Bulletin: Falun Gong Human Rights Crisis in China

FALUN GONG NEWS BULLETIN

---

Monitoring the Falun Gong Human Rights Crisis in China

E-Mail This Page - Print This Page - Link to This Page

• Center for Investigative Reporting: “Beijing Olympic Chief Linked to Torture”
• 15-Year-Old Orphaned as Mother Dies in Custody
• MSNBC: China’s Organ Harvesting Questioned Again by UN Special Rapporteurs
• Prisoner of Conscience Cao Dong’s Wife Writes Open Letter Detailing Official Torture, Family Harassment and Lack of Due Process
• Human Rights Watch Report: Lawyers Who Defend Falun Gong Face Punishment
• USA Today: “In China, a battle over web censorship”; Falun Gong adherents among “hacktivists” cracking “Great Firewall”

Center for Investigative Reporting: “Beijing Olympic Chief Linked to Torture”
April 24, 2008 – “The president of Beijing's Olympic Organizing Committee was once found liable for torture in a U.S. federal court, a review of court records by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.”

“…In an extensive legal opinion, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco determined in 2004 that Liu Qi was responsible for the illegal detention and torture of two Chinese nationals and a sexual assault against a French woman in China….The lawsuit alleged that as mayor, Liu directed security forces to violently crush the Falun Gong. The plaintiffs claimed that Liu’s forces subjected them to severe beatings, sexual abuse and ‘electric shocks through needles placed in [the] body.’”

For more information visit: http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/node/3625
For a summary of the case and relevant legal documents visit: http://www.cja.org/cases/liuqi.shtml

15-Year-Old Orphaned as Mother Dies in Custody for Practicing Falun Gong
May 8, 2008 – The Falun Dafa Information Center has learned of the death of Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhou Huimin (???), based on reports from her son and corroborated by sources from within China. Ms. Zhou passed away at Qingyang District People’s Hospital in Chengdu city, Sichuan province on March 15, 2008. She was 44 years old.

“Just a few days ago, I turned 15. [Also] just a few days ago, my kind and healthy mother was tortured to death,” wrote Zhou Hanyang, the son of Zhou Huimin, in a letter received by the FDIC last month. “During the 198 days since my mother was arrested, we worried and feared for her day and night. With great sorrow, I remember the days I spent together with my mother and mourn her.”

Full story: http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9521

MSNBC: China’s Organ Harvesting Questioned Again by UN Special Rapporteurs
May 8, 2008 – Two United Nations Special Rapporteurs have reiterated their previous findings on China's organ harvesting. Once again, they requested the Chinese government to fully explain the allegation of taking vital organs from Falun Gong practitioners and the source of organs for the sudden increase in organ transplants that has been going on in China since the year 2000.

Citing recently published 2008 annual reports of the UN Special Rapporteurs, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (FalunHR) applauds the joint request that Ms. Asma Jahangir and Mr. Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief and on the Question of Torture, sent to the Chinese government.

Full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24516546/

Prisoner of Conscience Cao Dong’s Wife Writes Open Letter Detailing Official Torture, Family Harassment and Lack of Due Process
April 8, 2008 – Yang Xiaojing, the wife of prisoner of conscience Cao Dong, published a letter addressed to the international community. Cao is a Falun Gong practitioner who was sentenced to five years in prison for meeting with European Parliament Vice-President Edward McMillan Scott in Beijing to discuss rights abuses.

“…right after his meeting with Edward McMillan-Scott, [Cao] was arrested and detained in the Beijing Security Bureau Detention Center. He was handcuffed to a chair for more than a month. The cruel torture caused massive hemorrhaging in his stomach,” writes Yang in the letter.

“…As his wife, I started to look for a defense lawyer for him in August, 2007...I consulted lawyer Li Heping. …Lawyer Li Heping was beaten up by police for several hours. All the materials that I gave him were taken away…My home was ransacked. Although the police didn't find any Falun Gong materials, they still took me away to a hotel. They interrogated me…”

Complete text of letter: http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9522

Human Rights Watch Report: Lawyers Who Defend Falun Gong Face Harassment
April 29, 2008 – “Chinese lawyers who take cases seen by the government as politically sensitive or potentially embarrassing face severe abuses ranging from harassment to disbarment and physical assaults,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Among the cases highlighted in the report were lawyers such as Gao Zhisheng and Yang Zaixin who had defended Falun Gong practitioners and subsequently faced threats, disbarment, beatings, and/or detention.

“…On October 19, 2005, one day after Gao [Zhisheng] published a scathing open letter to the top state leaders about abuses against religious and Falun Gong practitioners, he received an anonymous threat by phone: ‘We know where you live and we know where your daughter goes to school.’ The next day Gao and his wife verified that their 12-year-old daughter was indeed followed by plainclothes police officers…” (pg. 34)

“…An attorney from impoverished Guangxi province, Yang Zaixin, was dismissed from his law firm in January 2006 after he took a series of sensitive cases, including those of defendants accused of being members of the banned Falun Gong.” (pg 48)

For more information visit: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/04/28/china18656.htm

USA Today: “In China, a battle over web censorship”; Falun Gong adherents among ‘hacktivists’ cracking ‘Great Firewall’
April 23, 2008 – “If an Internet user in China searches for the word ‘persecution’, he or she is likely to come up with a link to a blank screen that says ‘page cannot be displayed.’”

“…It's a reflection of the stifling, bizarre and sometimes dangerous world of Internet censorship in China….Fighting the censors every step of the way is an army of self-described ‘hacktivists’ such as Bill Xia, a Chinese-born software engineer who lives in North Carolina…Invoking the hit science-fiction movie The Matrix, Xia has compared what he does to giving Chinese Web surfers a ‘red pill’ that lets them see reality for the first time…”

“…Xia admits he had little interest in politics until the Chinese government banned the spiritual group Falun Gong in 1999 and started persecuting its members. Xia is a member of the group.”

Full story: http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080423/1a_cover23.art.htm

---

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-757-9780, Levi Browde 646-415-0998, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Joel Chipkar 416-709-8678. Email: contact@faluninfo.net, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

Hypocrisy blooms at tulip fest

By PETER WORTHINGTON

Edmonton Sun: A certain amount of hypocrisy is inevitable (perhaps even necessary) in personal and public lives, but when overdone it is not only embarrassing but destructive to those who indulge in it.

For example, it was probably distasteful to the Queen to host Rumania's Nicolae Ceausescu, prior to his being summarily executed by his own people, as it was awkward for then-president George H.W. Bush to be reminded he'd once praised Ceausescu's "respect for human rights." Hypocritical, perhaps, but a hazard of the job.

Canada's good (and profitable) relations with Taiwan didn't deter us from banning Taiwan from competing in the 1976 Montreal Olympics in order to appease China to whom we sold wheat and because PM Pierre Trudeau hero-worshipped Mao.

So hypocrisy and double-standards are nothing new.

Though of little international significance, a recent example of hypocrisy and cowardice was the organizers of the Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa reneging on an invitation to have a celebrated Chinese marching band play O Canada and The Maple Leaf Forever, minutes before they were to appear on stage.

Apparently the Chinese embassy in Ottawa objected to the Tian Guo Marching Band because it is linked to Falun Gong, a benign, meditative philosophy that China banned as an enemy in 1999 because it was more popular than the communist party.

FALUN GONG

Beijing has been persecuting and harassing Falun Gong practitioners ever since -- not only putting practioners in jail, but allegedly "harvesting" their vital organs for sale to rich people needing transplants. China denies this but has admitted criminals on death-row (of which there are thousands) often have executions delayed until there are customers for their body parts.

