Golden shield vs Falun Gong

"Aside from the public security bureau's use of technology for criminal cases, the most important [use] is the tracking and suppression of Falun Gong followers, " says Hao.

It is unfortunate that American technology is being used for Beijing to wage their war against Falun Gong and dissidents while they pretend that it is mainly to target criminals. Actually, there is some truth to that because Falun Gong practitioners are considered the number one enemy of the state by the CCP with dissidents next in line. The dictators must feel really threatened to stoop to this new low by enhancing their Golden Shield with hukou digitization. This again puts everybody’s conscience on trial…where is the fine line?

However, there is an American law in place already that would serve as moral guidance to companies such as Cisco, Oracle, and others that are willing to sell their soul to the devil for profit.

“The Tiananmen sanctions prohibited the export "of any crime control or detection instruments or equipment" to China. "We wanted to undermine the effectiveness of the police in rounding up, imprisoning, and torturing political dissidents, not only those involved in the Tiananmen Square movement, but for years to come," explains Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who helped draft the law.

But Lantos, the California congressman, says the sanctions have been undermined. "The Commerce Dept.'s decision to interpret the law narrowly is absolutely unconscionable," he argues. "By allowing American companies to sell high-tech computer and communications devices to the Chinese police, our nation is directly aiding in the suppression of political dissent in China."

Seven years ago Jiang Zemin launched a genocidal campaign targeted at Falun Gong after labelling them as a cult. His directive: "destroy them physically, defame their reputations and bankrupt them financially." This persecution is the number one genocide in China today.

"American software can be traced to modernization efforts supporting at least one arm of the Chinese ideological enforcement apparatus: the State Council Leadership Team for Preventing & Handling Cults. More commonly known as the 610 Office, a reference to the date in 1999 on which it was created, this body tracks followers of unauthorized religions, such as Falun Gong. Hao Fengjun worked in the 610 Office in the northern city of Tianjin until he fled China last year. From his new home in Australia, he has added his voice to Falun Gong's protests over being oppressed. Hao says the Tianjin branch has a database containing 30,000 practitioners of the banned sect as well as additional names of other unauthorized religious groups. Some of the
data were drawn from China's elaborate hukou, the household registration system
that helps the government monitor and control the population."

This tracking technology will lend a hand to the dictators who vowed to eradicate Falun Gong before the 2008 Olympics…

"The digitization of hukou, an enormous task that is part of the Golden Shield project, has involved American technology, including software provided by EMC, according to EMC executives. "Aside from the public security bureau's use of technology for criminal cases, the most important [use] is the tracking and suppression of Falun Gong followers," says Hao. The American companies emphasize that they don't determine how the Chinese use their products." (more)

Related Article:

Nation Multimedia: Old habits die hard in China gag

Confucius Institutes' hidden agenda

Confucius, Communist China’s new poster boy, has become synonym of soft power abroad. Genu flexing to Confucius makes it all worthwhile for Beijing’s dictators who avidly want to spread the Party culture worldwide. Firstly the plan was to establish 100 Communist Party Culture Schools by 2010, but the goal has been almost achieved already. Now the target is set for 500. In Canada there is one such institute in Vancouver, BC since February 2005, one more will open in Waterloo, Ontario in January 2007 and soon after in Toronto. They are being set up in 36 countries even in Rwanda. One may only wonder what’s in it for China knowing too well that they don’t give a heck about Confucius teachings of virtue and free speech.

Some scholars think that teaching Chinese history is not an entirely bad thing…hmmm! It wouldn’t be so bad if we would know what’s in the textbooks. For example: one major concern is this stipulation on the Hanban’s websites stating: "Overseas Confucius Institutes must abide by the One-China Policy." That is a bit disturbing…will the textbooks be filled with anti-democracy, anti-Falun Gong material glorifying the Party complete with slogans of “Peaceful development road” and “Harmonious society”?

One only has to examine what took place when fascist dictator Mussolini began a similar campaign to promote Italian-language instruction in American schools.

