Category: Totalitarianism

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

North Korea’s ‘disregard’ for citizens starving eight million

North Korea’s ‘disregard’ for citizens starving eight million
— Daily Telegraph: “At least 8 million people are facing food shortages in North Korea because of the “callous” disregard of its Stalinist military dictatorship for the wellbeing of ordinary citizens, a UN human rights investigator has warned.”
— “Visit Muntarbhorn, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the North, said that Pyongyang’s “military first” policy, which places military prowess over meeting basic needs, had left millions hungry.”

— UN: human rights situation in North Korea “very bad”