassinations in Russia had effectively negated freedom of the press. In fact, he admitted, 'I stopped posting difficult items on my website.... It is demoralizing to realize that among Russia’s silent majority Putin is genuinely popular and there seems no way of waking these people up. Most depressing, however, is that the so-called democracies of the west are turning a blind eye. One day, messrs Blair and Bush, the Germans and Italians, will regret that.'...

       "It is demoralizing, indeed, to 'write the same things over and again, to no effect.' Litvinenko himself made something of a joke when referring to his own death. 'This is what it takes to prove one has been telling the truth,' he quipped. I am sad to say, however, that the death of Alexander Litvinenko demonstrates, from first to last, that the KGB has already defeated the West through psychological warfare.... As for the so-called neo-conservatives and traditional conservatives... neither side knows its country's real enemy. All are addicted to their respective 'conservative' ideologies, considering only those facts that support their own preconceptions." See Brainwashing & Communist Psychological Warfare

Mystery illness hits former Russian PM: "Yegor Gaidar, Russia’s former prime minister and the architect of the country’s market reforms, last week suffered a sudden, unexplained and violent illness on a visit to Ireland, a day after Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB spy, died in London from an apparent radiation poisoning. ....doctors had so far been unable to identify the cause of the violent vomiting and bleeding that he suffered during a conference in Ireland." See also the next three links:

Russia: The Enemy: "This isn't simply because a former KGB agent turned Putin critic died last week in London after ingesting a dose of polonium 210, an element that usually functions as a neutron trigger in atomic bombs. Nor is it that Alexander Litvinenko's death is the latest in a series of killings, attempted murders, imprisonments and forced exiles whose victims just happened to be prominent opponents of Mr. Putin. It is because the foreign policy of Russia has become openly, and often gratuitously, hostile to the U.S. ...

      "The Kremlin's denials notwithstanding, the use of exotic poisons has been a KGB (now FSB) signature for decades, and killing Litvinenko in London would certainly be one way of letting the Kremlin's critics know that nobody is immune anywhere. As for negative public reaction, Mr. Sharansky observes that 'experience shows them that it's short-lived.' That's certainly been Mr. Putin's experience with this White House.... It was Condoleezza Rice who came up with the formulation after the Iraq war that the U.S. should 'punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia.' And it was this administration that agreed last week to Russian membership in the World Trade Organization, with Mr. Bush thanking Mr. Putin for 'your time and friendship.'" (11-28-06) See Real Conspiracies: Past and Present

Who Killed Litvinenko? "Until a week ago, Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian Federal Security Service, the FSB, was virtually unknown outside the murky world of Russian intelligence. .... Beginning with the Yeltsin era, two U.S. administrations have muted their criticism of Russia. This was the case even in the face of a series of political murders in Russia. But if Litvinenko, a British subject, was murdered by Russian intelligence on British soil, self-censorship is no longer an option. Unless we want to give the Putin regime carte blanche to dispose of its enemies on our soil, we now have no choice but to react. ...

    "Mr. Putin created an FSB ruling class. As this class became rooted, the victims of contract killers in Russia began to include some of the most prominent political figures in the country. The first victim was Sergei Yushenkov....Finally, Anna Politkovskaya, perhaps Russia's best-known journalist.... Litvinenko resembles the others in this list in all respects except one. He lived in England. His book, 'Blowing Up Russia,' accused the FSB of the 1999 apartment bombings." See Treason in the Church. It shows the infiltrations of Communist leaders into U.S. government as well as churches.

Poisoned KGB Spy Dies in London: "The former spy said he believed he had been poisoned on Nov. 1, while investigating the slaying of another Kremlin detractor - investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya. His hair fell out, his throat became swollen and his immune and nervous systems were severely damaged, he said. Just hours before he lost consciousness on Tuesday, Litvinenko acknowledged in an interview with The Times newspaper of London that he would likely die and claimed the Kremlin was directly involved in his poisoning." See Deceptive alliances

October 2006

The emerging Russian giant: "The new Russia also realizes that if it does not act decisively, it soon will be encircled and trumped by a military rival, the US.... Iran and Syria are seen by Washington strategists as mere steps to this great Russian End Game.... Russia is the one remaining power which still has sufficient military deterrence potential in its strategic nuclear arsenal, and is expanding same, as well as abundant energy to make a credible counterweight to global US military and political primacy." See Brainwashing and "Education Reform"

Confident Putin swats EU criticism aside: "...European leaders returned from a summit in Finland believing the Russian president might yet be prepared to offer them a better energy deal.... Mr Putin occasionally had his hosts staring in disbelief... as he made it clear he would not take lectures from Europe on issues such as human rights and corruption. ... His fellow diners even smiled politely... when he reportedly announced that the EU's most important challenge was to 'safeguard Christianity in Europe'....