“About a decade after he seized power...Textbooks sang the praises of Mussolini's government. "Fascism has remade Italy," boasted Andiamo in Italia ("Let's Go Italy"), a text used in New York public schools. "Italy was a disorderly and disorganized country in which all wanted to talk more loudly without listening to the voice of the ruler. Now this voice which commands is well heard by all and order has been restored as if by a miracle." After 1941, when the United States declared war on Italy, such propaganda came to a halt.” (more)

Meanwhile, Shanghai recently announced that it is going ahead with the revision of China’s history textbooks. Are these maneuvers tied in with their pursuit of global domination?

“China's era of domination by overseas imperialists (the “century of humiliation”), plus traditional Marxist class-struggle concepts, and even Mao himself have been downplayed in favor of a non-Sino centric take on both domestic PRC and global history -- that much is fact. But some in the U.S. dangerously mistake this refocusing of education toward the future, and toward globalization, as a major sea change in China -- wrongly interpreting it as a generation of post-Mao rigidity suddenly yielding to an abandonment of longstanding Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology." (more)

There is definitely a parallel between this theory and the communist institutes abroad.

"The linchpin in understanding China's true agenda to become a communist superpower can be found in Deng's ideologically innovative concept known as “shelving.” Shelving means that some main goals will simply have to wait, while their prerequisites and precursors are first accomplished and consolidated. The achievement of pure communism -- the PRC's unchanging raison d'etre -- has been explicitly shelved for about the next half-century, but certainly not abandoned. Socialism is an intermediate waypoint along this journey, as always in Marxist-Leninist thought." (more)

Importing the Party culture overseas is just another way to brainwash people to further their own end.

"Hopefully, readers will now better understand the true background and impact of the revisions to Shanghai's history textbooks. Pragmatically, China needs a worldly-wise elite in order to optimize its targeted gains from carefully compartmentalized globalization. It won't do for Beijing's heirs to the mantle of power, including the so-called “princelings” (children of China's leaders of the past 30 years), to come across on the world stage as a gaggle of retro bumpkins. One must also bear in mind that only the history curriculum is changing. Mandatory courses in politics, CCP-style, remain. So does the standard post-Tianenmen xenophobic and patriotism engendering practice of how to teach reading in grammar school. This practice relies on anecdotes glorifying young people who helped fight the Japanese in World War II, resisted Chiang Kaishek's army during the 1949 Civil War, or endured great toils to help their collective's work team exceed its production quota during the Great Leap Forward. That's as Maoist as you can get." (more)

The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party summarize in a few words what can be expected from the Party Culture.

“Throughout history, whenever the CCP encountered crises, it would demonstrate some traces of improvement, enticing people to develop illusions about the CCP. Without exception, the illusions were shattered time and again. Today, the CCP has pursued short-term benefits and in doing so has produced a show of economic prosperity that has once again persuaded the people to believe in fantasies about the CCP. However, the fundamental conflicts between the interest of the CCP and that of the nation and the people determine that this false prosperity will not last. The “reform” the CCP has promised has one purpose – to maintain its rule. It is a lame reform, a change in surface but not in substance. Underneath the lopsided development lies a great social crisis. Once the crisis breaks out, the nation and the people will suffer once again.

With the change of leadership, the new generation of CCP leaders had no part in the Communist revolution, and therefore has less and less prestige and credibility in managing the nation. Amidst the crisis of its legitimacy, the CCP’s protection of the Party’s interests has increasingly become the basic guarantee for maintaining the interests of individuals within the CCP. The CCP’s nature is selfish. It knows no restraints. To hope such a party might devote itself to developing the country peacefully is wishful thinking.” (more)

Who was Confucius?

Confucius, or Kongqiu to his friends, was born in what today is Shantung, a province of north-east China, in 551BC, and was a philosopher, teacher, educator, and statesman. He died in 479BC.

A thinker, then. But what did he think?

He was keen on virtue, which he saw as a blend of moderation, loving thy neighbour and being honest. Disgraced as a minister of justice, he was opposed to laws, which he saw as making people dishonest and making them act out of shameless self-interest rather than virtue. He believed that you made people virtuous by example, not punishment.

