"China should withdraw its undertaking on no first-use of nuclear weapons should Taiwan try to blow up the Three Gorges Dam, according to some parliamentary delegates. The call was made by them - as well as some who sit on the country's top political advisory body - in the wake of a recent US Defence Department report which suggested that Taiwan could target the dam in a pre-emptive strike...They feel that such strikes should be viewed as terrorist attacks and that China should use nuclear weapons as a deterrence. On their side are some American think-tank scholars who have expressed strong objections to any Taiwanese attempt to blow up the dam. They believe such an attack will bring destruction to Taiwan itself." Why is our DOD trying to start a war? Are they nuts?

Brian Maher writes: "Bush's warning to Taipei was precisely what Beijing was seeking, and may have signaled a subtle yet important shift in U.S. policy towards Taiwan... But now the administration has outlined specific actions it would like Taipei to avoid, including referenda or constitutional reform. This creates the impression that Washington is appeasing the Chinese communists, who may be gaining a greater voice in determining what constitutes a 'provocation' from Taiwan, in order to achieve other policy objectives. The fact that Bush said nothing while Wen stated that the U.S. president reiterated his 'opposition to Taiwan's independence' during talks only solidified the impression. It will certainly be perceived in Beijing as a diplomatic victory." By the way, the key US secrets were lost to the Chinese under Reagan-Bush, not Clinton. This was revealed by the Cox Congressional Report (see www.consortiumnews.com for details). Chinagate should have been a Reagan-Bush scandal.

"To conservatives, it was a shocking scene. Bush sat chatting chummily in the Oval Office on Tuesday with the premier of communist China and harshly rebuked the democratically elected leader of the United States' old friend and ally, Taiwan. 'The only word I can use is 'appalled'," said John Tkacik, a China specialist at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a staunch administration supporter. 'The spectacle of the American president who just gave such an eloquent speech in Whitehall barely three weeks ago, saying the global expansion of democracy is a pillar of American foreign policy...' His voice trailed off in disbelief. 'This just simply belies that.' Behind the jarring imagery, however, was a simple message. The Bush administration believes that it cannot afford a political crisis that could draw the United States into a war over Taiwan while it has its hands more than full with Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea [as well as the 2004 campaign]."

Is this 'Spreading Democracy throughout the World'? "Bush bluntly warned Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian against changing the status quo with China in tough words delivered on Tuesday in a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.Bush's comments were a warning to Chen not to hold a referendum on the island alongside a March presidential election, plans for which have sparked anger and fear in China that Taiwan is creeping toward independence. 'We oppose any unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to change the status quo, and the comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose,' Bush said, seated with Wen in the Oval Office."

AP reports: "A human rights advocate who was freed from a Chinese prison two years ago after the United States government interceded on her behalf has been found to have illegally sold China some American high-technology items with potential military uses. The defendant, Gao Zhan, who was born in China but lives in McLean, Va., pleaded guilty in a federal court in nearby Alexandria on Wednesday to one count of unlawful export, for having sold 80 microprocessors several months before her arrest. She also pleaded guilty to tax evasion, as did her husband, Xue Donghua... Ms. Gao gained international attention when she was arrested in China on Feb. 11, 2001, on charges of spying for Taiwan... Her own release, after 166 days, was obtained in part by a phone call from President Bush to the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin."

"'U.S. investigators have concluded that China almost certainly gained access to classified information as a result of a mid-air collision between a Chinese fighter and a U.S. spy plane, Jane's Defense Weekly says in its next edition. An official U.S. report, obtained by Jane's last week under the Freedom of Information Act, blamed the Chinese F-8 fighter for the April 2001 collision over the South China Sea off China's southern island province of Hainan. The U.S. report contradicted China's version of the accident which Beijing said was the EP-3E spy plane's fault. The collision killed the fighter pilot, Wang Wei, and soured Sino-U.S. relations just after George W. Bush had become resident. China held the 24 crew members of the spy plane for 11 days and released them only after Washington said it was 'very sorry' for the death of the Chinese pilot and the spy plane's landing on Hainan island without permission." If this had happened under Clinton, the Media would have never let up.

Joshua Eisenman writes, "China is aiming to become the world's next space power. However, in an effort to achieve domestic policy objectives and boost national pride, the Chinese Communist Party is adding a new, unpredictable dimension to a stable and profitable Sino-American relationship. This month, Chinese astronauts will attempt to orbit the Earth, pushing expectations to heights unseen since the Soviet-American space race of the 1960s. The United States, which has grounded its space shuttle programme and whose citizens are still reeling from the Columbia tragedy, is awaiting the Chinese attempt with unease. From the Chinese point of view, nationalism and economic growth remain the dual pillars essential for general stability and effective communist rule on the mainland. A space programme, like other large-scale undertakings such as the Three Gorges Dam project and the hosting of the 2008 Olympics, will enhance national pride."