     "While promising that the police would track down the murderers of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of the Kremlin, Mr Putin is reported to have claimed she was assassinated by those who wanted to damage Russia's image." See the next link

'A condemned woman': (From an article by the courageous Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was murdered in Moscow last week): "I am a pariah, an enemy. Indeed, an incorrigible enemy not amenable to re-education. I'm not joking.... Vladislav Surkov, deputy head of the presidential administration, explained that there were people who were enemies but whom you could talk sense into, and there were incorrigible enemies into whom you couldn't and who simply needed to be 'cleansed' from the political arena. So they are trying to cleanse it of me and others like me.

     "On 5 August 2006, I was standing in the middle of a crowd of women in the little central square of Kurchaloy, a dusty village in Chechnya.... To one side of the crowd a man's tracksuit trousers were draped over the gas pipeline that runs the length of Kurchaloy. They were caked with blood. His severed head had been taken away....

     "Kadyrov has publicly vowed to murder me. He actually said during a meeting of his government that he had had enough, and that Politkovskaya was a condemned woman.... What for? For not writing the way Kadyrov wanted?

      "'Anybody who is not one of us is an enemy.' Surkov said so, and Surkov is Ramzan Kadyrov's main supporter in Putin's entourage.... 'She is so stupid she doesn't know the value of money. I offered her money but she didn't take it.'...

      "I loathe the Kremlin's line... dividing people into those who are 'on our side', 'not on our side'... If a journalist is 'on our side', he or she will get awards.... If a journalist is 'not on our side', however, he or she will be deemed a supporter of the European democracies... and automatically become a pariah. That is the fate of all who oppose our 'sovereign democracy'....

      "I am ... somebody who describes the life around us for those who cannot see it for themselves, because what is shown on television and written... is emasculated and doused with ideology....

      "My life can be difficult, more often humiliating. I am not, after all, so young at 47 to keep encountering rejection and having my own pariah status rubbed in my face, but I can live with it. I will not go into the other joys of the path I have chosen, the poisoning, the arrests, the threats..." (10-14-06)
What an excruciating challenge for someone who didn't know the peace and strength of our God! See His strength in my weakness

Wildfire: "Americans are used to thinking of Chinese Christians as people imprisoned and beaten for their faith, and word-of-mouth says that is still true in some rural areas. In the cities, a more nuanced struggle has emerged, with harassment replacing outright persecution and leaders negotiating with secret police at the local Starbucks.

     Marvin Olasky's statement is misleading! Chinese Christians are still imprisoned, beaten, and deprived of the justice promised by the new Chinese government -- and not just in "some rural areas." Scroll down this page and find illustrations of current persecution in China: Persecution

Russia mobilizes military forces [Scroll down to the English translation below the original Norwegian]: "On Friday, Georgia accused Russia of redeploying troops closer to its border and said the Russian Black Sea fleet was expected to start maneuvers in the next few days. 'I would advise our colleagues to stop saber-rattling. This is unacceptable for a democratic country, and we don't understand that,' Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told reporters. The two countries' relations have worsened since Western-leaning President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power following Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution, pledging to move the country out of Russia's orbit." See Communist Goals

September 2006

Blind Injustice: "Chen Guangcheng, a blind advocate for the rights of Chinese villagers, recently made headlines around the world when he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. But, as his chosen lawyers, we were prevented from presenting a fair defense by obstacles erected by Chinese authorities.... Before the trial, we had been detained by police, intimidated, and one lawyer was not freed until the trial was over. Except for Mr. Chen's three brothers, no other members of the public -- not even his wife and mother -- were allowed to attend the two-hour hearing. That's why we are using these columns to outline the defense that was never presented in court, and explain how our client was convicted of crimes he did not commit. In those closed-door proceedings, Chinese officials punished Mr. Chen for exposing their own criminal activities -- forcing villagers to undergo sterilizations and forced abortions, even though these are officially illegal under Chinese law." See Brainwashing and "Education Reform"