What is his connection with Chinese education?

Referred to as "the First Teacher", he had six disciples, who passed on his ideas and "recalled" some extra ones after his death. He believed in a well-rounded education, combining activities such as archery and lute-playing with ethics. But moral education was the most important. For him, it was better to be virtuous than to seek truth for its own sake.

How would he have fared in modern China?

He wouldn't have had a chance to experience it as he would doubtless have been killed during the Cultural Revolution.

What would he make of modern China?

Not a lot. While he was no democrat, he did believe in freedom of speech. He was opposed to luxury, and particularly the means that people use to acquire it. Very family-oriented, he would have found the Chinese one-child policy very hard to accept. (more)

Related Articles:

International Herald Tribune: China's leaders rediscover Confucianism

Toronto Star, Canada: Wielding soft power

Communist China's new gag orders

Just because Communist China wants to look good during pre-Olympics days, Beijing has come up with new gag orders effective immediately. To include Hong Kong and Macau in that deal only shows how far the dictators are willing to go to maintain control and to protect their public image. The question is-who will have the guts to defy Beijing’s orders? Paging Reporters without borders...

EU criticizes China's gag on foreign press

The censorship law is the latest move in China's broad clampdown on the media and runs counter to official pledges to allow unimpeded foreign media access during the 2008 Olympic Games in the country.

The new measures, which took effect as soon as they were issued, are aimed at "regulating...in a sound and orderly manner" the news and information that foreign agencies broadcast in China as well as access to it by Chinese subscribers, Xinhua said.

News that "endanger(s) China's national security, reputation and interests" as well as any information that "disrupt(s) China's economic and social order, or undermine(s) China's social stability" are forbidden.

The limitations are to apply even in the former British colony of Hong Kong and the former Portuguese enclave of Macao, Xinhua said. (more)

I’m still hoping that this new rule was an oversight and that Communist China will be willing to change its approach and live up to the EU-China resolution and long list of recommendations…hmmm!

"But why muscle in now? Perhaps Beijing's political elite feel threatened.

Freedom of information is unsettling to any authoritarian state. In recent years Beijing has alternatively creaked opened, then slammed shut, the television industry and lifestyle magazines. In recent months, the Communist government has also floated new rules restricting reporting of natural disasters and riots; increased oversight of local television broadcasters; convicted New York Times news assistant Zhao Yan and Singapore's Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, and so on.

Xinhua is the Communist Party's mouthpiece, a symbol of what China really is. The reformers among Beijing's elites need to explain to their colleagues that returning to old habits of censorship won't protect their future." (more)

Is China taking human rights for granted? This piece conveys some of my very own concerns…

Here Traub's work is again insightful. While he provides an historical interpretation that centers on the "Century of Humiliation" and China's determination to safeguard its sovereignty, he more persuasively suggests that the PRC has adopted a completely realist approach to international relations, wherein national interests count for all. For the leadership of the PRC, the importance that the U.N. founders assigned to human rights is, in Traub's apt phrase, "little more than a Western hobbyhorse." This very well may be why Beijing so casually and completely discards its responsibilities under the U.N. Charter. (more)

So what do you think about China's rule of law? The guy replies: It's a great idea--they should try it sometimes!

Related Articles:

CBS News - New York, China Cracks Down On Media Some More

National Multimedia: Old habits die hard in China gag

Boxun: Judges barred from talking to the press

EU-China Resolution and the rule of law

The European Parliament slammed China's human rights record via a strong resolution announced just days ahead of the EU-Asia Summit to be held in Helsinki this weekend. There is no doubt that this is a step in the right direction and hopefully this document will carry a lot of weight in future dealings as the EU is preparing to embrace China as a stronger trade partner. Below is the portion that relates to Falun Gong and organ harvesting.

