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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Carlson: Our new best buddies butcher and torture

DesMoinesRegister.com - Carlson: Listen carefully and you still can hear the gentle clinking of fine crystal in the Capitol building.

Oh, my goodness gracious, Gov. Terry Branstad was absolutely giddy raising his wine glass and toasting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and the wonderful friendship that is growing between our state and the world’s most populous nation. What a glorious few days it was, when the future president of China stopped by with suitcases full of yuan, promising to buy tons of soybeans and sign gazillions in business deals.

Iowans’ smiles were so wide, our bows so deep, it’s a wonder we didn’t sprain something. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Being a right-winger, I’m all for business deals and private enterprise and people and corporations making handsome profits. I just think it’s good to keep some perspective as we snuggle up to our pals.

While they were on their second entree at the Capitol, I thought of drinking tea from chipped cups in a dingy Des Moines apartment with a mother and daughter who had endured two years in Chinese prisons.

Their crime was following a spiritual movement known as “Falun Dafa.” Its followers number in the millions and they believe their mind and body are made healthier by meditation and physical exercises. Falun Dafa, also called “Falun Gong,” is not a religion. No deity is worshipped. There is no membership. There are no dues. It was banned in China in 1999, when the totalitarian government became threatened by its popularity. Hundreds of thousands refused to stop the practice, and today, up to half of Chinese prisoners are believed to be followers of Falun Dafa.

The women I met in Des Moines spent a few weeks in Iowa on their way to a permanent home in the eastern United States. They described being dragged from their homes in China and sent to work and re-education camps. They said they were tortured physically and mentally when they refused to renounce Falun Dafa. They described being fed through tubes shoved in their their nostrils and hung by their wrists when they refused to sew garments in a prison factory.

The women, a mother and daughter, were released from prison when they were near death and fled through several Asian countries and eventually to the United States.

Their allegations were considered credible by both the federal and Iowa governments, and the women were given official United Nations refugee status. That is a recognition by the U.N. that there was a significant risk of persecution or imprisonment if they were forced to return to China.

Their status also was recognized by the Iowa Department of Human Rights, where a spokeswoman said the state was limited on the amount of help it could offer. In a shocking display of honesty, the Iowa official said the state was reluctant to become more involved because “Iowa sells a lot of things to China.”

It now appears there’s much more to sell. Fine. Let’s remember when we cash the checks that our new business buddies manipulate their currency, making it cheap for China to export to the U.S. and expensive for this country to sell its goods there. Chinese workers who make iPods are paid about $1.75 an hour and are among the best paid in the country. Thousands reportedly line up for jobs at the factory, where workers commit suicide at an alarming rate. Most moved to the city from rural areas, where the average annual income is $200.

If, as expected, Xi becomes China’s president next year, he will lead a country with a one-child per family mandate and where some parents intent on having sons have killed their newborn girls. Forced abortions aren’t speculation. Chinese women who managed to flee the country testified before U.S. Congressional committees last fall about vicious attacks and surgical procedures related to the policy. One woman described how a clinic in China reported her second pregnancy to authorities. Her husband was beaten. She was drugged, an abortion was performed, and an intrauterine device was implanted in her body causing permanent injury.

Such horrors have been confirmed by international human rights organizations.

It’s not realistic to expect the governor to bring up this unpleasantness with a visiting leader. It’s just good to keep it in mind as we toast friendship and prepare to cash the checks. The truth is, we slobbered over our visitor because the Chinese own a little more of America every day. Political leaders here, both on the left and right, ignore the atrocities because it’s good for business.

So we can be sure our new best friends — “the great nation of China,” in our governor’s words — will continue to butcher pregnant women and torture people who dare think for themselves.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Bo Xilai's Ambition to Rule

It became known as a hellish place for Falun Gong practitioners. ... has described Liaoning Province as the epicenter of forced organ harvesting in China.

More at Epoch Times

China's Regime Demands US Return Documents

These documents may have revealed the crimes of his boss Bo Xilai in their so-called “Beat the Black” anti-crime campaign, or even organ harvesting in connection with the persecution of Falun Gong, in which Bo was involved. Journalist Bill Gertz has ...