China Wins NAFTA Super-Highway Battle: "Red China is investing heavily in developing deep-water ports in Mexico to bring an unprecedented volume of containers into the U.S. along the emerging NAFTA Super Highway. This move signals China’s emergence as the unexpected economic winner in the North American Union free market....

"Hutchinson Ports also operates both ends of the Panama Canal.... HWL [Hutchinson] also has business dealings with the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), China’s largest shipping line, which is owned by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.... Unloading 8,000 containers from a single ship can take up to 3 days, even with experienced dock workers and state-of-the-art cranes. West coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach are regularly described as overwhelmed with containers arriving from China and the Far East....

"...in opening the U.S. to cheap Chinese goods, we are leading a worldwide 'race to the bottom'.... The result is that the international capitalists owning companies such as Wal-Mart earn additional billions, while U.S. manufacturing continues to out-source an increasing number of jobs and poor countries such as Mexico are only pulled deeper into poverty." See God's sovereign will

August 2006

Venezuela, Syria Join Forces Against 'American Imperialism': Thousands of flag-waving Syrians greeted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Damascus on Wednesday as he began a three-day official visit, challenging what he called American "imperialism." Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington's foreign policy, has been strengthening ties with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries as well as North Korea -- two of the countries named by President Bush as being in the "axis of evil." ....Last week, Chavez -- comparing Israeli leaders to German dictator Adolph Hitler -- accused Israel of "genocide," See Communist Goals

Thousands of police destroy church building: "...military police demolished a house-church building in Zheijiang province (near Shanghai). ... The local church traces its history back to 1867 when famous English missionary, Hudson Taylor, preached the Gospel there. The police arrived in several hundred trucks and used four large excavators to demolish the building. Eyewitnesses reported that the police used electric shock batons and anti-riot shields to disperse a crowd of 3,000 Christians who had gathered to preserve the building. Several hundred Christians were beaten and fifty were arrested." See Persecution and the next link:

Persecution. Hundreds of Christians Wounded and Arrested: "...the Xiaoshan District government declared the church building 'illegal' because it was built without government permission... on private land purchased by a local Christian couple. ... [T]he local government has repeatedly denied the Christian believers’ formal request to build a church, though they have met all the requirements." See Prayer

Before reading the following promotional introduction to key leaders in the "emerging church" movement, you may want to review The Dangers of Spiritual Formation by Pastor Bob DeWaay.

China drills 50 miles from Key West: "...oil that rightfully belongs to American oil companies is now being drilled by Canada, Spain and Cuba—with help from both China and India."

July 2006

Database ensures Big Brother is watching in China: "China has recorded details of more than 96 percent of its population on a police database, state media reported on Friday, supplementing Internet and other state-sanctioned surveillance.... An estimated 30,000 Web police monitor the surfing habits of China's 110 million internet users, and restrict access to Web sites and blogs posting sensitive material..." See Brainwashing and "Education Reform" & Communist Goals

China signs 71 agreements with African countries: "China signed a total of 71 agreements covering politics, economy, trade, infrastructure, culture, education and science and technology with the seven countries. China also pledged continued aid to help them in their social development, including building primary schools in rural areas, sending medical teams and helping train various professionals."

China's Growing Involvement in Latin America': "Aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources and markets, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries....

"Beijing's courtship of Latin American countries to support its plan to subdue Taiwan and enlist them to join a countervailing coalition against U.S. global power under the rubric of strengthening economic interdependence and globalization has begun to attract attention in Washington....

"For Latin America and the Caribbean countries, China is an enviable competitor and rival, potential investor, customer, economic partner, a great power friend and counterweight to the United States, and, above all, a global power, much like the United States, that needs to be handled with care."