Human rights groups, the European Union and others are compiling evidence of China selling the body organs of dissidents -- a practice suspended for the Olympics.

According to Epoch Times, which keeps a close eye on China and specializes in covering human rights issues, the marching band offered to remove hats, scarves and jackets that showed the Falun Gong motif. Festival organizers initially thought this a sensible compromise, but the Chinese embassy said no way -- off with their heads (rhetorically speaking).

So Ottawans were denied hearing this unusual band, which has won awards, including the Canada Day Parade President's trophy and the Best Band award in Ottawa's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Federal, provincial and municipal governments sponsor the Tulip Festival, and in 2002 had banned the Tian Guo Band from the Flotilla Parade down the Rideau canal.

Again, Chinese embassy pressure. Public reaction got the ban revoked, despite embassy protests.

This year, the band's three performances at Dow's Lake have also been cancelled.

At a press conference, band member Grace Wollensak said what festival organizers did was "exactly the kind of thing people escape China to get away from."

She added: "Canada is respected worldwide as a beacon of tolerance. When people are banned from playing O Canada in Canada's capital for fear of offending Chinese communists, it damages our nation's esteem in the world."

That's putting it mildly.

While this isn't a big story, it reveals a form of misguided political correctness that infects our national psyche and the thinking of those in power. Will we next revoke the Dalai Lama's honorary Canadian citizenship because Beijing considers him "a dangerous separatist?" Don't laugh -- it could happen.

China's Organ Harvesting Questioned Again by UN Special Rapporteurs: FalunHR Reports

Press Release: Thursday May 8, 6:00 am ET

SAN DIEGO, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--May 8, 2008 -- Two United Nations Special Rapporteurs have reiterated their previous findings on China's organ harvesting. Once again, they requested the Chinese government to fully explain the allegation of taking vital organs from Falun Gong practitioners and the source of organs for the sudden increase in organ transplants that has been going on in China since the year 2000.

Citing recently published 2008 annual reports of the UN Special Rapporteurs, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (FalunHR) applauds the joint request that Ms. Asma Jahangir and Mr. Manfred Nowak, the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief and on the Question of Torture, sent to the Chinese government.

The request is a follow-up of their previous communications to the Chinese government on August 11, 2006, made jointly with Ms. Sigma Huda, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons. Drawing on information submitted by individuals and volunteer groups, including FalunHR, the three Special Rapporteurs highlighted and raised questions about the identifiable sources of organs, the short waiting times for finding perfectly-matched organs, and the correlation between the sudden increase in organ transplants in China and the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Although the Chinese government responded in November 28, 2006, with categorical denials, it failed to address the critical issues raised by the Special Rapporteurs. The follow-up communication by Ms. Jahangir and Mr. Nowak, sent on January 25, 2007, holds the Chinese government to address those critical issues.

FalunHR has posted the Special Rapporteurs' original and follow-up communications here.

The Special Rapporteurs' original communication is documented in their respective 2007 annual reports, and their follow-up communications in their 2008 annual reports. The annual reports of UN Special Rapporteurs typically document their previous year's activities.

It is important to note that, in their 2008 annual reports, Ms. Asma Jahangir and Mr. Manfred Nowak also reported their joint urgent action, together with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, on behalf of Mr. Cao Dong, a witness to China's organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. On May 21, 2006, in Beijing, Mr. Cao gave his testimony on China's organ harvesting to Edward McMillan-Scott, the Vice-President of the European Parliament. Following the meeting, the Chinese authorities arrested Mr. Cao. Reports indicate that Mr. Cao was sentenced to five years in prison for "accepting illegal interviews."

Band files human rights complaint against fest

By BETH JOHNSTON, SUN MEDIA

OTTAWA SUN: Members of the Tian Guo marching band will complain to the Ontario Human Rights Commission if they don't get to play at the Tulipfest.

"This is a principle issue. We're Canadian citizens. I thought we were a multicultural society," Lucy Zhou, whose 12-year-old son plays in the band, said yesterday.

Band members say they weren't allowed to play at the Canadian Tulip Festival because they are members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement banned in China by the repressive Communist regime.

They were invited to play O Canada and The Maple Leaf Forever at the festival's opening ceremonies Friday, then told they couldn't play because organizers feared the group planned to protest against the Chinese government.

"They came from a protest on Parliament Hill and they came decked out in Falun Gong or Falun Dafa regalia," organizer Doug Little said. "That's not who we thought was registered."

WANT APOLOGY

The group believes the Chinese embassy influenced festival organizers because they practise Falun Gong.

Zhou blames a "public misconception" about the group and its purpose for the cancellation of the performance. They want a public apology and to be allowed to play at Dow's Lake next Wednesday and on May 18.

"It's outrageous for this guy to say our appearance is an insult to the festival or to the Chinese embassy," she said. "It's almost like the appearance of the Jews was an insult to the Nazis."

Coun. Clive Doucet said any group has a right to protest on public property, but the National Capital Commission owns Major's Hill Park where the festival is held, which muddies the issue.

"This is a democratic country, absolutely they should have the right to protest on publicly owned land," he said. "But this is a controlled event. It's a different kettle of fish."

PEACEFUL FIGHT

Doucet has accepted an invitation to speak during the festival.

"It's their call what kind of politics they want to hear," he said.

Zhou said the group is trying to handle the dispute using their principles -- truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance.

"We're not trying to pick a fight with them," she said, adding festival organizers won't return phone calls from the group.

"If all these groups have to go away to please a dictatorship, it is a dangerous thing for this society."

City continues court fight against Falun Gong

Granville Street shack subject of upcoming B.C. Supreme Court hearing

Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier

Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The city will go to court in June in another attempt to have Falun Gong practitioners remove their makeshift signs and shack outside the Chinese consulate on Granville Street, says a city spokesman.

Joseph Li said Monday that the city's law department will participate in a hearing related to a petition the city filed in B.C. Supreme Court two years ago. The hearing comes after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in April that the case will not go to trial--as requested by the Falun Gong.

The hearing is scheduled for three days beginning June 23.

View Larger Image

The Falun Gong has occupied a shack outside the Chinese consulate on Granville Street since 2001.

Photo-Dan Toulgoet

Lawyer Clive Ansley, acting on behalf of the Falun Gong, said the group since filed a statement of claim in B.C. Supreme Court in attempt to quash the hearing. Ansley said the group wanted a trial so witnesses, including Mayor Sam Sullivan, could be called and cross-examined.

"The apparent enforcement of this bylaw is for completely illegitimate reasons and it's really to restrict the freedom of expression of Canadian citizens because their expressed views are making the Chinese government uncomfortable," Ansley said.

The Falun Gong alleges in documents filed in court that Sullivan ordered the structures be removed because of pressure from the Chinese government. David Hurford, assistant to Sullivan, said Monday the mayor won't comment on the case because it is before the courts.

The Falun Gong has held a round-the-clock vigil on the 3300-block Granville Street since 2001. Several of its large signs and a small shack are on city property, just off the sidewalk.

The practitioners built the structures to protest what they say is the Chinese government's persecution of the Falun Gong in China. The Chinese government calls the group a cult while the consulate has left the matter in the hands of the city.

In June 2006, the Courier reported about the mayor's wish to remove the structures. At the time, Sullivan dismissed a connection between his request and the Chinese government's disdain for the Falun Gong. Sullivan said his request was simply related to the group contravening a city bylaw.

"I hope that they will recognize that this is nothing against them," the mayor said.