More at NTDTV

Epoch Times Wins Defamation Lawsuit

Chau (La Presse Chinoise) sued the Epoch Times for defamation after the newspaper published articles connecting Chau's efforts to demonize Falun Gong with the Chinese communist regime's repression of the group. The Court of Appeal agreed with Justice Mandeville that there ...

More at Epoch Times

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Responsibility For Persecution of Falun Gong Dogs CCP Leaders

There has been no bigger crime on the CCP's books since the Cultural Revolution than the persecution of Falun Gong, and the fear of being held responsible for that persecution is driving what may be one of the bitterest succession battles in the ...

More at The Epoch Times

Thursday, February 16, 2012

China's leaders must honor religious freedoms

His “crime” was defending Falun Gong practitioners in China and arrested Christians, while peacefully promoting democracy. Gao Zhisheng suffered horrendous torture which his captors reportedly videotaped and showed to other detained dissidents.

More at
DesMoinesRegister.com

Taiwan Falun Gong sues visiting Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong over human rights

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Falun Gong announced on Thursday it was suing Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong over human rights abuses on the day he arrived for his first-ever visit to Taiwan. Religious activists and opposition Democratic Progressive Party politicians...

“Inviting a person known for repressing human rights and sitting down with him as if nothing happened, is unsuitable,” said DPP lawmaker Pan Men-an.

Taiwanese followers of the Chinese religious group the Falun Gong took their case against Guo to a local court, expressing the hope that the hearings could begin while the mayor was still in the country.


Full Article at eTaiwan News

Chinese Would-Be Defector May Have Revealed Coup Plot to US

Two high-level officials in the Chinese Communist Party conspired to disrupt Xi Jinping’s accession to the pinnacle of the Party and to take control of security forces to force Xi to hand over power, according to a prominent dissident website quoting insider sources.

Gertz writes that, according to his sources, Zhou Yongkang, the Communist Party’s security czar, has taken control of Chongqing from Bo Xilai, and has not allowed further action or investigation against Bo.

Gertz reported that Locke recommended that Wang Lijun be granted asylum, but was overruled by the White House because they did not wish to disrupt U.S.-China relations just before Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States.

Wang is understood to have divulged a lot of information about the inner operations of the Communist Party, which was typed up and cabled back to Washington throughout the night. The Epoch Times today reported Wang’s involvement—dating back to 2006—in the execution and organ harvesting of prisoners, many of whom were probably Falun Gong practitioners detained for their beliefs.

Related Articles Read More at the Epoch Times

Chinese Regime in Crisis

Click this tag to read The Epoch Times’ collection of articles on the Chinese Regime in Crisis. Intra-CCP politics are a challenge to make sense of, even for veteran China watchers. Here we attempt to provide readers with the necessary context to understand the situation.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Would-be China Defector, Once Bo Xilai’s Right Hand, Oversaw Organ Harvesting

Former Chongqing vice mayor involved in ‘thousands’ of transplantation operations

Epoch Times: The high-ranking Chinese official who sought to defect to the United States last week has a story to tell about his participation in thousands of atrocities—and may have already told it to U.S. consular officials.

Wang Lijun, formerly the director of public security and vice mayor of the southwestern China megapolis of Chongqing, fearing that Bo Xilai, Chongqing’s Communist Party chief, meant to assassinate him, fled on Feb. 6 to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, a four-hour drive west.

He spent over 24 hours in the consulate and, according to a Radio France International report, revealed to consular officials details about crimes committed by him and Bo. He then left Chengdu under the protection of Beijing security officials.

Prominent among Wang’s crimes was his participation in forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, a practice the Chinese regime has denied. Earlier in his career, Wang gave a speech in which he discussed his involvement in organ harvesting.

Wang’s Award

In 2006, three years after becoming director of the public security bureau in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, Wang was given an award—but it wasn’t for fighting crime. Wang had done pioneering research on how best to transplant organs taken from prisoners—who were possibly still alive when their organs were removed—and honed his techniques over thousands of on site trials.