European Parliament resolution (2005/2161(INI))

66. Strongly condemns the detention and torture of Falun Gong practitioners in prisons, "Re-education through Labour" camps, psychiatric hospitals and "legal education schools"; is concerned about reports that organs of detained Falun Gong practitioners have been removed and sold to hospitals; urges the Chinese government to end the detention and torture of Falun Gong practitioners and to release them immediately;

China’s dictators were quick to respond to this paper stating:

At the post-summit news conference, Wen said every country struggles with human rights, but argued that China has made significant progress in "protecting the human rights of Chinese people."

He objected to the EU's practice of linking "economic and trade issues with the so-called human rights issues. China attaches great importance to the issue of human rights and we identified human rights as the basic rights of the Chinese people." (full
report)

Similarly, a call from three top MEPs, including Edward McMillan-Scott, was put forth to the European Parliament to raise the issue of organ harvesting targeting Falun Gong practitioners across China at the Summit.

"China is a terror state run by a brutal, arbitrary and paranoid regime. Falun Gong is a peaceable movement whose members are imprisoned and tortured to renounce their practice. They are also the only category of prisoners in China to be routinely given blood, urine and blood pressure tests."

Likewise, Amnesty International submitted a document to the EU for their prompt attention and consideration:

EU-China Summit: human rights situation in China remains disturbing

Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners from Finland requested their government officials to bar entry to Bo Xilai, China’s Trade Minister, who is planning the attend the summit.

“Bo was the governor of Liaoning Province before he assumed his current position as Minister of Trade in February 2004. Under his direction, Liaoning is one of the provinces that have been persecuting Falun Gong most severely. For example, during his tenure as governor, he directed more than 10 million dollars to renovate prisons to persecute practitioners. To date, for persecuting Falun Gong, Bo has been sued in more than 10 countries including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Ireland, Russia, Australia, Korea and Spain".

To think that such criminals are still at large is inconceivable. This is what happened in the US last time they try to sue Bo.

Attorney Sklar referred to his case against Minister of Commerce, Bo Xilai. The U.S. government came to the aid of Bo who is being sued for his "forced labor and persecution abuses" while he was Governor of Liaoning province (2001-2004) in China. The U.S. government is intervening in the case to argue that Bo Xilai has diplomatic immunity when the defendant is only a member of a "special delegation" on economic matters. "The U.S. government is pushing the law in an unlawful direction to support the CCP," said Sklar. (more)

According to a report from AFP, some protestors were arrested…

"As leaders arrived here Saturday, around 100 protestors were arrested after they clashed with riot police in central Helsinki at a demonstration against the presence of leaders from China and Myanmar. Around 2,000 anti-globalisation protestors had held a largely peaceful demonstration earlier in the day." (full report)

Related Articles:

The Sate.com: Wen tour of Europe focuses on business

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland: SATURDAY 9.9. Falun Gong most active protester during ASEM

Asia News: Europe calls on China to respect human rights and religious freedom

ET: European Parliament Resolution Urges Major Chinese Reforms

Letter: The Mao Syndrome

Taipei Times: I find it unfortunate that Mao’s 30^th death anniversary was not celebrated this time around. Don’t be mistaken—I’m not one of those nostalgic Mao worshipers. Au contraire, with China emerging as the new economic powerhouse of Asia, I think it is crucial for the free world to remember China’s history and learning not to take things at face value is important. Mao’s anniversary did just that, by keeping us in touch with the true nature of the beast in the midst of this chaotic race towards world domination. It is clear that selective amnesia, being the prime syndrome of just about anyone doing business with China these days, has not only hit the majority but has become second nature for most. Too many people deliberately ignore the fact that the Cultural Revolution never really died--it was merely extended as what we know today to be the persecution of Falun Gong whose members are being butchered for their organs all across China.

"They (the leaders) are still using Mao's class struggle method to attack rights activists and lawyers -- his shadow lingers on," said Gao Yu, a veteran journalist jailed for seven years for writing about sensitive political issues.

China's leaders today forbid criticism of Mao's legacy, fearing public debate will lead to scrutiny of the current regime and threaten its survival, analysts say.

"They are holding onto Mao's corpse and no one is allowed to speak freely about him... otherwise it would be the end (of the regime)," Gao said.