In her ruling last month, Madam Justice Mary Humphries concluded the city is doing nothing more than enforcing its bylaw that prevents obstructions on city streets.

"It is not a bylaw concerned with regulating expression in which the city might be seen to have engaged in debate about the substance of a particular viewpoint or political ideology," Humphries wrote. "Even though the applicants say the effect of the enforcement is to interfere with their rights under the Charter to express themselves, the city has not taken issue with the substance of importance of the message the applicants wish to convey."

Since the Falun Gong began its vigil, the Vancouver Police Department has received at least two reports of assaults on practitioners who were sitting in the shack. Police did not establish a motive.

Tulip Festival taking things too far

By KERRY THOMPSON

Tulip Festival organizers certainly aren't tiptoeing through the tulips this year.

A marching band says it was kicked out of the program only minutes before it was supposed to perform O Canada at the opening festivities on Friday because festival organizers didn't want to offend officials from the Chinese embassy. The rest of its performances in the coming weeks were also cancelled.

It's international diplomacy gone horribly awry.

Indeed, festival marketing director Doug Little said the Tian Guo Marching Band was told it could not perform at the last minute because its members showed up with Falun Dafa scarves and the like. Had organizers, however, done their research, they would have found that this is what the band wears to every performance, including Ottawa's St. Patrick's Day parade and Easter parades in Toronto and Montreal, documented in photos on the group's website, which show a Falun Dafa banner carried out in front of the band. The website address was provided to festival organizers back in March.

Little says the festival is all about friendship, and that means friendship with all embassies with which it partners. Obviously that friendship doesn't extend to everyone.

The band members all practise Falun Dafa exercises and follow its creed of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." The movement is banned in China.

But what happened here on Friday wasn't even an issue of free speech. It was about festival organizers failing to properly research an organization they felt in the end had "deceived" them.

The band says it was there to play, and not to hand out literature. So what's the problem?

Little said yesterday: "We have a partnership with the embassy of China and we felt this was not appropriate." He added, however, that the Chinese embassy had not actually asked for the band to be removed.

This is not a meeting of world leaders. It's a festival celebrating a flower. And the band that had been invited to play was not playing some Falun Dafa salute -- if such a thing even exists -- it was asked to play our national anthem.

On this matter, the festival that touts itself as one celebrating friendship has forgotten what that word means.

Letter: Hoping for Change in Chinese Presence

Embassy, April 30th, 2008

Yes, indeed we will remember Lu Shumin in more ways than one (RE: "Embattled Chinese Ambassador Lu Shumin to Return Home," April 23).

For some of us, I'm sure Lu will be most remembered for his aggressive campaign in trying to derail the local New Tang Dynasty TV's application to broadcasting licence. Many thanks to Zhang Jiyan, the wife of a Chinese diplomat, for her courage and making public in March 2007 a smuggled document from the embassy confirming this plot with Lu's signature on it.

Since the persecution of Falun Gong started in China on April 25, 1999, it has become habitual for the Chinese consulates to interfere with the affairs of Falun Gong abroad. For example, letters are sent from embassies and consulates to foreign notables and dignitaries slandering Falun Gong events and urging non-attendance. Venues have been cancelled under pressure and sponsors have declined. There are many other such interferences, but I will not list them all.

According to Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat, Chinese consulates and embassies deal with Falun Gong by assigning at least one official in a mission to play a role in persecuting the Falun Gong and other repressed groups. Mr. Chen estimates that there are over 1,000 Chinese secret agents and informants in Canada.

I must be dreaming, but wouldn't it be great if the next Chinese ambassador would respect the rights of Chinese-Canadians and stop meddling in their affairs in this free country? It would be even greater if our government would remind them that trampling on the rights of Chinese-Canadians in the host country does not only go beyond their mandate, but it is diplomatically out of line.


Marie Beaulieu

Letter: Support free speech

Province: Published: Monday, April 28, 2008

I'm dismayed that a full trial will not go ahead to protect the rights of Falun Gong practitioners who have held a peaceful vigil in front of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver for the last few years.

Why don't we support these Chinese-Canadians in raising awareness about the atrocious persecution of their followers and family members?

Why would we in Vancouver go along with the harsh party-line and cave in under pressure?

It's high time our politicians said no to the Chinese Consulate and became more in touch with the needs of Vancouverites instead.

Diluting and corrupting our free speech is not the Canadian way.

Marie Beaulieu

Letter: Anders has it right

Calgary Sun: April 27 -- I'm thankful for gutsy MP Rob Anders for making a statement on China's appalling human rights abuses. He should be praised for this brave gesture and an act of civil duty rather than criticized. I wouldn't be surprised if many politicians felt the same way but don't dare to speak their mind for fear of retribution. Let's face it; the Olympic spirit was tarnished the moment we gave the Games to China. It's time to make a stand for human rights and dignity. Never mind, let's just give the Games back to Greece.

Marie Beaulieu

(It's a free country. Anders has a right to speak his mind no matter 
what the Liberals say.) NO KIDDING!

Letter - The Olympic game

The Olympic game

Times of Malta - Valletta,Malta

LETTER TO THE EDITOR --

Dear Sir:

It is despicable, but not surprising that Chinese Ambassador to Malta CHAI XI would openly defame Falun Gong and fabricate lies about their belief. Somebody should tell him that this isn’t China where people have been brainwashed to believe that Falun Gong are criminals. As the teachings are widely publicized and available for free download on the internet, it’s not a secret that Falun Gong of the Buddha School holds human life in the highest regard. They simply don’t kill themselves or others to go to heaven and are anti-violent. Not once in nine years of persecution have Falun Gong adherents retaliated in the face of brutal torture, including organ thefts by the brutal regime.

However, it is well known in the free world that Beijing’s platform to retain power and oppress people at will is based on pure communist party propaganda and brutality. This surprise attack on Tibet is a prime example. The fact that over 300 thugs dressed up as monks committed acts of violence in the streets explains to what extent Beijing is ready to go to portray the victims as the perpetrators and the number one enemy.

No wonder CHAI XI was quick to accept the interview request from The Sunday Times. He had a lot of crime justification to do. Hence, we all know that things are not well inside China with the ongoing crackdown on religious groups and voices of dissent ahead of the Olympics.

But, this thing has gone too far now and I don’t think people believe those kind of lies coming from Beijing bosses anymore—the communist party is just spinning its wheels.

Marie Beaulieu

China 'gaffe' was all Rae

Its human rights record is awful and new Liberal MP should not appease tyranny

Toronto Sun: By PETER WORTHINGTON

It's widely conceded that when he was premier of Ontario, Bob Rae screwed up his mandate, his legacy, the province and his party.

After doing penance (sort of) for a decade after the NDP was voted out of office, Rae returned to politics, this time as a federal Liberal to challenge (and fail) for the leadership of the party.

He's since been elected MP in Rosedale, previously the riding of Bill Graham, who, when Paul Martin began to unravel as PM, picked up the pieces and became the Liberals' all-purpose cabinet minister, giving the party what little credibility it had at the time.

Rae was quickly appointed Liberal foreign affairs critic. For all his experience (elected eight times federally and provincially prior to 1996), Rae didn't waste much time in proving himself a catastrophe.

He took it upon himself to slam Tory loudmouth Bob Anders (Calgary West) for "further damaging our already strained relationship with China by comparing its government to Nazis."

The "gaffe" Rae thinks Anders made was to note that the Chinese regime "has one of the worst human rights records on the face of the planet," and awarding it the 2008 Olympic Summer Games was similar to awarding the 1936 Games to Nazi Germany.

Who can argue that Anders is wrong?