Wang received the award in September 2006 from the Guanghua Science and Technology Foundation, a charitable organization meant to promote science and technology to youth. According to its website it is under the direct leadership of the Communist Youth League, one of the Chinese Communist Party’s mass organizations used for recruitment.

In Wang’s acceptance speech, which is still available online (and archived here), he thanks Guanghua Foundation staff for “painstakingly traveling” to Liaoning Province to observe his work.

He notes one time when Guanghua staff had to rush back from overseas to view a trial. “They wanted to witness organ transplantation and examine it from their point of view: organ transplant benefits the public and improves Chinese law enforcement in a humane and democratic way,” Wang said.

“As we all know, the so-called ‘on the scene research’ is the result of several thousand intensive on-site transplants,” he added.

Wang accepted the award as director of the “On-the-Scene Psychological Research Center,” which according to its entry on the website of the Ministry of Commerce is an adjunct of Jinzhou City’s public security bureau. Its brief introduction says it has relationships and scholarly exchanges with universities in over 10 countries. Emails to the research center were not returned, and calls to the number listed did not go through.

In his acceptance speech, Wang said, “For a veteran policeman, to see someone being executed and to see that this person’s organs being transplanted to several other persons’ bodies, it was shocking. This is a great endeavor that involved much hard work from many people. The secretary general of China Guanghua Foundation, Jinyang and his staff were right there at the transplant scene, they have experienced it all with us.”

In a speech given on the occasion of Wang’s award, Ren Jinyang, the secretary general of the Guanghua Foundation, explained that Wang was recognized for his “basic research and on-site experiments” in making transplant recipients more receptive to organs.

“They have created a brand new protective fluid,” Ren said. “After animal tests, out of body tests, and clinical operations, they have achieved an important milestone where the recipients become more receptive to a liver and kidney injected with such protective fluid.”

Execution Site

Researchers investigating China’s organ transplantation practices were troubled by the remarks and what they implied.

“The so called ‘research scene’ that Wang Lijun refers to is either an outright execution site with medical vans, or possibly a medical ward, where peoples’ organs are surgically removed,” said Ethan Gutmann, who has published extensively on organ harvesting from Chinese prisoners of conscience.

He added that the injections that the award refers to are probably “anti-coagulants and experimental medications that lower the chance of immune-system rejection as the organ is passed between one living body—heart still beating, soon to expire from the trauma—to another.” Gutmann added that this is “normal medical practice” in China, where hospitals, military hospitals, and public security bureaus intersect.

“There is zero guarantee that consent was involved,” Gutmann said. “Ample evidence has come to light that the victims could well have been Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, ‘Eastern Lightning’ Christians or—exponentially more likely—Falun Gong practitioners. In other words, Wang Lijun received an award for, at best, barbarism.”

It is not possible to know what proportion of victims Wang referred to in his remark about “thousands” of on-site transplants were criminal prisoners and how many were political prisoners or prisoners of conscience, such as Falun Gong practitioners. Further, in China there is a range of nonviolent crimes that can be punished with the death penalty, but the communist state does not publish statistics detailing the numbers of people executed and their crimes.

David Matas, an award-winning Canadian human rights lawyer, and David Kilgour, a former Canadian secretary of state (Asia/Pacific) and crown attorney, co-authored a report on organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China. The pair estimate that in the six-year period 2000–2005, 60,000 transplantation operations were done in China and Falun Gong practitioners were the likely source for the organs for 41,500 operations.

In other words, approximately two-thirds of the organs used in transplant operations during this time period—which in part overlaps the period of Wang’s “research”—came from prisoners of conscience, most of whom would have been Falun Gong.

CQ Global Researcher, a leading global affairs journal, quotes Kilgour and Matas and Gutmann as independently estimating over 62,000 practitioners have been killed for their organs in the period 2000–2008.

Live Harvesting

In the eyes of experts, a significant question left worryingly open in Wang’s remarks is whether the prisoners actually died before their organs were taken from their bodies. Given the reference to drug injections, it is highly possible that the hearts of the victims were still beating when their organs were removed, these experts say.

“It used to be that China would shoot for execution, then they shifted from shooting to using injections,” says Matas. “In effect they’re not killing by injection, but paralyzing by injection, and taking the organs out while the body is still alive.”