An Arrest in China Spotlights Limits To Artistic Freedom: "After 12 years in the U.S., filmmaker Hao Wu returned to his homeland two years ago to document the changes shaping Chinese society. He... often wrote on his blog about balancing American ideals of civil liberty with the practical realities he found in China. 'Change has to happen,' he wrote in a Feb. 17 posting.... Five days later, Mr. Wu was arrested and he has been in detention ever since. His alleged crime remains a mystery to his friends, his family and even the lawyer his sister hired to help. These people believe he was detained over his work on a documentary film about Christian churches that aren't recognized by the Chinese government. The lawyer, Wu Yigang, says the Beijing police told him the detention is related to 'state secrets,' which limits the possibility of a defense." See Persecution

June 2006

The Talk Between US President and the Three Chinese House Church Intellectuals in the White House: On May 11, 2006 for the first time, a sitting US President met a group of Chinese House Church intellectuals in the White House....

     "President Bush: Welcome!... This is my private reception room.... I met the Dalai Lama twice here....

     "Yu Jie: ...We have just completed a Bible course held in Midland, your hometown. We have found many pious Christians there, who are painstakingly helping the Christians of China to strive for religious freedom.

     "President Bush: ...I grew up there, and my faith and values were also formed there, I believed in Jesus Christ, and believed in freedom in Midland....

     "Yu Jie: I was only 16 years old when the Tiananmen Square event occurred in 1989. Yet it changed my life. Henceforth, I pledge to be an intellectual who defends freedom and human rights. The event also made me start to think about the sinfulness and limitations of humans... I realized that what China was short of most is love, and both love and justice comes from God. ... We want to bring changes to China through the love and justice of God, and through non-violent means. God will raise great spiritual men like Martin Luther King, and Archbishop Tutu....
     "President Bush: I shared my faith as well as my concept of freedom with Mr. Jiang Zemin.... And I also talked this with Mr. Hu Jintao later. This is not only my personal faith, but also the faith of our nation.... [See Ban truth - Reap Tyranny]

    "Yu Jie: ...the internet company YAHOO provided some private data to the China police, which caused the arrests of four Chinese writers... They were mistreated in prison....and the event also destroyed the image of the United States in the hearts of Chinese people.....

     "Li Baiguang [from his notes]: ...President Bush accepted our gifts... and the English edition of the documentary “The Cross: Jesus in China...”

    Archbishop Tutu and Martin Luther King illustrate today's pluralistic, communitarian, liberal church activism. But they still make impressive models for the humanist idealism favored by the UN, President Bush and emerging churches. See Conforming the Church to the New Millennium and Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan and UN Goals - Part 3

May 2006

China & Persecution. Chinese Central Government Launched Religious Propaganda Campaign in the US: “'It’s rather ironical that Beijing House Church pastor Cai Zhuohua is serving for three years sentence in the Chinese prison for printing Bibles in China since last year, while the propaganda message of this Bible exhibition is that there is freedom to print Bibles in China', said Rev. Bob Fu... 'It’s a shame for the organizers to invite the top Communist Party religious persecutor like Mr. Ye Xiaowen and Ms. Cao Shengjie to spread lies to American people.'

"As the director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) of China, Mr. Ye Xiaowen is directly responsible for hundreds of arrests of House church pastors and other persecution cases to independent religious groups." See Persecution

U.S. Assistance to Russia: "In Fiscal Year 2006, the estimated $949.3 million budgeted by all U.S. Government agencies for assistance programs for Russia is allocated roughly as follows.... Democracy Programs $45.2 million, Economic Programs $7.0 million, Social Reform $23.6 million...."

Do you wonder why this strange government spending (paid with our taxes to oil-rich Russia) wasn't mentioned in the mainstream news media?

April 2006

American vampire: "...a leading Chinese transplant surgeon estimated that more than 99 percent of transplanted organs in China came from executed prisoners. ... De Leon probably didn't check out Amnesty International's report that in China, a person can be sentenced to death for tax fraud or embezzlement [often after a mock trial with false witnesses]" See Deceptive alliances

The next two articles are from The Epoch Times, a newspaper apparently founded in "response to the growing need for uncensored coverage of events in China."