What Rae is saying (if one is generous) is that no matter how despicable China's record of abusing its own people, of killing its own citizens, of harvesting the organs of dissidents for sale to rich foreigners, and its continued abuse of minorities, we shouldn't say so because the Chinese might not like it and might not buy our natural resources.

Bunk, of course, but that's the socialist mind-set of people who think like Bob Rae, and who want him to replace Stephane Dion as Liberal leader.

At the same time, Rae panders to Jews by suggesting that comparing the Chinese Communist Party to Nazis "trivializes" the Holocaust.

It does no such thing. China's record of killing up to 80 million of its own people (under Mao Zedong, whom Pierre Trudeau once mindlessly admired) is as horrific as any crime against humanity of the 20th century.

David Matas, human rights lawyer and legal counsel for B'nai Brith, told the newspaper Epoch Times that it's Rae, not Anders, who should reconsider his comments.

Rabbi Ruevan Bulka of the Canadian Jewish Congress has also drawn parallels between the Nazis and Beijing's persecution of Falun Gong members and harvesting their vital organs for sale.

Where has Rae been hiding to avoid the truth about China?

Anyone following the progress of the Olympic torch's "Journey of Harmony" around the world must be aware of the demonstrations that are erupting because of China's continuing cultural rape of Tibet and other minorities.

Demonstrations in Britain, France and San Francisco are one thing. Similar outbursts have been quelled in Indonesia, India and Australia. Japan has cancelled the run. Very possibly China itself will have outbursts when the flame arrives. If so, participants will indeed be risking their lives.

As for relations and trade with China that Rae seems to fear will be damaged, forget it. China trades with us, and the U.S., and with any country, because it is of benefit to China, not because it helps us.

By standing up to tyranny, we gain respect. There is no respect given to those who grovel, or make excuses for tyranny or who compromise principles for money.

Rae is the one who committed a "gaffe" by his attempted defence of China's credibility and humanity.

Most contemptuous will likely be the Beijing rulers themselves, who well know what they do, and why.

Falun Gong lose trial bid over protest camp, but vow to fight on

By Keith Fraser, The Province

Published: Thursday, April 24, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Falun Gong protesters outside this city's Chinese consulate have lost a second bid to get a full trial into issues surrounding the city's attempt to remove their protest camp.

But a lawyer for the protesters says the fight is far from over and says an appeal of the B.C. Supreme Court ruling is possible.

In 2006 the city filed a petition seeking to dismantle the protest signs and a small shed outside the Granville Street consulate that have been in place since 2001.

City officials argued that the protest camp, which is staffed by at least one protester at all times, violates a bylaw requiring structures to have city approval.

The protesters applied to have the matter heard as a trial, with witnesses testifying in court such as Mayor Sam Sullivan, rather than be limited to a hearing where lawyers argue the merits before a judge on the basis of affidavits filed.

They argued there were complex Charter of Rights issues involved but the city said the move was premature and the judge agreed in December 2006, noting that the case leant itself better to a petition hearing. The protesters appealed that ruling to the B.C. Court of Appeal, but the province's highest court upheld the lower court ruling.

Undaunted, the protesters went back to court in another attempt to hold a full trial, but a second judge, B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Mary Humphries, has ejected their application, saying there isn't much new in it from the previous case.

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer for the protesters, said that the group is disappointed but is considering a possible appeal or another move which he declined to elaborate on.

"We believe we're going to win this case no matter what -- whether it's a petition or a trial," he added.

Arvay said he believes the city is just caving in to pressure from Chinese officials threatening to withhold Canada as a designated spot for tourism.

"The city and the province and the federal government want tourism. They want the dollars and they're willing to sacrifice these important expressions of rights. Personally I think that's disgusting."

City officials could not be reached. The petition is scheduled to be heard in June.

Falun Gong has been described as a combination of exercise, meditation and spiritual belief.

Adherents claim there's been a well-documented genocide against their group by the Chinese government.

kfraser@png.canwest.com

Chinese Consulate Meddling in Calgary Show, Says Host

Look here for a CBC report.

Organizer appeals to Canada to review diplomat's role in quashing sponsorships

By Matthew Little Epoch Times Staff

Apr 24, 2008

The artists of the Divine Performing Arts salute the crowd at the end of the Chinese New Year Spectacular in Montreal. (Yifang Ning/The Epoch Times)

Related Articles

- Chinese Communist Party Interferes With Cultural Event Tuesday, December 25, 2007

- Linkoping MPs Expose Chinese Interference, Defend Free Speech Friday, March 28, 2008

- Secret Document Reveals Chinese Regime's Interference with NTDTV New Year Show Sunday, March 04, 2007

- Attack on Cultural Show Aims at Network Friday, January 19, 2007

- Chinese Regime Tries to Crush Cultural Show in Canada Thursday, January 18, 2007

The organizers of a cultural show in Calgary are calling on the Canadian government to review the status of a Chinese diplomat who allegedly threatened some of the show's sponsors into canceling their negotiations with the performing arts group.

Tourism Calgary and Travel Alberta had planned to sponsor the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular, a Chinese cultural show set to perform at Calgary's Jubilee Auditorium from April 30–May 2.

The two tourism agencies reneged on the sponsorship plans after being contacted by Wu Xinjian, the consul general representing the People's Republic of China in Calgary, The Epoch Times has learned.

Based in New York, the Divine Performing Arts has staged the Chinese Spectacular in some 65 cities throughout Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania. The dance company is composed of expatriate Chinese performers and includes a live orchestra and dramatizations of Chinese legends and China's various dynasties and ethnic groups.

The dance company says it seeks to revive China's ancient cultural traditions, including its moral and spiritual legacies. Some performances also touch on themes of human rights in modern-day China, specifically the persecution of Falun Gong.

In an e-mail correspondence from Travel Alberta to the show's Calgary organizers, it was stated that the agency must cancel plans to support for the Divine Performing Arts show after being contacted by the Chinese consul general in Calgary.

Organizers say they believe the consulate may have threatened Travel Alberta's business negotiations with China.

A similar email from Tourism Calgary says it would withdraw its support of an April 30 reception for Divine Performing Arts performers and cancel a ceremony where the performers were to be made honorary citizens of Calgary and receive white cowboy hats.

Joe Wang, president of New Tang Dynasty Canada, which hosts the Spectacular, said the cancellations are part of a larger pattern.

"This is typical of the Chinese regime's interference with the Spectacular since it began in 2004. In almost every city and country where the show has toured, Chinese consulate and embassy officials have sought to have it cancelled or to otherwise cause trouble."

Wang said such interference was a violation of Canada's sovereignty and goes beyond the mandate of diplomats in a foreign country.

"This is a gross violation of Canada's sovereignty and free artistic expression. They may well have broken the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs and overstepped their diplomatic duties."

In an interview with the Canadian Press, Travel Alberta managing director Derek Coke-Kerr described the situation is an unfortunate mistake.

He said a junior official with the agency began talks with DPA about a sponsorship deal that would have exchanged ads on New Tang Dynasty Television, which broadcasts globally via satellite. The broadcasts are accessible in China by those who purchase satellite dished on the black market. However, the tourism agency doesn't have permission from Beijing to advertise tourism products in China, said Coke-Kerr.

As part of the cancelled deal, performers were to receive a trip to Banff with the support of Travel Alberta.

Despite the cancelled sponsorships, the Chinese Spectacular will go on. The show is scheduled for Calgary from April 30 to May 2, and Edmonton from May 5 to 7 at each city's Jubilee Auditorium. The show will play in Vancouver this weekend.