When an organ is removed from a still-live body, it is fresher and rejection rates are lower. “It’s possible to source an organ immediately after the victim is brain dead, but much more complicated,” says Matas. “The organ deterioration is more marked once they are brain dead, but if you keep the body alive through drugs you can harvest organs over a longer period of time.”

Wang’s conversations with the U.S. consular officials in Chengdu might shed light on such details as the function of the drugs he used in transplantation operations in Liaoning Province.

In any case Wang’s visit to the consulate provides the best opportunity to date of confirmation from a Chinese official of the ongoing practice of forced organ harvesting in China.

At a press conference on Monday in Washington, D.C., Falun Gong spokesperson Dr. Tsuwei Huang called on the U.S. government to release the contents of Wang Lijun’s conversations.

With research by Sophia Fang.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Getting to Know Xi Jinping, the Chinese Regime's Next Boss





This overriding ambition may have been decisive in 2009, when Xi was picked to head up the “6521 Project,” a task force created to crack down on Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetans, and democracy activists, according to official documents and activist ...

More at The Epoch Times

US Government Asked: Release Information About Atrocities in China

During a failed attempt to defect, a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official may have provided documentary evidence to U.S. consular officials of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, a practice the Chinese regime has denied.

According to Chinese blogs, Wang Lijun yelled out as he was being escorted out of the U.S. Consulate that he had told U.S. officials everything, that he had sent information overseas, and that he had also handed over documents.

According to Dr. Huang, Wang had broken the “code of silence,” and revealed details about both his and Bo Xilai’s involvement in illegal organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

More at The Epoch Times

Monday, February 13, 2012

Falun Gong Call for Help--End the Persecution in China and Bring Criminals to Justice--on eve of Xi Jijping's visit to the US


The following is being released by the Falun Dafa Association of Washington, D.C.

On the day of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping's arrival in the United States, Falun Gong practitioners call for help to end the over 12 years brutal persecution by CCP and bring the criminals to justice.

Background

The future chosen leader of Communist China, Xi Jinping, arrives in Washington on Feb. 13. Xi is on course to become secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this fall at the 18th Party Congress, replacing top leader Hu Jintao. Just a week ago, Wang Lijun, the deputy mayor and the head of the Public Security Bureau of Chongqing, went to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, might be requesting political asylum due to the internal power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party. The U.S. Department of State has verified this daylong visit and said Wang left on his own volition. It was reported by various media of both Chinese and other languages, that Wang had a long talk with the staff in the U.S. Consulate and revealed much confidential information within the CCP. He also submitted some undisclosed paperwork.

Falun Gong practitioners, who have been persecuted for twelve years by the Chinese Communist regime, would like to make two requests. First, we hope the U.S. government to disclose the contents of the conversation between Wang and U.S. Consulate that is relevant to Falun Gong.

Second, we ask China's next leader, Xi Jinping to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong, to conduct a thorough investigation of the Chinese officials responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and to bring to justice the main culprits, including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Zhou Yongkang, etc.

What & When: Press Conference, Monday 02/13/2012, 4:00 PM

Where: Zenger Room, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Who: Representative of Falun Dafa Association of Washington, D.C.,

Related:

No Valentine's love for China's illegitimate leaders ... - Human Rights Watch

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Arrest of Chongqing's Top Cop Suggests City's Communist Party Leader in Jeopardy

The Epoch Times - Shake up taking place in highest ranks of Chinese regime
The shock in Chinese political circles triggered by Wang Lijun’s arrest has just begun. On Feb. 2, Wang was removed from his duty as chief of the Public Security Bureau in Chongqing, Sichuan. Rumors on the Internet say that Bo Xilai, Wang’s former superior who promoted him and trusted him with important tasks, quickly distanced himself from Wang before the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection decided to investigate Wang.

If true, that would certainly fit with Bo’s perfidious personality. However, there is no chance the Commission will only want to investigate Wang.