Robert Parry writes: "Indeed, the evidence always has pointed in a very different direction: that the alleged Chinese theft of secrets for building the miniaturized W-88 nuclear warhead occurred during the mid-1980s, under the watch of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush... The full story of the Republican-Chinese collaboration was even worse than the Times described. As we reported last September, Ronald Reagan's White House had decided to share sensitive national security secrets with the Chinese communists by 1984... Some of the private U.S. operatives working with White House aide Oliver North had settled on China as a source for SA-7 missiles. In testimony at his 1989 Iran-contra trial, North called the securing of these weapons a 'very sensitive delivery'... Only a careful reading of the text [of the Cox Report on Chinagate] inside all the boxes revealed that the principal security breaches under review occurred between 1984-92, the Reagan-Bush years."

CNN reports, "The Iraqi war has convinced the Chinese Communist Party leadership that some form of confrontation with the U.S. could come earlier than expected. Beijing has also begun to fine-tune its domestic and security policies to counter the perceived threat of U.S. 'neo-imperialism.'... As People's Daily commentator Huang Peizhao pointed out last Saturday, U.S. moves in the Middle East 'have served the goal of seeking world-wide domination.' State Council think-tank member Tong Gang saw the conflict as the first salvo in Washington's bid to 'build a new world order under U.S. domination.' Chinese strategists think particularly if the U.S. can score a relatively quick victory over Baghdad, it will soon turn to Asia -- and begin efforts to 'tame' China. It is understood the LGNS believes the U.S. will take on North Korea -- still deemed a 'lips-and-teeth' ally of China's -- as early as this summer."

William Safire is shocked, shocked that the Bush team wants to allow technology sharing with China. But we reported a news item back on 5/29/01 about this (enter 'China' in our search engine). "White House officials also told the Times that over time, they might also be willing to share some technology with Beijing." Hey Bill, why does it surprise you that the treasonous Bush gang would put commerce above national security? After all, Uncle Prescott Bush Jr. closed a deal with the Chinese shortly after George Bush Sr. ordered sanctions on China in the wake of Tienneman Square. By the way, the Cox Report revealed that the secrets were lost to the Chinese back in the Reagan-Bush years (see below link), possibly as a result of BushDaddy's Iran-Contra deals.

MSNBC.com reports: "The Chinese and U.S. military are engaged in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse just off the coast of China, NBC News has learned. China is accusing a U.S. survey vessel off its coast of 'criminal activity' in its waters, while the United States says the ship is operating in international waters.... 'The encounter is part of a continuing testing of wills about the scope and location of these (U.S. military) activities,' says Jonathan Pollack, a China specialist and chairman of the Strategic Research Department at the Naval War College. Under U.N. treaties that govern exclusive economic zones, foreign ships can pass through the area, but not engage in specified economic activity such as oil exploration or fishing. The debate, says Pollack, is over military-related activities. 'The U.S. claims it is on totally legitimate grounds, even with intelligence-related activities.'"

State Department officials were deeply embarrassed Thursday when Shrub referred to Taiwan and China as separate nations, obliterating the formal "One China" policy of the US. Bush said, "We helped bring China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organisation. And that's good, that's important to recognise and to welcome both countries, both the Republic of Taiwan, and of course China, into the World Trade Organisation." After China protested, White House national security spokesman Sean McCormack declared Bush's remarks a "slip of the tongue." According to China, "Washington told China the U.S. government has not changed its Taiwan policy and said it would not refer to Taiwan in that way again." Bush has no excuse for being so ignorant after 16 months of on-the-job training. Has he learned nothing besides the word "evildoer"?

First Canadian Prime Minister Chretien derided Bush's ignorance, now Chinese "President Jiang Zemin has come up with a 12-character assessment of his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush: 'logically unsound; confused and unprincipled; unwise to the extreme.'" Nevertheless, Jiang reportedly said, "let's find out more about what Bush wants to do with Taiwan, the Dalai Lama and the missile-defense system." Moreover, "Jiang said, Beijing should desist from rash actions particularly in view of China's application to join the World Trade Organization and to host the Olympics. The president said Beijing should concentrate [on] playing the business card…Beijing is hoping the U.S. corporate community will then put pressure on the White House to improve ties with China." Of course this is the inherent paradox, as symbolized by Uncle Prescott Bush Jr. being the chairman of the US-China Chamber of Commerce.

Tom Thomin, a young Ohio teacher who recently spent three years in China says the Chinese love American people, technology, and our lifestyle. However, the United States is also "regarded as a war-like country intent on world domination." Thomin shares his impressions of China.