Mao's myth continues to be propagated to legitimize the sovereignty of the regime, said Wu Guoguang, a former aide of late reformist leader Zhao Ziyang" (more)

But all is not lost--kudos to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party for exposing the CCP’s shocking uncensored history which has spread far and wide in China today. So far 13 million Chinese people reacting to this truth have quit the Party. While the dictators are making some headway with cleaning up the undesirables before the 2008 Olympics, one can only wonder how many more Mao worshipers will follow suit. With the red wall slowly crumbling down, the dictators can no longer divorce themselves from their own miserable gory history of bloodlust and merciless killings leaving them to feel threatened and haunted by their own shadows. I’m sure this is enough to have Chairman Mao turn in his grave while others are digging their own.

“Mao-backed movements like the Great Leap Forward -- a disastrous attempt at speedy industrialization -- and the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution -- a desperate means he used to hold on to power -- led to tens of millions of deaths.

"When you talk about Mao, you cannot avoid mentioning the Cultural Revolution -- you cannot avoid the fact that tens of millions of people were starved to death," said Li Datong, a veteran Chinese journalist." (more)

Nine Commentaries #7: In the most serious famines in China's history prior to the CCP, there were cases in which families exchanged one another's children to eat, but nobody ever ate his own children. Under the CCP's reign, however, people were driven to eat those who died, cannibalize those who fled from other regions, and even kill and eat their own children. The writer Sha Qing depicted this scene in his book Yi Xi Da Di Wan ( An Obscure Land of Bayou ): In a peasant's family, a father was left with only his son and daughter during the Great Famine. One day, the daughter was driven out of the house by her father. When she came back, she could not find her younger brother, but saw white oil floating in the cauldron and a pile of bones next to the stove. Several days later, the father added more water to the pot, and called his daughter to come closer. The girl was frightened, and pleaded with her father from outside the door, "Daddy, please don't eat me. I can collect firewood and cook food for you. If you eat me, nobody else will do this for you."

Vancouver Falun Gong practitioner assaulted in front of the Chinese Consulate

Vancouver: At 3:05 a.m. on August 31st, while Falun Gong practitioner, Raymond Zhang, was doing his shift in front of the Chinese consulate while four Chinese men drove up in a light coloured SUV. Three of them got out of their vehicle and began to punch his head without saying a word. Luckily Raymond was in the hut and only suffered superficial injuries. Zhang said: “I think that this assault was either directly ordered by the Chinese government, or it is the result of hate-incitement perpetuated by the Chinese Communist regime in China and abroad.”

Raymond is one of 80 practitioners who goes regularly to the Consulate site to protest the mistreatment of his family members persecuted in China for their belief. Raymond’s mother, Yang Hui-shen who is a Falun Gong practitioner, has been arrested three times because as a physician, she talked to her patients about Falun Gong. Zhang says that his mother was picked up by the police after officers broke into her home, ransacked it and abducted her. He said his mother shouted "Falun Gong is innocent" as she was being led away into the labour camp. She has been illegally sentenced to 6 years in China since May 2004. Raymond sister's, Zhang Chun-gang, has been illegally jailed in Masanjia labour camp in China since May 2004. They were both forced to do hard labour. His sister went on a hunger strike to protest the inhuman persecution and was punished by being forced to stand for extended periods of time, humiliated, and subjected to male guards’ sexual advances. The latest news is that his sister is now in Thailand and apparently arrangements are being made for his mother to come to Canada.

But, it’s not hard to figure out that this kind of violence, at worst, is done to intimidate practitioners in their willingness to maintain their 24-hour appeal by scaring them. At best, we believe it is the result of the Chinese Communist Regime hate-incitement campaign targeting the Falun Gong at home and abroad to silence their voice. It is well documented that the Regime exports its hate to the overseas community through the Chinese media and materials distributed to VIPs via its Consulates. Is this what drove Mayor Sam Sullivan to ask the Falun Gong to pack up their 'blue wall' showing China's mistreatment of Falun Gong and see them in court? One can only assume the worst.