Wang has been Bo’s right-hand man and lead the charge in cracking down on the mafia. After Bo was appointed secretary of the Chongqing City Communist Party Committee in Dec. 2007, he moved Wang from Jinzhou in the northeastern province of Liaoning to Chongqing in June 2008. With Wang’s help, Bo cleared the old official network in Chongqing, mainly former officials under the previous party secretary, in the name of combating the mafia.

This indicates how Bo had relied on Wang. If Bo had a chance to become a member of the Central Politburo Standing Committee, he would definitely keep Wang with him. In other words, if Bo could not save Wang, he likely cannot save himself from whatever is coming.
Bo’s Dangerous Mistakes

Everyone knows that Bo does not get along with other high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. On June 11, 2011, Bo led 500 members of a “red song troupe” to perform in Beijing. None of the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau showed up. Bo made a big mistake by unwittingly disclosing to the Chinese people how isolated he is among the high-level officials.

After he got back to Chongqing, on Oct. 5, he placed a calligraphy autograph by Deng Ken, Deng Xiaoping’s younger brother, on the front page of the Chongqing Daily, as a way of indicating Deng’s support for him.

The next day, he published an exclusive interview with Hu Jinxing, the current Chinese leader Hu Jintao’s cousin, on the second page of the Chongqing Daily. In the interview, Hu Jinxing highly praised Bo’s accomplishments. Bo made a second mistake. Apparently he could not obtain Hu Jintao’s support which is why he went to Hu Jinxing.

On Nov. 10, while Hu Jintao was in Hawaii attending the APEC meeting, Bo held a large-scale military maneuver in Chongqing. This was Bo’s third mistake and exposed his die-hard determination.

While Hu was out of China, Bo showed Hu his capability to mobilize the military. No matter how Bo praises the CCP and cracks down on the mafia, Hu may or may not fear him as a rival. But this time, Bo sent out the message that he has enough ability and determination for a military coup.

At this point, that the two sides would put all their cards on the table is inevitable.

Many people may not have noticed Xinhua’s report on Jan. 15, but it is significant. Two high-ranking military officials—Xu Caihou and Guo Boxiaong, vice chairmen of Central Military Committee, and Li Ji’nai, director of the General Political Department of the People’s Liberation Army—declared that the military should “follow Chairman Hu’s command.” They also said their statement was to ensure that CCP’s 18th National Congress can convene successfully and that the military will, at any time under any circumstance, listen to Hu’s command.

After the military deployment was finished, on Feb. 2, Wang Lijun was removed from his position as chief of the Chongqing public security bureau.
Broken Alliance, Rapid Fall

If we analyze the chain of events chronologically, I’d like to make an assumption. Hu Jintao had already decided to get rid of Bo Xilai, and he planned to target Wang Lijun first. If Bo were to risk his own life to protect Wang, based on an agreement to cover each other’s tracks, they might still have a chance to fight against Hu. However, Bo finds betraying others so quick and easy that he immediately abandoned Wang Lijun to protect himself.

Wang was in danger of being killed at any time after being abandoned by Bo, because he knows too much about Bo’s secrets. Therefore, the most crucial measure for him to protect himself was to leave Chongqing.

Shortly before I started to write this article, Victoria Nuland, the spokesperson of U.S. State Department, confirmed that Wang Lijun indeed had a conversation with U.S. consular officials in Chengdu.

I believe that Wan Lijun knew very well that it was impossible for the U.S. consulate to grant him political asylum. He most likely went to the consulate to make a scene and attract world attention. By leaving Chongqing and staying long enough in the U.S. consulate, Wang insured his safety for the time being by getting Beijing to intervene.

Several overseas news outlets have reported that the mayor of Chongqing Huang Qifan came down to Chengdu with 70 police vehicles trying to abduct Wang back to Chongqing. However, it was the disciplinary committee of the Chinese Communist Party that took Wang Lijun away. Therefore, Wang flew directly to Beijing from Chengdu’s Shuangliu airport on Feb. 8 in the morning, claiming in an open letter being circulated under his name, that he would put up a life and death struggle with Bo Xilai.

Even being a member of Politburo of the CCP Central Committee cannot guarantee one’s safety. Chen Xitong, former Party Secretary for Beijing, and Chen Liangyu, former Party Secretary of Shanghai, were both taken down under the guise of anticorruption though the real reason for their fall was more likely political infighting.