Why April 25, 1999, matters

Taipei Times: April 25, 1999, marked a turning point in recent Chinese history. On that historic day, more than 10,000 peaceful Falun Gong practitioners turned up at the Zhongnanhai government compound to appeal the beginning of the persecution (of Falun Gong) in China by the Chinese Communist Party. This was undoubtedly the biggest spontaneous public gathering since students assembled on Tiananmen Square in 1989, the outcome of which is well-known by all.

Just as with the Tiananmen protests, the "Zhongnanhai appeal" sounded the alarm and sent shockwaves through the political elite in Beijing. On that fateful day, Jiang Zemin (江澤民) was seen patrolling the area in his big black sedan, hiding behind tinted windows and probably shaking with fear. That same night he wrote a letter to the politburo saying that the Marxists must defeat the Falun Gong.

Just seven years before the gathering at Zhongnanhai, Li Hongzhi (李洪志), a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, brought the spiritual practice of Falun Gong to the public. A combination of exercises, meditation and moral principles, Falun Gong quickly became popular throughout China. It was this popularity that would pose a dilemma for the Chinese regime, which displays zero tolerance toward any alternative voices.

To this day the persecution, which went into full swing in July 1999, has continued unabated.

Recently, news of organ harvesting from living practitioners in military and civilian hospitals has come to light. Human rights reports speak of 100 Stalinist-style torture methods used on practitioners to coerce them into abandoning their beliefs. Some China observers have labeled the Zhongnanhai event as the catalyst for one of the most vicious periods of oppression of a spiritual movement in modern times.

To commemorate this black day, practitioners will hold silent protests in various locations around the world. If you drive by the Chinese consulate in Vancouver, Canada, tomorrow, you will see a miniature reflection of what happened back in 1999. To underscore their request that persecution come to an end, Vancouver practitioners have, for the past few years, maintained a round-the-clock peaceful vigil at the consulate. It is a shame that Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan has caved in to pressure from consulate officials and chosen to take practitioners to court, using bylaws as an excuse.

Speaking out against torture and human rights abuses is a constitutional right that should be enforced, not diminished.

But in the face of brutalization by one of the most powerful and autocratic political groups in history -- a group responsible for the deaths of over 80 million people -- never once have practitioners resorted to violence. To this day, Falun Gong is still Falun Gong. Peace and justice will prevail, eventually.

Marie Beaulieu

CBC using Beijing’s defamatory lexicon on Falun Gong

MWC: I just couldn’t help but notice for some time now how the CBC appears to use the same language as the Chinese regime’s state-controlled Xinhua news agency when it comes to describing Falun Gong. The article published April 17 titled ”China 'worst human rights abuser in the world': Tory MP” is a good example but there are many more. Here is an excerpt of that piece: “a meditative practice the Chinese government likens to a cult”.

This is a benign group that has been badly persecuted by the Chinese regime for 9 years because they refuse to give up their peaceful meditative exercises and their belief in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance.

As you may be aware, the persecution of Falun Gong is well documented by the world’s human rights organizations. According to UN Rapporteur on torture Manfred Novak, 66% of the people who are victims of torture in labour camps across China are Falun Gong practitioners. In fact, many Canadians are Falun Gong practitioners and some have been tortured to the point of disability. Their family members in China are still suffering under the tyrannical rule of the regime and languish in the gulags simply for their beliefs. Recent reports confirm that they are subjected to organ thefts often resulting in death.

For decades human rights experts have all reached the conclusion that dictatorships use vilification of target groups as tactics to eradicate those groups from society. For example, labeling the ‘undesirables’ as ‘criminals or/and cult members’ justifies the persecution of those groups at their own hands. It worked in Rwanda and Sudan.

Given that this is also the tactic used by the Chinese regime--Jiang Zemin implemented its genocidal policy targeting Falun Gong on April 25 1999--it would be appropriate and responsible for Western media to exercise more caution in this respect and use a vocabulary that reflects our values rather than parroting the communist line. In other words, let’s not persecute Falun Gong practitioners in our own country by keeping the communist (tactics of) vilification alive, and blindly adopting Beijing’s defamatory lexicon.

I find it distressing that the CBC has a history of catering to the Chinese regime. I recall the recent debacle surrounding the film by respected director Peter Rowe ‘Beyond the Red Wall’, which would have been a unique documentary had it not been doctored by the CBC to clearly incorporate the official Beijing view. In the end the so-called documentary gave voice to the regime's justification for committing crimes against humanity, implying that punishing the victims—Falun Gong practitioners labeled as criminal cult members—is OK.

On that topic, human Rights lawyer David Matas was quoted as saying: "The CBC should not be the mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party and that is what it has become in this instance by behaving in this way,"... "In my view, the CBC becomes complicit in the Chinese censorship of the Falun Gong by doing this."

As a Canadian broadcaster, the CBC should pride itself in striving for excellence by broadcasting the views and sentiments of Canadians, not those of foreign consulates representing rogue governments who are known to be both massive violators of human rights and habitual liars.

It is long overdue for the CBC to take a stand to protect our Canadian values along with the human dignity that we so cherish as a people of the free world. This should be the most fundamental principle of the code of ethics governing ‘responsible journalism’. I hope that CBC can amend its approach in the future and be more Canada friendly by not allowing the Chinese regime to dilute and corrupt our freedom of speech.

At this point, CBC should be reminded that history has taught us that a great amount of vigilance and integrity is required when doing business with dictatorships. No doubt that the CBC bosses are acutely aware of the irony underlying the recent blocking of the CBC website in China, after CBC had been so obliging in doctoring “Beyond the Red Wall” to meet Beijing’s demands.

Marie Beaulieu

Letter to the Editor By David Matas

March 16, 2008

Editor
Star Times
New Zealand

The article written by Tim Hume "The gospel truth: Falun Gong" is troubling. I have written a report with David Kilgour which concludes that Falun Gong practitioners in China have been killed in the tens of thousands so that their organs could be sold to transplant tourists. Hume's article casts doubt on our report in a number of gratuitous ways.

However, my primary concern with the article lies elsewhere, its unfair generalizations about Falun Gong practitioners. Through the travels I have undertaken around the world, including New Zealand, to publicize our report, I have met many Falun Gong practitioners. Though I myself have never practised Falun Gong, the extensive contact I have had with the Falun Gong community in over forty countries has taught me at least this.

Falun Gong is not an organization. It has no leadership. It has no funding. It has no membership. It is rather just a set of exercises with a spiritual dimension. The people who engage in Falun Gong exercises have as much or as little cohesion, planning, coordination and organization as people who engage in running or swimming or any other form of exercise.

Because Falun Gong has a spiritual dimension, one can think of it as a religion. But it is a religion without congregations or priests or preachers or churches. The writings of Li Hongzhi which inspired Falun Gong are all publicly available through the internet.

Falun Gong practitioners understandably get worked up when their co-practitioners in China are persecuted for something as innocent and beneficial as exercising. Individual practitioners throughout the world volunteer time, effort and money in an attempt to end the persecution. But this indignation, even when fervent, does not bespeak a plan or a policy or a platform. It is, or at least should be, a normal human reaction to the torture and killing of innocents.

Hume's article, which is quite long, throughout treats the Falun Gong as a group or an entity and attributes to this entity the behaviour and words of individual Falun Gong practitioners. It is as if one attributed the words and behaviour of some fervently patriotic New Zealanders to all New Zealanders, or of some enthusiastic swimmers to all swimmers. The article, because of its failure to grasp the nature of Falun Gong, is fundamentally misconceived.