A Cry to Awaken Our Conscience: "Some patients who had gone to China for organ transplant operations told us that they were told prior to their going to China that the organ sources were Falun Gong practitioners. Some doctors who know the overall picture of the live organ harvesting scheme told us the cruelty and inhumanity is unthinkable, unspeakable and far beyond what has been reported.... Although these people have been in close contact with The Epoch Times, they dare not step forward because they are afraid of being killed."

Commentaries on the Communist Party - Part 1: “The Communists... openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions.... Violence is the one and main means by which the Communist Party gained power....

    "The of the theories the communists employ is social Darwinism.... Struggle, therefore, became the primary 'belief' of the Communist party, a tool in gaining and maintaining political control....

   "During the Cultural Revolution, it was all too common that fathers and sons tortured each other... mothers and daughters reported on each other, and students and teachers treated each other as enemies....

     "The power of the Party nature over the individual results from the CCP’s prolonged course of indoctrination. This training starts in preschools and kindergartens, where party-sanctioned answers to questions are rewarded. ... they learn to follow party-sanctioned standard answers, otherwise, they are not allowed to pass the exam and graduate.... The organization of the CCP... attaches to every single unit and cell of the Chinese society..." See Using children to spy on families and Global Standards

The Great Stonewall of China: "The U.S. has too much at stake to ignore abuses in China's courts.... China's conservative leaders have increasingly relied on criminal and administrative punishment to suppress rising demands for social justice, honest government, political participation and religious freedom, especially among those who feel left behind by the country's rapid modernization. In these circumstances, and except for a belated effort to rein in a death penalty process that is notoriously out of control, the nation's leaders have refused to approve a host of urgently required reforms."

Where Is Kim Chun-Hee? "When President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao sit down together at the White House tomorrow [yesterday], there will be a young North Korean woman in the room with them -- at least she will be there in spirit. Her name is Kim Chun-Hee and she has been missing since December, when she was arrested in China and deported back to North Korea. It isn't known whether she is dead or alive....

     "...she represents a humanitarian crisis that most of the world doesn't know exists: the plight of tens of thousands of North Korean refugees in northeast China.... China tracks them down and repatriates them. This is effectively a death sentence...."

March 2006

China harvesting inmates' organs: "Mr. Jin then said he found out that a large underground prison was built beneath the hospital and that members of the outlawed Falun Gong religious group were being held there. As many as 6,000 people are thought to be held prisoner at the underground facility, he said. The hospital is harvesting the organs of the prisoners, including kidneys, livers, and eye parts, he said. The organs are then sold to people, from both China and abroad, who need medical organ transplants." See Communist Strategies Enforce Solidarity

Free education? "Almost all Cuban children, including Elian Gonzalez [pictured], have to become 'pioneros.' If you don't want your child to be a pionero ["Young Pioneers" in the former Soviet Union] his chances of getting an education in Castro's Cuba are almost non existent. Pioneros have to participate in many extra-curricular activities, like marching in front of the US Interests Section whenever the dictator wants....

      "Pioneros are also asked to denounce any counterrevolutionary [Biblical values or anything else antithetical to Communism] activity that they see at home, or at the homes of their friends, to their teachers. Many Cuban parents went to jail because one of their children notified authorities that their parents were talking about the government or doing anything at home that was considered 'illegal.'

      "When the pioneros participate in a ...government sponsored activity, they are given a coupon.... If you don't turn in your coupon and don't have a very good excuse, the teacher will make a notation on the 'Expediente Acumulativo del Estudiante' (Student Accumulative Dossier) that each Cuban student carries from kindergarten until he graduates from high school."

      In the U.S., similar data or "dossiers" will follow students for the rest of their lives. It's all part of the new workforce development system. See Elian's Future in a Totalitarian State and Workforce Development Means Life-Long Indoctrination

Nations sidestep China at security talks: "The US, Japan and Australia have used ministerial-level security talks to declare their 'grave concern' about Iran's nuclear ambitions but backed away from criticising China...."

