Update on National Security
China carried out at least five missile tests as part of a major buildup of missile forces just before a vote in Taiwan on the mainland missile threat. The test firings included four types of missiles, including Beijing’s new DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile and at least one new type of warhead. The new warhead tested by the Chinese was a "cluster warhead" that spreads multiple bomblets rather than a single blast. "There is a big push under way and missile development and testing is a large part of their military modernization effort," one official said. Washington Times, 3-22-04
China has succeeded in be-coming only the third nation to put an astronaut into orbit, signaling that it intends to break into the front rank of space explorers. The Chinese plan to send more astronauts into space next year, to launch a Moon probe within three years, and to land an unmanned vehicle on the Moon by 2010. China plans to launch 10 satellites this year, and a total of 30 by 2005; it currently has 16 in orbit. The satellites have scientific, commercial and military applications. Since China’s manned space program is under the People’s Liberation Army, many American analysts believe that China’s primary ambitions in space are military. New York Times, 1-22-04
Update on Human Rights
China may have 30 to 40 million frustrated bachelors by 2020 because a cultural preference for sons encourages couples to abort girls, leading to more prostitution and trafficking of women, said Li Weixiong, vice-chairman of China’s advisory population committee. This is the result of China’s one-child policy. In 2000, 117 boys were born for every 100 girls, with the ratio soaring to 130 boys in some provinces. Reuters, 3-9-04
"Every year China has nearly 10,000 cases of the death penalty that result in immediate execution. This is five times more than all the other death penalty cases from other nations combined," said Chen Zhonglin, a National People’s Congress delegate. This is the first time such a number has appeared. China’s executions have been a closely guarded state secret. Agence France Press, 3-15-04
In answer to a demand that the government admit its mistakes in the deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square when hundreds were killed, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao defiantly defended it, calling it calling it a "serious political disturbance" that had to be put down. news24.com, 3-15-04
Update on Free Trade
"We gave the Chinese blueprints to our nuclear submarines, and they showed us their mess halls," is the way one U.S. Defense Department official described the history of U.S.-China exchanges. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that the more China knows about U.S. armed forces, the better it can develop its military to counter ours. China’s military budget has been growing at an annual rate of at least 17%. Such an investment for such a poor country will pose a major challenge to the U.S. in the future. Washington Times, 1-26-04
China accused Hong Kong’s main opposition party of being unpatriotic and seeking to over-throw the central government, raising questions about whether the Communist Party will tolerate political freedom in Hong Kong. China announced through the state media that certain political figures should be excluded from holding high office. A magazine controlled by the official China News Agency said that people who participated in the big rally last July against imposing a new national security law lacked sufficient patriotism to hold leader-ship positions. The threat to disqualify a significant number of elected politicians in Hong Kong is the most direct intervention in Hong Kong affairs since China took sovereignty from the British in 1997. New York Times, 2-2-04
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