Sincerely yours,

David Matas

Chinese show lives up to name

Honolulu Star:

COURTESY DIVINE PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY The "Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular" shares centuries-old culture through music, dance and costuming. A dance about plum blossoms conveys their important symbolism of courage, endurance and inner beauty in the Chinese culture.

By Katherine Nichols

knichols@starbulletin.com

For one night only, Oahu residents have the rare opportunity to experience a rich overview of Chinese culture teeming with elements now forbidden in the country of their origin.

Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular Place: Blaisdell Concert Hall Time: 7:30 p.m. Monday Tickets: $38, $58, $78 and $98 Call: 591-2211, ticketmaster.com or Blaisdell box office Info: BestChineseShows.com

Chinese Spectacular transcends entertainment. It's a two-and-a-half-hour lesson in Chinese history, a study of various dynasties over 5,000 years through traditional dance, music, costumes and digitally projected backdrops. On another level, it symbolizes a revival of cultural elements suppressed in communist China.

Honolulu was fortunate to get the 100 dancers and musicians in the Divine Performing Arts company to stop here at all. In fact, the show is wedged between appearances in Auckland and Seattle on a worldwide 60-city tour.

"I've seen many shows, and this is one of a kind," said Hong Jiang, spokesperson for the event and a professor of Chinese cultural geography at the University of Hawaii. Those expecting a circus performance, however, are missing the mark on this large-scale production. "People have a misconception of what a Chinese show is; the classical Chinese dance actually serves as a basis for acrobatics."

Hong said that several details make this show unique. First, of course, is the dance. While acrobatic components are included, the dance is decidedly "high culture," said Hong, like classical ballet, with its own unique tradition.

Orchestra music -- with the addition of Chinese instruments such as the gong and drums -- accompanies the dance, providing another impressive ingredient.

"The orchestra is a fine blend of East and West," said Hong. "It's not Western classical, but it's not foreign to any audience, basically. You don't feel any disharmony at all."

In addition, each new set dictates a costume change. The Tang Dynasty, for instance, represents the peak of Chinese cultural development, around 800 A.D., and ornate dressings accurately depict that era. "They have a team of people researching the clothes of different dynasties," said Hong.

Perhaps most fascinating is the way Chinese Spectacular integrates modern techniques to recreate authentic settings for each time period by digitally projecting the images on a screen behind the actors.

"You talk about all these different periods, and it would be difficult to have a stage set that reflected all of that," said Hong, who saw the show last year in Los Angeles and said it was "already pushing the envelope" in terms of technology. "It's so dynamic and realistic. You can't put a Ming Dynasty door on a Tang Dynasty building, so everything is also very precise."

Aside from what promises to be a highly engaging history lesson, the show touches on spiritual components and "traditional Chinese cultural values," said Hong. These include the loyalty, piety, benevolence, faithfulness and compassion associated with Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoist (or Taoist) traditions. Ethnic numbers portraying the music and dance of Mongolia, Tibet and Korea further broaden the scope of the presentation. And through it all, the performers celebrate the ability to present these ideas without the constraints of censorship, propaganda or politics.

"Many people are searching for traditional values," Hong said of people in China. "But there's still not a lot of freedom of expression that would allow that." Even so, she thinks people all over the world will be able to relate. "When you go deep into a culture, it's really about universal values. But you don't have to be steeped in Chinese culture to enjoy the show."

Inhuman Torture in China: the Tip of the Iceberg

By Nigerian Times. via Media Channel

With the Chinese regime’s roundup of Falun Gong practitioners in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics, the massacre in Lhasa, Tibet, and the clampdown on the media, the spotlight has been shining ever brighter on China’s horrendous human rights abuses.

The FLGHRWG wishes to announce that it has sent out millions of emails around the world to alert government officials, NGOs, human rights groups, and many individuals of the inhuman torture going on in China. In order to win the Olympics, China made a promise to improve human rights. Far from keeping its promise, the human rights violations have gotten worse - much worse.

The following torture cases of Falun Gong practitioners represent just the tip of the iceberg. They are typical of what tens of thousands have experienced, what hundreds of thousands face, and what millions fear if they dare to place their own belief above belief in the Chinese Communist Party.

Ms. Zhang Yulan: In 2000, at the Changchun Women’s Labor Camp Ms. Zhang was forced to do slave labor, often until midnight, and was beaten and shocked with electric batons. In 2003, just two years after the Communist regime promised to “improve human rights” in order to get the Olympics, Ms. Zhang’s father and brother were tortured to death for practicing Falun Gong. On November 28, 2007, the police arrested Ms. Zhang, and caused her to “disappear.” The authorities refuse to give her family any idea of her whereabouts, or even tell them whether she is still alive.

Ms. Zhao Zhongling: Ms. Zhao was arrested five times for practicing Falun Gong, and suffered injuries due to torture each time. One month after her arrest on March 23, 2007, the authorities reported she was in critical condition. However they refused to release her. They continued to use heavy shackles on her legs, kept her tied to bed and even sentenced her to three years of forced labor. Ms. Zhao was tortured to death less than a month and a half after her arrest. She was only 44. After her death, the local authorities forced her family to sign a statement acknowledging her guilt.

Mr. Liu Hongwei and Ms. Mu Ping: On May 13, 2003, Mr. Liu’s wife was tortured to death at Jilin Province Hezuizi Women’s Prison for practicing Falun Gong. To avoid capture and further persecution, Mr. Liu had to leave his daughter and wander about. Ms. Mu Ping’s husband was tortured to death on May 13, 2002. For practicing Falun Gong, she herself had been tortured at a labor camp for close to three years. After she was released, her son never left her side.

The two adults came together, formed a new family, found work and settled down. On October 24, 2006, the police arrested them again, ransacked their home, and froze the 70,000 Yuan in their bank account. Their children were left without care, one of their parents suffered a heart attack. Both of their elderly mothers are on the brink of mental collapse, and Mr. Liu and Ms. Mu are still in prison for their belief.

Ms. Wei Fengju: Ms. Wei was first arrested in 1999. She was jailed for speaking the truth about Falun Gong. She was forced to work 17 to 20 hours per day and was sometimes not allowed to sleep at all. The guards used electric batons to shock her on her chest and in her mouth, which disfigured her mouth. When she was detained in February 2007, the torture left her with abdominal pain and she could not eat. After her release, she could not recover and died on July 12, 2007. Before her death, she told others, “I won’t be able to recover because they injected some unknown drug into me.”

Mr. Li Hongfu: Mr. Li was repeatedly jailed and tortured for telling people the truth about Falun Gong. The torture included the tiger bench, electric shocks, nailing bamboo shoots under his fingernails and merciless daily beatings by convicted drug addicts. The brutality caused Mr. Li’s spleen to rupture and his chest to collapse. He vomited and had difficulty breathing. He weighed less than 40 kg, could no longer walk unaided, and was in constant excruciating pain. Mr. Li never recovered and died on December 8, 2006, at the age of 31.

AU: China pressured state MPs to skip show

The Age: Jill Stark
March 31, 2008

Performer Nancy Xiang in the Arts Centre dressing room before yesterday's Chinese Spectacular.
Photo: Wayne Taylor

Advertisement

THE Chinese Government has pressured Victorian MPs not to attend a stage show it has denounced as propaganda for the Falun Gong movement.

China's Melbourne Consul- General Liang Shugen wrote to politicians urging them not to accept invitations to performances of the Chinese Spectacular at the Arts Centre.

Organisers told The Age four MPs who had accepted invitations cancelled at the last minute, without explanation.