Russia's leadership of the G8 will be farcical: "Russia is moving in the opposite direction of what is desirable. Moscow's leadership of the G8 reduces the credibility and the relevance of the group to zero. It also makes a mockery of the Bush administration's push for democratic, market-oriented societies around the world. Putting Russia in charge of the G8 is akin to the United Nations having allowed Sudan and Liberia to play big roles in its UN Human Rights Commission – a move that resulted in the irrelevance of the commission and a subsequent plan for radical reorganisation." The Revolutionary Roots of the UN

February 2006

Red China on the March: "China's move into Grenada clones a pattern it has followed elsewhere in the eastern Caribbean.... Each of these island republics now has a full-scale Chinese embassy, a completed or promised national soccer stadium, and is receiving continuing aid.... Chinese immigration to the region is picking up.... The relationships between China and the islands' ruling parties are increasingly cozy, with leading politicians regularly being invited to China for all-expenses-paid 'familiarization' tours.... Shows touting China's history, culture, and peaceful intentions are broadcast for hours on the islands' state-owned television channels — all paid for by Beijing....

      "By causing those few nations which still recognize [Taiwan] to break off ties, Beijing hopes to undermine Taiwan's de facto independence and hasten the day of reunification — on its terms..... (These islands are right in our backyard (the Caribbean has been called the soft and vulnerable underbelly of the United States).

     "...each of these independent nations is a member of countless international bodies, chief among them the general assembly of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.... If the nations of the Caribbean could be induced to vote consistently with China in either of these bodies, this PRC-led bloc could become a force to be reckoned with.... China is widely believed to be flaunting WTO rules.... Suppose that an unfair trade case were brought against China by the U.S. government in the WTO. Such cases are resolved, ultimately, by a vote...." See Deceptive alliances

Russia on defensive over Hamas talks: "President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday his intention to invite representatives of Hamas, which surprisingly won the Palestinian elections for Parliament last month, to Moscow for talks as the radical group prepares to form a government. Hamas quickly said it would accept an official invitation if one was offered. Israeli officials were outraged..."

We the People (of China) : "Recent reported police killings of protestors in the southeast Chinese villages of Panlong and Dongzhou raise serious questions about China's struggle for a more sophisticated strategy to contain mounting unrest....

     "China also redoubled efforts to quash activist social organizations, using informants and intimidation to turn organizers against each other. As a carrot, local Party officials and police were ordered to keep a sharp eye out for grievances and try to resolve them before frustration spilled into the streets. Even the new term for demonstrations, 'mass' rather than 'counterrevolutionary' incidents, is a modest Marxist nod to the legitimacy of many protestors' grievances." Reinventing the World

January 2006

Ukraine government falls as fresh EU gas worries surface: "President Viktor Yushchenko is seeking legal advice to keep the government in place until the March general elections.... Opposition parties brought the motion of no confidence after Kiev agreed to pay Russia $95 per 1,000 cubic metres instead of the previous $50.

"...the EU's eagerness to keep Moscow sweet is visible in member states' weakly-worded resolution on a separate gas price row between Russia and Moldova.... Moscow turned off Moldova's gas on 1 January asking Europe's poorest country to double gas payments to $240 per 1,000 cubic metres." Reinventing the World

November 2005

Are you now or have you ever been a second-rate filmmaker? "Decrypted Soviet cables and mountains of documents from Soviet archives prove beyond doubt that Lawrence Duggan was one of Stalin's most important spies. 'McCarthyism' didn't kill him; his guilt did. During the height of the Soviet purges in the mid-'30s, as millions of innocents were being tortured, exiled and killed on Stalin's orders, Murrow's good pal Duggan was using his position at the State Department to pass important documents to the Soviets.... Some were so important, they were sent directly to Stalin and Molotov." See Bush, Shultz, Gorbachev and Soviet Education

September

Putin vows to leave presidency in '08: "President Vladimir Putin told Russians during a nationally televised call-in show Tuesday that he would vacate the Kremlin in 2008 when his second term ends. But he hinted at some subsequent political role when he added, 'As they say in the military, I will find my place in the ranks.'" Is he aiming for a higher level? Communist Goals

August

Alarm and disarray on rise in China: "There is a growing uneasiness in the air in China, after months of increasingly bold protests rolling across the countryside. For reasons that range from rampant industrial pollution... to widespread evictions and land seizures by corrupt local governments working with increasingly powerful property developers, ordinary Chinese seem to be saying they are fed up.... Each week brings news of at least one or two incidents, with thousands of villagers in a pitched battle with the police, or bloody crackdowns in which hundreds of protesters are tear-gassed and clubbed during roundups by the police."