The end that awaits Bo is far worse than not being able to make it to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau. Because Bo has proven himself to be cruel and vicious, doesn’t have any allies in the top circle, and has tried to survive in the CCP while breaking the rules of the CCP gang, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his political career come to an end or see him arrested over this incident.

The Epoch Times reported on Feb. 8: “According to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables on Wikileaks, when still Commerce Minister Bo Xilai was angling for Vice Premier when he got shot down by Wen Jiabao at the 17th Party Congress because of international lawsuits filed against Bo by Falun Gong practitioners around the world, Bo was demoted to Party Secretary of Chongqing City as the last stop of his political career,” said the cable.

Bo Xilai brutally persecuted Falun Gong practitioners as mayor of Dalian city, governor of Liaoning, and Minister of Commerce, and Wang Lijun has always been his most active henchman. They both committed crimes against humanity by systematic live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.

Their fall is happening as part of a political struggle, but it also represents a rough sort of justice for the wrongs they have done, against Falun Gong practitioners and others, as these two climbed the ladder up the ranks of the CCP.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

PM to Meet Hardliner in Chongqing as Top Cop Disappears

The police chief of one of China’s major cities has disappeared from sight just days before Prime Minister Stephen Harper was to visit the city and meet its controversial mayor, a hardline communist demoted for international criticism related to his persecution of Falun Gong.

The PM looks to be arriving amid political turmoil in Chongqing, as its high-profile police chief Wang Lijun has disappeared and appears to have sought asylum at the U.S. consulate in nearby Chengdu.

Meanwhile, Harper’s meeting with Chongqing’s Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai could help raise the fortunes of one of the regime’s most brutal and anti-democratic figures, say critics.

Both men are leading figures in the persecution of Falun Gong as well, responsible for hundreds of deaths. Bo has kept Wang by his side through several posts.

McMillan-Scott lambasts China for its 'abhorrent' record

NTD was founded 10 years ago by a group of Falun Gong supporters which, in 1999, was banned in China. He said that "ever since then these practitioners have been persecuted terribly.

More at TheParliament.com

Falun Gong Detainee on Brink of Death, Amnesty International Says

A Falun Gong adherent imprisoned in China's freezing north is feared by family to be close to death, having endured torture and hunger strikes since he was jailed in March 2011, according to a human rights group.Then, he was imprisoned again for speaking to the public about Falun Gong, according to Amnesty International. Family members were called by prison officials ...More at Epoch Times

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Quiet diplomacy' doesn't work with China

By continuing to engage in "quiet diplomacy" in the face of a worsening human rights situation in China, while reaping the economic benefits of greater engagement, Canada will not only be refusing to abandon a discredited approach to dealing with China, but worse, it will be complicit in the repression of countless Chinese dissidents and minorities.

J. Michael Cole, a former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, is deputy news chief at the Taipei Times newspaper in Taiwan and a correspondent on China for Jane's Defence Weekly and Jane's Intelligence Review.

Read more at the Ottawa Citizen

Canadian PM to Meet with Bo Xlilai, Subject of Leaked US Cable,

Critics say meeting could help bolster repressive former minister amid political infighting in China

By Matthew Little -The Epoch Times: ...But Harper’s meeting with Bo is a “big mistake,” David Matas said.

“Bo Xilai represents the worst elements of China and the communist party system—ambitious and brutal—and he has been marginalized and demoted because of it, and because of the international storm his brutality has caused, and the fact that he is so ill-reputed abroad that they can’t send him abroad. And so they sent him away.”

Matas said Bo’s efforts to return to power would be “bad news for anybody who believes in human rights.”

“Harper, by visiting him, is helping Bo Xilai in his campaign to rehabilitate himself, and to resuscitate the reputation he has lost by his own activity in abusing human rights.”

Bo rose to power through former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, and in part through his hardline crackdown on Falun Gong as part of Jiang’s campaign against the spiritual group, a move some analysts interpreted as an effort by Jiang to solidify his own political position.