The show, which has toured to critical acclaim all over the world, depicts China's rich cultural history through traditional dance and classical music.

Many performers are Chinese exiles who follow Falun Gong — a spiritual movement banned by the ruling Communist Party.

Mr Shugen's letter claims the Divine Performing Arts group, through its links to Falun Gong, was trying to "sabotage friendly relationships" between China and the rest of the world.

He describes Falun Gong as a "despicable" group trying to gain support for its "anti-society, anti-human, anti-science motives under the disguise of cultural activities".

Mr Shugen writes: "In view of the good relations between China and Victoria it's my sincere hope that you will not attend the performance and will also avoid any future contact with Falun Gong and its affiliates."

But Falun Gong supporters say the letter is a thinly veiled threat about trade opportunities.

Michael Pearson-Smith, secretary of the Falun Dafa Association of Victoria, which helped bring the show to Australia, said Chinese diplomats used similar tactics when the performance toured last year.

"It's clearly exceeding the bounds of what they're supposed to do and it's about time the appropriate authorities in our country came down on them and said enough is enough. I'd like to see the consuls-general and the ambassador hauled in for a dressing down whenever one of these letters appears," Mr Pearson-Smith said.

Lead dancer and assistant company manager Vina Lee said the show told traditional spiritual stories suppressed by the Chinese Government.

"When the Communist party destroyed the culture, the Chinese didn't have any history kept to educate young people, so we are reviving the culture that has been destroyed. We present it through beauty and compassion and legend stories and they're so frightened by this that they try to shut it down. If you let people have a spiritual belief in the Chinese culture, then the Communist Party has no place," Ms Lee said.

The show, which finished a three-day run in Melbourne yesterday, will now tour Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide.

A program for the show includes messages of support from Victorian Minister for Education Bronwyn Pike and several federal MPs including shadow treasurer Malcolm Turnbull.

More than 50 politicians are listed as supporters in the program, and it is believed that the Chinese Consul-General may have written to all of them.

About 130 Victorian MPs were invited to a VIP function on opening night but only seven attended. Four accepted invitations, only to cancel at the last minute.

"We've got self-censorship happening with a lot of MPs when they're invited to anything with a Falun Gong connection," Mr Pearson-Smith said. "We're talking contacts and business interests and clearly many politicians will put their business interests ahead of human rights. But we're actually in a very strong position because China needs our natural resources and they need this market for all the consumer goods that they're producing. We just need to have the courage to say this shouldn't be going on."

A State Government spokesman did not say which MPs attended the event. The Chinese Consul-General could not be reached.

Malaysian Government Refuses New Permit for 'Chinese Spectacular'

Government issues apoology but not permit

By James Chow Epoch Times Malaysia Staff

Mar 28, 2008

A notice issued by the Malaysia government canceling the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular. It clearly states in the notice's second paragraph that the cancellation was due to the Chinese Communist Party's opposition towards the show. (The Epoch Times)

Related Articles

- Chinese Regime Pressures Malaysia Government to Cancel 'Chinese Spectacular' Friday, March 14, 2008

- Linkoping MPs Expose Chinese Interference, Defend Free Speech Friday, March 28, 2008

- Chinese Consulate Officials in Munich Threaten 'Chinese Spectacular' Concert Promoter Friday, March 14, 2008

- CCP Condemned for Continuous Disruptions to Divine Performing Arts Friday, February 22, 2008

- Swedish Politicians Rebuff Chinese Embassy's Threats Tuesday, January 29, 2008

- Chinese Consulates Continue to Interfere with U.S. Elected Officials Friday, January 11, 2008

- Chinese Communist Party Interferes With Cultural Event Tuesday, December 25, 2007

The Malaysia Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage apologized to the organizer and audiences for the cancellation of Divine Performing Arts' Chinese Spectacular shows in Kuala Lumpur.

The Ministry published an open statement through the mainstream newspapers, explaining the reasons behind the cancellation.

However, the Ministry refused to issue the performance permit to the organizer despite the apology.

The statement says that the Ministry granted the performance permit for Chinese Spectacular on January 8, but canceled the permit on February 21 due to pressure from Chinese Communist Party's embassy. The performance was scheduled for the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Plenary Hall on March 22 and 23.

The statement explains that the Malaysian government was forced to cancel the show permit for the reasons of "maintaining the harmony of the country and for the bi-lateral relationship with Communist China".

Mainstream Chinese newspapers Sin Chew Jit Pao and China Press published the content of the statement.

On March 24, about 20 foreign audience members from Australia, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong protested outside the building of the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage.

The disappointed audience members wrote in their protest letter that they have lost their good impressions of Malaysia and are concerned about the country's freedom and independence.

According to the organizer, more than 200 foreign audience members from Singapore, Indonesia, India, Japan, Hong Kong and Australia, who have booked their air tickets and accommodation, still flew to Malaysia as scheduled and had to bear the financial and time losses.

Mr. Lawrence Koh, an Australian who had bought 20 tickets for his relatives in Malaysia, expressed his disappointment: "I am disappointed. Malaysia is a democratic country, yet Malaysia bowed to the pressure of Chinese Communist Party. This is a disgrace!"

NTDTV Global Media Network, local organizer of the show, expressed regret to the Ministry for not reissuing the show permit despite its apology.

"The statement justifying the cancellation for 'maintaining harmony' is misleading, and we really do not understand how our government can label a top-notch Chinese cultural show as affecting harmony; in fact, our show can really encourage harmony in society because we are promoting the true traditional Chinese culture and values," said Wong Mei Yee, the project manager of local NTDTV.

"We hope our government can apologize to us and also support our show sincerely by reissuing the performance permit to us," said Wong.

Falun Gong cries foul over stricter entry regulations -

Nishika Patel

Friday, March 28, 2008

HK Standard: The Falun Gong has slammed Hong Kong's strict immigration control in the run-up to the August Olympics, claiming it has prevented 80 percent of its Taiwanese members from attending a human rights awareness event in the territory.

While up to 90 percent of its members had been allowed entry in the past, the group told The Standard that the government has banned hundreds of practitioners from entering the territory over the past few months.

Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said only 100 Taiwanese members had been allowed in for last Sunday's Human Rights Torch Relay launch.

"We regret to say that the Immigration Department of Hong Kong is using every means to collect a blacklist [to] prevent our foreign members from coming in," Kan said.

"This is of great concern because Hong Kong is a free city but we regret the SAR government is more and more controlled by the mainland regime."

The Human Rights Torch Relay is a global campaign that spans 40 countries and 150 cities to highlight human rights violations by China, including the Tibet crackdown and the persecution of Falun Gong in the mainland.

The Falun Gong is banned in the mainland but is legal in Hong Kong.

City University political professor James Sung Lap-kung said more and more members will be turned away in the coming months following pressure from Beijing, which views the group as a "dangerous" cult.

"The Falun Gong will be in deep trouble over the next few months. Beijing considers the Falun Gong to be a partner in the recent Tibet riots," Sung said. "As the Olympics draw closer, Beijing will be trying to identify dangerous forces that are planning to jeopardize the Games."

Kan said the Falun Gong will step up the number of parades and rallies in the run-up to the Olympics to highlight the persecution of its members in the mainland. He stressed the group was not calling for a boycott of the Games and was not against the Olympic torch relay arriving in the SAR on May 2.

Sung said the situation in Hong Kong is very sensitive as the government will try to balance its role as an international communications center with any order from Beijing.

Last month the Falun Gong in Hong Kong lost a judicial review, appealing against the Immigration Department's refusal to allow hundreds of its Taiwanese members into Hong Kong during the 10th handover ceremony. The judge had ruled it was a one-off incident and was not a result of religious discrimination as argued by the group.