Chinese activist warns of nuclear war: "'Sino-U.S. relations are reaching a crucial point and most of the American public does not know about,' said Mr. Wei, who spent almost 18 years in Chinese prisons before his release in 1997. 'The United States needs to pay more attention to the possibility of nuclear war with China.' Mr. Wei said he has heard from government officials in China, including some within the military, who are worried by the growing chance of a nuclear war....

"Additionally, there are elements within the military who think that a war to retake Taiwan should begin as soon as possible." See Signs of the times

China-Russia war games under way: "Analysts say China and Russia are signalling they are prepared to counter US dominance in international affairs. ... China's military has been modernising rapidly. And, while the Washington regularly sounds alarm bells about China's growing military strength and says it will be keeping an eye on events, it also insists it is not particularly worried."

July

China hails Mugabe's 'brilliant' diplomacy: "[Zimbabwe's] Mugabe may be a pariah in western nations these days but his image clearly remains untarnished in the eyes of Chinese diplomats, who yesterday named him an honorary professor. Undismayed by criticism of Mr Mugabe's urban eviction programme, which the United Nations says has made 700,000 poor people homeless, Beijing's foreign affairs college instead hailed his 'brilliant contribution' to diplomacy and international relations." See Corruption

China's Zhu-doo diplomacy: "Gen. Zhu, a professor at China's National Defense University, calmly told a group of foreign journalists what would happen if America intervened to save Taiwan: 'We will be determined to respond. We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all cities east of Xian [in central China]. Of course, the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds... of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.'

"Gen. Zhu isn't the first PLA diplomat to threaten nuclear war over Taiwan. In 1995, Gen. Xiong Guangkai, now deputy chief of the general staff, told a former Pentagon official he was sure the U.S. would think twice about supporting Taiwan in a military confrontation, because Americans "cared more about losing Los Angeles" than saving Taipei. Given that China no has fewer than 60 nuclear-armed ICBMs, is Gen. Zhu's threat credible?"

Bribery in Russia up tenfold to $316bn in four years: "The size of an average bribe paid by companies has gone up 13-fold from $10,000 to $136,000 in four years.... Health, fire and safety inspectors, tax police and law enforcement agencies are the most egregious bribe-takers...

"'The general tendency of growing corruption is not new, but the Yukos affair has completely untied the hand of bureaucracy in their pursuit of bribes,' Mr Satarov said. But he said the underlying reason for the rise in corruption was the lack of political or civil society control over bureaucrats, who had become the dominant force under Mr Putin." See Human Nature

June

China Orders Web Sites, Blogs To Register With Government: "Authorities have ordered all China-based Web sites and blogs to register or be closed down, in the latest effort by the communist government to police the unruly world of cyberspace. Commercial publishers and advertisers can face fines of up to one million yuan, or about $120,000, for failing to register, according to documents posted on the Web site of the Ministry of Information Industry....

"'The Internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence and feudal superstitions [this word probably refers to unwanted religions, especially Christianity] and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits,' the ministry's Web site said in explaining the rules, which were quietly introduced in March."

We don't plan to write an article about our recent mission trip to this amazing land, but here is a report we wrote on a previous visit: China: Communist Strategies Build Global Solidarity

May

China's Uncivil Society: "...rising levels of social unrest are a hallmark of today's China. Recently, for example, thousands of people rioted in Huaxi village in Zhejiang province to protest against life-threatening levels of pollution from nearby chemical factories. There were no negotiations between villagers, local government and factory owners. Instead, a head-on collision ensued between the villagers and large squads of anti-riot police, exacerbating the situation still further."

