Category: China

Communist China: U.S. Defense Secretary Gates calls for lasting military dialogue with China

Reuters: U.S. calls for lasting military dialogue with China

— Reuters: “Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for lasting dialogue with China’s military after years of ‘on-again, off-again’ talks as he welcomed a top Chinese general to the Pentagon on Tuesday. The 75-minute meeting between Gates and Xu Caihou, vice chairman of the People’s Liberation Army Central Military Commission, represented the highest-level visit by a Chinese military official since 2006.”

—- Note: Same Defense Secretary Gates who calls for “engagement” with the Taliban

Communist China: “One Million Rights Activists Detained in China”

— Epoch Times: “One Million Rights Activists Detained in China”
— Epoch Times reports: “The 60th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been and gone, but there are still one million Chinese human rights activists detained in the mainland, according to a report released Chinese Human Rights Defenders’ (CHRD) website Oct. 2.”
— “The site added that the number was impossible to verify.”
— “Local authorities in China clamped down on civilians every day for a month to eliminate the so-called ‘unstable factors’ and to ensure ‘social stability’ during the Oct. 1 celebration.”
— “Many dissidents, religious followers, and human rights activists were detained or put under house arrest.”
— “Mr. Li from Shanxi Province said, ‘There are far more than one million petitioners who were detained during the October 1 celebration. I myself am aware of 7,000 who are detained. The number is scary.'”
— “Mr. Ge from Yangpu District of Shanghai said: ‘More than one million people have lost their freedom.'”
— Chinese Human Rights Defenders’ (CHRD) website (English)
— Chinese Human Rights Defenders’ (CHRD) website (Chinese)

U.S./Communist China: “Obama loosens missile technology controls to China”

U.S./Communist China: “Obama loosens missile technology controls to China”
— Washington Times reports: “President Obama recently shifted authority for approving sales to China of missile and space technology from the White House to the Commerce Department — a move critics say will loosen export controls and potentially benefit Chinese missile development.”
— “The presidential notice alters a key provision of the 1999 Defense Authorization Act that required that the president notify Congress whether a transfer of missile and space technology to China would harm the U.S. space-launch industry or help China’s missile programs.”
— “Henry Sokolski, director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said restoring Commerce Department control over the sensitive experts is a ‘step backward.'”
— “Edward Timperlake, a Pentagon technology-security official during the George W. Bush administration, said he agrees that the new policy likely will loosen export controls on dual-use technology that could be used to boost China’s large-scale missile program.”
— “Mr. Timperlake said the new policy is ‘greenlighting engagement with China in very bad areas that will negatively impact United States’ national security.'”