Bo is among the most ardent repressors in China, and as Governor of Liaoning from 2001 to 2004 presided over 100 confirmed torture deaths of Falun Gong practitioners.

Currently, he is being sued by Toronto resident Rong Jin, who at 27 was detained and tortured in a Dalian prison, in Liaoning province.

Evidence of complicity in torture, murder, genocide, and crimes against humanity prompted a total of 14 lawsuits against him in 13 countries.

In November 2009, following a two-year investigation, a Spanish court indicted Bo, along with Jiang Zemin and three other top Chinese leaders, for their role in crimes of torture and genocide committed against Falun Gong practitioners. An Argentine judge had also issued arrest warrants for top Chinese officials including Bo in the same year. Read More

Monday, February 06, 2012

Open letter to the PM on Falun Gong issues on eve of trip to China

Dear Prime Minister Harper:

January 20, 2012 - On your upcoming trip to China, we respectfully request you specifically and publicly call on Mr. Hu Jintao and the Chinese Communist regime to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and to release the hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience— including the known 11 family members of Canadians who are serving jail terms of up to seven years in China for their beliefs.

We were encouraged, as many were, that under your leadership the Government of Canada announced its intention to form an office of religious freedom that would serve as a voice to protect and advance of the cause of religious freedom globally, and that China would be among the countries where the state of religious freedom would be monitored. We would like to remind you as you visit China that the persecution of Falun Gong believers is the most widespread and severe such persecution in China today, and indeed in the world. Your raising this grave matter with Chinese leaders is an excellent way in which to demonstrate our government’s commitment to religious freedom.

For over 12 years, the brutal and systematic persecution of Falun Gong has included imprisonment, torture, hate propaganda, brainwashing, murder and even organ harvesting from incarcerated practitioners — along with widespread censorship and coercion to cover up the atrocities that have committed. To date, the confirmed deaths number is in the thousands, though many more are believed to have been killed. Millions of families have been torn apart. Currently, Falun Gong practitioners are the largest group of prisoners of conscience in the world. They number in the hundreds of thousands at any given time in the past decade. According to a UN Special Raporteur’s report on torture Falun Gong practitioners account for 66% of torture cases in China.

We believe the humanitarian reasons to publicly and vigorously raise the persecution of Falun Gong with Mr. Hu are compelling. However, we also understand that despite the persecution being known to governments and widely reported by rights organizations that our leaders face pressure from the Communist regime — not to raise the persecution of Falun Gong. The regime wishes to make raising this brutal persecution a choice between human rights and basic human values on one hand, and money, trade and interest on the other. The communist regime wishes our leaders to choose silence over principle. We ask you not to forget the important Canadian values of human rights when doing trade. We kindly remind our government to beware of the Communist regime’s sly deception and to not fall into their trap.

History will abandon the Communist regime – please stand on the side of justice

The rapid changes that have come with the Arab Spring and with Hosni Mubarak on trial and the sudden passing of dictators such as Kim Jong-Il, Ben Laden, and Muammar Gaddafi in the past year are a reminder that in the course of history evil regimes will fall. Those brutal regimes that repress their people are also becoming more isolated on the world stage as more people stand up to demand their freedom.

The Chinese Communist regime also feels more alone and feels more internal pressure from its people—with the number of riots and protests in China (called “mass incidents” by the regime, now reportedly numbering more than 100,000 per year). Communism has no basis in Chinese tradition, values or culture. It is an evil spectre imported to China. Over one hundred million Chinese (current or former Communist members) have renounced their ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations (the Youth League and Young Pioneers) online over the last seven years. Though it may seem strong today as Soviet Union once did, the CCP’s collapse may also come at any time.

The Canadian government would be wise to engage and support the Chinese people and their rights, rather than regard as an ally a regime that persecutes its people and that will most certainly be abandoned by history.

Our request

Mr. Prime Minster, we applaud the pledge you once made that Canada will put human rights as a priority in our relations with China and that Canada would not sell out to the almighty dollar. We believe that was your genuine and principled stance, and that your stance truly reflected Canadian values. It demonstrated the upright vision and insight of Canada’s leader on the world stage, and we believe it earned respect.

