This should come as a shocker to the Liberal Party of Canada:

China helped North Korea develop nuclear weapons and in the past year increased its support to Pyongyang, rather than pressing the regime to halt nuclear arms and missile activities, according to a congressional report.
    

The final draft report of the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission also says that Chinese government-run companies are continuing to threaten U.S. national security by exporting arms to American enemies in Asia and the Middle East.

Read the rest.

Victor Davis Hanson takes a look at North Korea and China's role. It is well worth the read.

(Via Bourque) The BBC is reporting that a high ranking member of China's politburo has been fired for corruption. As posted here (and here) before, corruption is part of the norm in China. It is a police state and the new economy is all bout taking money. You can look at this as a corporate takeover if you will. Corruption is the excuse for taking out a political competitor who has not been paying up the chain. The operative part of the article reads:

The sacking of Chen Liangyu comes ahead of the key Communist Party Congress later this year when Hu Jintao will be hoping to consolidate his leadership. Until now, Shanghai - China's second city and financial centre - has been considered a stronghold for officials loyal to Mr Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin. Mr Chen was a protege of Jiang Zemin. There has been a continuing power struggle between Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Shanghai says. Mr Chen's dismissal is being widely interpreted as Hu Jintao strengthening his position both within the party and the country as a whole, our correspondent adds. The sacking of such senior Communist Party members are rare.

Some of you may have seen the news reports on China's corruption audit. The government did an audit and found, to everyone's surprise that there was corruption. Heads will roll - literally. For those in the west who see tyrannies as legitimate, this audit is evidence that a police state can control the corruption within the government. In reality, the audit is a way to consolidate power. On the list, I assure you, are those the leaders want gone from the competition for the graft. There will be reformers on the list and those that have not paid the graft up the chain. There is no capitalism in China. Capitalism is about the creation of wealth. The Chinese are not interested in making money, they are interested in taking money. They simply do not run profitable companies because, so long as the money flows up, the banks will never call a loan. We should think about this when we see Chinese "corporations" wanting to purchase Canadian resource companies. The resources will no longer trade on the free market and the "profits" will be used to line the pockets of corrupt tyrants who are fundamentally opposed to individual freedom.