April

The 'Cubanization' of Latin America: "Having served under Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the officer confidently laid out the strongman's agenda: 'It is a clear and precise expansion of the communist revolution directed by Fidel Castro. It is the resurrection of the Cuban ideal of exporting revolution.' He went on to explain that the 'formal, traditional Venezuelan military no longer exists. The military apparatus now exists to defend the revolution.'..." [4-29-05]

China Girds for Future Shock: "For years, it has been a popular stopping-off point for tourist steamers along China's Yangtze River. Visitors come for the temples and pavilions said to be haunted by spirits on their way to meet the King of Hell. But when the world's mightiest dam is built downstream, Ghost City will drown beneath the waters, along with the sites of hostels, souvenir markets and antique shops that once provided jobs for Ghost City's 40,000 living souls." With much prayer, Andy and I visited this Ghost City on our journey down the Yangtze River 5 years ago. See; China: Communist Strategies Build Global Solidarity and the next link:

China Flexes Economic Muscle: "Ethiopia -- When this east African country went to war against neighboring Eritrea in the late 1990s, the U.S. responded by... scaling back military aid and issuing a security warning to U.S. citizens and companies. The Chinese government had a different reaction. Beijing saw the war -- and the reduced U.S. presence -- as an opportunity to expand its influence. ...

"Today, China's influence in Ethiopia is overwhelming.... Chinese companies have become a dominant force, building highways and bridges, power stations, mobile-phone networks, schools and pharmaceutical plants.... It's all part of Beijing's broad push into Africa. Aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of Africa's 54 countries....

"U.S. influence has leveled off in many African countries ... Last year, Africa supplied more than 15% of U.S. oil imports.... Yet in some of Africa's most promising commodities markets, China is now challenging U.S. and other Western firms for access to these goods. ... Consider Sudan.... In 1997, the U.S. passed a law barring U.S. oil companies from investing there, saying Sudanese leaders had engaged in human-rights abuses.... In the years that followed, China invested more than $2 billion in Sudan's oil industry. ... Beijing, meantime, has become one of Sudan's largest arms suppliers.... Says Girma Biru, Ethiopia's Minister of Trade: "China has become our most reliable partner and there is a lot we can learn from Beijing, not just in economics but politics as well."

March

Chinese Christians react to New Religious Regulations: "On March 1, China adopted the new Regulations on Religious Affairs, first announced by the government in December 2004. The government claims the new regulations are a step towards religious freedom. However, legal scholars say the law is vague, reinforces government control of religion and increases penalties for unregistered churches." Read about the new law here: Persecution

China unveils controversial law: "China has announced the first details of a controversial law that would allow it to use force against Taiwan. Legislator Wang Zhaoguo said such means would only be used as a last resort, if peaceful reunification efforts failed.... 'If possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the state shall employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity,' Wang Zhaoguo, a senior legislator, told delegates at the National People's Congress." See Persecution, then scroll down to the first item under January.

January 2005

Russia's nationalists call for ban on Jewish groups: "Russia's nationalist lawmakers have asked the prosecutor general to ban all Jewish organizations because of their 'extremist' views.... [T]he seven-page call signed by 20 members of the 450-seat State Duma lower house of parliament that included the Communist Party and nationalist groups used some of the most profane language against Jews publicly published in the post-Soviet era. 'The whole democratic world today is under the financial and political control of the Jews,' said the statement.... It called on the Russian courts to ban 'all Jewish religious and community groups'....

"The Russian state officially does not subscribe to any religion but Orthodox Christians dominate the country's religious life and often enter into politics with the patriarch's frequent meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin...

"The statement came as world leaders were marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation by Soviet troops of survivors in the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, Poland, a key element in the extermination system, which killed some six million Jews." See Preparing for Persecution

China Promotes Another Boom: Nuclear Power: "There are countless ways to show how China is climbing the world's economic ladder, hurdling developed countries in its path, but few are more pronounced than the country's rush into nuclear energy - a technology that for environmental, safety and economic reasons most of the world has put on hold. In its anxiety to satisfy its seemingly bottomless demand for electricity, China plans to build reactors on a scale and pace comparable to the most ambitious nuclear energy programs the world has ever seen." China
China's Growing Navy Worries U.S.: "According to military analysts, China is rapidly expanding its submarine force to about 85 by 2010, about one-third more than today.... 'They want to become the dominant power in the western Pacific, to displace the United States, to kick us back to Hawaii or beyond,' said Richard Fisher Jr., who studies Chinese naval strengths and strategies for the International Assessment and Strategy Center." See the first four links on this page: China

Find previous news items on this topic at Communism, Russia and China - Part 1 and Part 2