On the latest claims, a government spokesman said: "We do not comment on speculative reports. The Immigration Department has the responsibility to uphold effective immigration control so as to ensure Hong Kong's public interest."

The department, he said, handles all entry applications in accordance with the law and prevailing policy and having due regard to individual circumstance

Widow works to bring human rights abuse to light

DAVID BEBEE, RECORD STAFF

1

DAVID BEBEE, RECORD STAFF

DAVID BEBEE, RECORD STAFF

March 17, 2008 by Raveena Aulakh RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO - Jane Dai doesn't travel light. She's visited 45 countries in six years with Fadu, her seven-year-old daughter, and with papers documenting the struggle of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

She also carries the hope that her husband's killers will be brought to justice. With the Beijing Olympics just months away, Dai is intensifying her campaign to tell people all is not well in China.

"The world gave the Olympics to China in the hope that would help improve human rights, but nothing has changed" said Dai, 44, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin who is visiting Waterloo for a week.

"Not just my husband -- hundreds have been killed and thousands sent to labour camps because they practise Falun Dafa."

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, teaches compassion and truthfulness.

It involves meditation and exercises, and claims 100 million followers. Initially, the communist government supported Falun Gong, but it was banned in 1999 and its practitioners have since been persecuted.

Dai was born in China but went to Australia to study in 1987 and later became an Australian citizen. While visiting family in Guangzhou City, in 1993, she was introduced to Falun Gong.

She met Chengyong Chen, a young electrician and a Falun Gong practitioner, in 1997. They were soon married and lived in Guangzhou.

When Falun Gong was banned, Chen participated in several protests and was jailed repeatedly.

Dai had to return to Australia with Fadu, who was a few months old then, because China refused to extend her visa. Six months later, Chen's body was found in a hut.

"I'm determined that the world should know why my husband died."

raulakh@therecord.com

Freedom House Condemns Crackdown in Tibet and Broader Chinese Repression as Olympics Approach

By newsdesk - Posted on March 19th, 2008

Washington, D.C. -- March 18, 2008 -- Freedom House today expressed serious concern about the Chinese government’s violent suppression of protests in Tibet and the subsequent closing of information channels in the region, and urged President Bush to speak out forcefully against the repression.

Tibetans’ demonstrations and the government's ensuing crackdown are part of a larger, systematic pattern of repression that has escalated as the 2008 Beijing Olympics approach. During protests that erupted in Tibet on March 10 and have continued since, as many as 80 people were killed when the Chinese authorities used force to quell the demonstrations. Since then, officials have imposed a news blackout by suspending all entry permits and expelling foreign journalists. At the same time, security forces reportedly are conducting house-to-house searches, rounding up hundreds of Tibetans suspected of participating in the protests.

“China’s response to the protests in Tibet remind us of the ongoing, long-term cultural suppression imposed by the Chinese government which, if anything, has intensified in the run-up to the Olympics,” said Jennifer Windsor, executive director of Freedom House.

“We urge President Bush—whose response thus far has been inadequate—to strongly condemn the Chinese government’s violent suppression of the protests,” added Ms. Windsor. ”When he visits Beijing this summer for the Olympics, the President should demonstrate his unambiguous support for freedom and human rights by meeting with dissidents.”

Political rights and civil liberties, particularly religious freedom, are severely restricted in Tibet. While some religious practices are tolerated, officials forcibly suppress activities viewed as vehicles for political dissent or advocacy of Tibetan independence. The Chinese government amplified its repressive policies in 2007, announcing and implementing regulations that effectively increase authorities’ control over Tibetan Buddhism.

The crackdown in Tibet is part of a larger pattern of government repression as the Olympics approach. Recent examples include:

* Harassment and detention of human rights defenders: Activist Hu Jia was arrested and is expected to stand trial on Tuesday on charges of “subverting state power,” apparently as a result of articles published on overseas Chinese websites and statements made to foreign journalists about the Olympics. Others who have been abducted or imprisoned in recent months, often after calling for human rights improvements prior to the 2008 Games, include Chinese lawyers Teng Biao and Gao Zhisheng, cyberdissident Guo Feixiong, and activists Yang Chunlin and Wang Guilan.

* Heightened efforts to restrict access to online information: Regulations were adopted in January requiring Chinese video-sharing websites to register with state-controlled companies. In March, two popular websites for people with AIDS and hepatitis were shut down. In 2007, more than 18,000 blogs and websites were closed by the government.

* Increased restrictions on private religious practice: Unofficial Protestant church gatherings in Xinjiang and Henan were reportedly disrupted in February and dozens of people arrested, including 11 minors. Over 150 Falun Gong adherents in Beijing were reportedly detained recently following door-to-door searches.

Tibet ranks as Not Free in the 2008 edition of Freedom in the World, Freedom House’s annual survey of political rights and civil liberties. It received a rating of 7 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the lowest) for political rights and a 7 for civil liberties. Freedom House also ranked China as "Not Free" in its 2008 Freedom in the World survey. The survey gave China a score of 7 for political rights and a 6 for civil liberties.

Source: Freedom House

Where's the outrage?

The Suburban, Canada - 37 minutes ago
Falun Gong practitioners are jailed and killed by the thousands. Organs harvested like so much wheat being threshed. The Chinese dictators, together with ...

....Why aren’t we seeing labour unions and university academic groups attempt to organize boycotts of China as some tried to do against Israel? Why are those self-styled arbiters of morality appeasing the world’s largest tyranny? Why? Because they are cowards and hypocrites.

It is fear that drives the public debate on China. Fear and greed. Business profits on its slave markets. Academics on its exchange and research programs. Journalists are co-opted by the politically correct notions of every culture’s right to be wrong. And politicians don’t have the courage to challenge a regime that holds up to one-third, in some cases, of western debt.

China is a country whose leaders have killed some 40 million of its citizens over the years. Half of those were slaughtered in the 1948-51 revolution. Last year, some 20,000 political prisoners were murdered. Many tied back to back so one bullet could be used for two. Falun Gong practitioners are jailed and killed by the thousands. Organs harvested like so much wheat being threshed. The Chinese dictators, together with Iran, are the main facilitators of the Sudanese regime carrying out the first genocide of the 21st century in Darfur. Where is the outrage?

Falun Gong's turn

C Raja Mohan
Indian Express: Posted online: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 0157 hrs

Excerpt: China has little reason to breathe easy at the fact that no government has called for the boycott of Beijing Olympics amidst its crackdown on the Tibetan revolt — yet. Although the Dalai Lama has said that China should not be denied the opportunity to host the Olympics, there is no doubt that the Games have become a political millstone around Beijing’s neck.

Beijing’s decision to invest so much political capital in the Games has provided a rare incentive for various dissident groups in China to make their case before the world opinion in the run-up to the Olympics. China has no option but to crack down on these dissidents. Every such action will also take some shine off the coming out party Beijing had planned for itself this summer.

The Tibetan challenge is not necessarily the worst nightmare for Beijing this summer. Potential spectacular actions by the religious cult, Falun Gong, during the Beijing Games would be even more troublesome.

Probably the most organised and richest of the Chinese dissident groups, the Falun Gong has shown extraordinary capacity to surprise Beijing. Conscious of the threat, China has apparently begun a sweeping pre-emptive crackdown against the cult. Besides a number of arrests, it has offered cash rewards to citizens who can turn in Falun Gong followers. Whichever way one looks at the Tibetan revolt, Beijing’s awful political summer might only have just begun. ....