We sincerely thank you and our government for the support you have given thus far. We submit that the discussion on human rights with China cannot be considered complete without an unequivocal and publicly stated protest against the persecution of Falun Gong. We respectfully urge you to take the opportunity of your upcoming trip to express Canada’s opposition to this inhumane persecution and to request the release of all those imprisoned for their belief.

We look forward to your continuing upright stance and actions toward China, on behalf of Canadians.

Sincerely yours,

Xun Li
President of Falun Dafa Association of Canada

cc: Hon. John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Greens to PM: Don't Sell Out Human Rights to "Almighty Dollar"

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands) recently stated, "There are Falun Gong practitioners in my riding who have visited my office and have made sure I am aware of the conditions that Falun Dafa practitioners face in China. I am very aware that your practice is one of non-violence, individual responsibility, and grace and that makes it doubly unacceptable that you should be subjected to torture and imprisonment and harsh conditions, only for following a practice that is liberating to mind and spirit." May urged Canadian and Chinese leaders to remember that both countries are signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Therefore, any trade negotiations should be considered in the light of improving human rights and the preservation of ethnic cultures.

In the past week, rallies have been held on Parliament Hill by both Tibetans and practitioners of Falun Gong, asking the Prime Minister to work for reforms when he visits China February 6th to 12th. Green Leader May spoke to both rallies. “If Canada wants to be a partner with China, we also have a responsibility to play a role in ending persecution and human rights abuses. This is particularly relevant given that Canada is allowing the Chinese government to actually own Canadian resources, with over $20 billion invested in the oil sands.”

"Will our children remember us for promoting trade, or for using trade as a vehicle for improving human rights in developing countries?” asked Joe Foster, Green Human Rights Critic.

Harper China delegation includes oil, banking executives minus Falun Gong reporter

Reporter denied visa

But not everyone planning to travel with the Canadian delegation made it on the trip. A reporter for the Epoch Times was denied a visa to visit China.

Matthew Little, who is an accredited member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, had a spot reserved on the plane along with other Canadian reporters, but couldn't get permission from China to enter the country.

In a statement to CBC News, Epoch Times's Canadian publisher Cindy Gu said it's disappointing but not surprising that Little wasn't granted a visa.

"The Epoch Times has published many articles critical of the Chinese regime, and its repression of basic freedoms. The regime has continually made efforts to block our reporting," she said.

The Epoch Times was founded by Falun Gong practitioners and doesn't shrink from criticizing the Chinese government over its human rights abuses. The original Chinese-language Epoch Times started publishing in response to a need for uncensored news coverage in China, according to the company's website. It publishes in 17 languages around the world.

Harper's own delegation includes a wider business focus, with top executives from Air Canada, SNC-Lavalin and Bombardier, Manulife and Scotiabank.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz will also visit the country.

More at CBC

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Rally for Rights Sees Hundreds Take to Hill

Falun Gong practitioners meditate for justice ahead of Harper’s China visit

The tension between trade with China and calling the regime out for its abuses has been a problem for successive Canadian governments.

Some of the most serious atrocities are happening in China at the present time, and I think we have an obligation to speak up.

Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz

Tory MP Garry Breitkreuz said MPs face a “huge challenge” in balancing the lure of China’s market with concerns about human rights. The China business lobby also remains a powerful force on Parliament Hill, he said.

“It’s difficult to weigh these things and balance some of the competing interests but it’s our obligation to do that,” he said after voicing his support in a speech at the rally on Tuesday.

...

“Just how Sinopec became co-author of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new foreign policy and energy strategy isn’t a question any of us are supposed to be asking,” Terry Glavin writes.

But if doing business with China means getting entwined with its ruling Communist Party, it’s important that the government still draw a clear line, said Zhang Tianxiao at the press conference Tuesday.

Zhang’s sister, Zhang Yunhe, disappeared in China in 2002 after being arrested for practicing Falun Gong. Zhang worries she has been a victim of organ harvesting. Zhang’s brother-in-law is among the confirmed 3,400 dead, persecuted to death by the regime for refusing to renounce his belief in Falun Gong.

More at the Epoch Times