Free Republic

Hugo Chávez is birthing. He said that Venezuela is giving birth to 21st-century socialism. What is that?... Cuban model Another lesson surely was more valuable to the Venezuelan officers: They understood exactly what the Cuban model is all about, the 21st-Century socialism that Lt. Col. Chávez is spawning. They realized that, in Cuba, the structure of authority consists of a dictator at the top, surrounded by military men who hold the political power, the control of repressive forces and the direction and management of the major enterprises of production.

http://www.chosun.com/international/news/200505/200505010310.html/begin my translation26-year-old female office worker is the 8th richest person in ChinaA Major shareholder of Ping-an Insurance.... wealth totaling 637 million dollarsCould be a proxy for 'another figure'Beijing, Cho Joong-shik jscho@chosun.com05/01/05A 26-year-old woman became the 8th richest figure in China, sparking all kinds of speculation.'Xin-cai-fu,'  a Chinese business magazine which publishes the list of wealthiest people in China every year, announced on Apr. 28 the '500 wealthiest people' in China. Among them is the 8th richest figure, a young woman named 'Liu Fang,' whom Chinese have never heard of. Liu fang is the owner of Yuan-xin-hang Investment Co. which has 6.13%...

'Parlor Maid' tarnishes FBI Details of Leung-Smith spy case throw bureau's handling of investigation into question Details of Leung-Smith spy case throw bureau's handling By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER Twelve years ago, a team of U.S. counterintelligence operatives flew into frigid southern Manchuria to assess Chinese spying on American diplomats. Instead, the U.S. agents came to believe their own team was tracked by China's Ministry of State Security every step of their mission, which is still classified today. The first clue was an odd elevator encounter in remote northeast China, an FBI agent bumping into a California nuclear-weapons scientist suspected...

BEIJING, March 15 - China is often seen as being run by a few men who have largely unrestrained power. Yet sometimes even the prime minister's word is not law. On Monday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao answered questions from national and international journalists for nearly two hours at the conclusion of the National People's Congress, China's annual legislative session, the only scheduled press appearance he makes each year. Major government-controlled newspapers published identical transcripts of his comments on Tuesday, identical to each other, that is, but not to what he said at the news conference. The prime minister, in other...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney started a three-day visit to China Tuesday aimed at keeping a lid on tension between China and Taiwan and jump-starting talks to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. In his first closed-door meeting after arriving from Tokyo, Cheney reassured Chinese leaders that the United States did not support Taiwan independence and would oppose unilateral steps by either side, according to China's official Xinhua news agency. But Washington is increasingly concerned by China's build-up of ballistic missiles capable of striking Taiwan, and Cheney was expected to raise the issue when talks resume on Wednesday. China,...

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was captured recently without resisting. This surprised Westerners because it did not fit with his reputation for brutality. It shocked Arabs because some of them viewed him as a hero. Saddam turned out to be a coward, cowering like a rat in a hole, and he gave up as soon as he saw US soldiers. No dictator is a hero. They manage to appear mighty only because the media in their countries cannot reveal their ugliness. State-owned newspapers and TV stations glorify dictators every day. This is exactly what is going on in today's China....

<p>FOR THE PAST several weeks, Taiwan and China have been exchanging rhetorical broadsides about how the island's political future might be decided. Taiwan's democratically elected president, Chen Shui-bian, has been hinting that maybe his people should make a democratic choice about whether to unite with China or become independent. Beijing's Communist dictators have replied with bellicose threats to settle the matter by force, no matter the price. Yesterday President Bush essentially placed the United States on the side of the dictators who promise war, rather than the democrats whose threat is a ballot box. His gift to visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was to condemn "the comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan" while ignoring the sanguinary rhetoric of the man standing next to him. Mr. Bush had his reasons for doing so -- above all to avoid one more foreign policy crisis during an election year. But in avoiding a headache for himself, he demonstrated again how malleable is his commitment to the defense of freedom as a guiding principle of U.S. policy.</p>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published on TaipeiTimes http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2003/12/11/2003079112 US experts greet Bush's comments with shock REGIONAL ISSUES: Some were outraged, while others said Bush's statement was motivated by the need for Chinese pressure on North Korea BY Debby Wu STAFF REPORTER Thursday, Dec 11, 2003,Page 1 American legal experts described US President George W. Bush's concession to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (œØ¼ÒŒš) yesterday as "disgusting." President of International League for Human Rights Scott Horton said that he was "shocked" to hear Bush's remarks and he believed Bush did not speak for the majority of the American people whom past surveys have shown to...

09 December 2003 Bush Calls U.S., China "Partners in Diplomacy" Arrival ceremony remarks by Bush, Premier Wen JiabaoThe United States and China share many interests, including counter-terrorism, free trade, and peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, President Bush said in remarks welcoming Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to the White House on December 9."We are partners in diplomacy working to meet the dangers of the 21st century," Bush said. "We are full members of a world trading system that rewards enterprise and lifts nations."Expressing gratitude for China's leadership in hosting six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, the president promised...

NEW YORK – China's Premier Wen Jiabao warned the Bush administration Monday against imposing further trade barriers on Chinese products and urged Washington to find ways of increasing exports to his country as a way of lowering its ballooning trade deficit. Wen, visiting New York before heading to Washington for talks with President Bush, sought to defuse trade tensions and defend China's trade policies. "I have come to this country to seek friendship and cooperation, not to fight a trade war," he told American business executives during a luncheon sponsored by the American Bankers Association. But his words were firm....

China's Wen to get 19-gun salute, "spectacular" pomp from White House President George W. Bush may have stripped down White House protocol in keeping with a time of "war" but Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will get "spectacular" treatment Tuesday, complete with a 19-gun salute, an official said. Wen will arrive at the presidential mansion for a South Lawn ceremony only offered during this administration to visiting heads of state, a senior administration official said. Then he and Bush will hold talks in the Oval Office before sitting down to lunch. Some observers have commented that Wen's reception will fall short...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (Crawford, Texas) November 26, 2003 STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY Official Visit by Premier Wen Jiabao of China President Bush will welcome Premier Wen Jiabao of China to the White House for an Official Visit on December 9, 2003. The President looks forward to holding discussions with the Premier on the full range of issues on the U.S.-China agenda and to continue building a candid, constructive, and cooperative bilateral relationship. (end text)

<p>BEIJING -- China is going on a shopping spree in the United States, hoping to ease trade tensions before Premier Wen Jiabao visits Washington in December, American officials say.</p> <p>The effort comes amid mounting U.S. pressure for Beijing to meet market-opening pledges and ease a trade surplus with the United States that hit $103 billion last year.</p>

BEIJING, Mar 15, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The third-ranking member of China's Communist Party was appointed Sunday to be its next premier, assuming control of a fast-changing economy that has carried the country to new heights and created staggering problems during two decades of reform. Wen Jiabao, 60, becomes the country's top economic official, replacing the retiring Zhu Rongji as expected. The appointment caps a generational leadership transition that inserted new top-level party officials into the highest seats of China's government. The largely ceremonial legislature, the National People's Congress, approved Wen's elevation overwhelmingly as the final top-level...