A Stitch in Haste

I have little new to say about the Chinese Communist dictatorship's latest reaffirmation of totalitarianism, namely the requirement that all websites and bloggers register with the government. I've condemned ... China ... before; I suspect I'll have cause to do so again.

This latest slap in the face of basic human liberties merely exemplifies my unchanged thesis regard China. You cannot have economic freedom without political freedom. To think that China's token enterprise zones are anything other than an attempt to siphon off wealth from the West (on the backs of slave laborers and subsistence farmers), to fall for the ruse of a prosperous — and content — populace (which is really just a carefully packaged marketing pitch comprised of politically favored elites), to think that capitalism will drag democracy up, rather than political oppression dragging economic freedom down, are all unjustifiable. Every example in history demonstrates otherwise.

China may be "too big to ignore," but it is not too big to condemn. Shame on their despicable Communist tyrants for this unforgivable infringement of human rights.

POST SCRIPT #1:

Chen Yonglin, 37, who fled his job as first secretary in the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney 12 days ago, said he was in fear of his life and claimed that Chinese agents were hunting him.

Mr Chen, who spoke at a rally on Sunday marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre before going into hiding, said he had repeatedly tried to defect but was thwarted at every stage.
...
Opposition politicians, trade unions and analysts said the government's reluctance to accept Mr Chen meant that trade with China had been put ahead of human rights. Australia's economy is riding high, selling oil, gas and minerals worth billions of pounds to Beijing, and the countries are forging ahead with free trade talks.

Like I said, does capitalism neutralize despotism, or does despotism neutralize capitalism? (Hat tip to Samizdata.) (UPDATE: The Australian government has backed off and will allow the defector to remain. Good.)

POST SCRIPT #2:

Global military spending in 2004 broke the $1 trillion barrier for the first time since the Cold War, boosted by the U.S. war against terror and the growing defense budgets of India and China, a European think tank said Tuesday.
...
The report is based on official national budgets in most cases, and independent studies for countries like China, where, [one researcher] said, "it's obvious that the official figures are very wrong."

The government-funded institute estimated that China increased it defense budget by about 10 percent in 2004, to $35.4 billion — a figure that is about 70 percent above the government's official figure...

The Soviet Union was notorious for blatantly lying about their macroeconomic, government budget and military spending statistics. The Chinese dictators are proving no different. Go figure (pun intended).