In fact similar assaults have occurred in Canada before. In February 2000, MP Rob Anders was physically assaulted at the Ottawa Parliament. Rob recounts (FGHRWG):

"I wore [a T-shirt that talked about Falun Gong] out to a function that was being hosted by the People's Republic's embassy here, in this building [Parliament]. I stood at the back of the room, and then all of a sudden I had four or five men surround me and start to harass me, and point fingers, and jostle me physically, saying that I had to leave, that I wasn't welcome, go home, you know, cowboy, you don't know what you're doing… and what crossed my mind immediately was four or five people that comprise a gang on behalf of the People's Republic of China think they can get away with doing that to me as a Member of Parliament, on Canadian soil, in my place of work, in the House of Commons - can you imagine what they're doing to people back home in their own country? It was absolutely over the top! And then when a media reporter came over with his camera, they started to grab his camera, they tried to force it down to the ground, they told him to go away… They were issuing orders to a
member of the free press here in Canada. … It was absolutely outrageous. And it just proved what Falun Dafa is up against. ... We're at a very critical moment. If we don't take a stand now, history will look back at us and sigh."

One more incident happened on December 28, 2001 (WOIPFG) “New Year Movie Party.”

Mr. Xueliang Wang accepted the invitation to participate. Yet, to his surprise, the so-called “party” was in reality for the purpose of exhibiting pictorial materials that defame Falun Gong. Mr. Wang took out his camera to take photos and was abruptly dragged into a room by several people and beaten. Following this incident, the deceit and violence of the Chinese Embassy shocked all sectors of Canadian society and led to strong repercussion. Moreover, the incident led to investigations by the police and
related institutions.

“The e-mail message that I received only mentioned the movie party; it made no mention of the exhibit.” Mr. Wang said to the “WOIPFG”: “After I took photos, they forcibly pushed and shoved me, dragging me into a room one floor down. They closed the door and had someone guard the entrance. Afterwards someone violently punched at my head. Xiaolong Ma pressed me down on the floor many times and said to the others: ‘You go outside. I will take care of him.’ Then he took off his suit jacket, tightly twisted my arm, and struck me several times. In order to escape from legal responsibility, Xiaolong Ma deliberately struck me in places of the body that do not show injury easily so that he would not leave any traces of the beating.”

Similar incidents of intimidation and assault have also happened in the United States, Iceland, Germany, France, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Argentina, South Africa, Singapore, and many more. Simply put, the Chinese regime has exported its persecution to the world as a global campaign of evil against conscience.

However this will not deter Vancouver practitioners who will remain in front of the Chinese Consulate on Granville, as they stated five years ago, until the persecution of Falun Gong ends.

Report: WOIPF 2004 Chinese Officials’s Activities on Canadian Soil A.7

Related posts:

Tyee.ca: Chinese Protester Attacked in Vancouver

Vancouver FG 24-hr site: Free speech never more needed than against evil

Vancouver 24-hour Falun Gong protest site still going

Mayor Sullivan, democracy, Communist Consulate, and Falun Gong Protest

Vancouver Mayor getting tough on Falun Gong

Vancouver FG 24-hr site: Free speech never more needed than against evil

Update: The Vancouver Falun Gong 24-hour site in front of the Chinese Consulate on Granville has been running smoothly for five years. Their banner (blue wall) exposes the atrocities of the persecution of Falun Gong in China and elsewhere in the world and the hut keeps the old ladies warm in the wintertime and cool on hot summer days. Suddenly Mayor Sam Sullivan says that the blue wall has to go according to City bylaws. One may wonder if this is a bylaw issue or is it simply Sam's way of kowtoing to Communist China? Clive Ansley and Daphne Bramham have more on this.

Clive Ansley is the legal counsel for Falun Gong practitioners and this is his take on it:

"The purpose of the bylaw very clearly is to prevent obstruction of the public. There isn't any obstruction here. The whole context of that bylaw is to prevent people blocking streets and sidewalks and so forth, which isn't the case."

Ansley added that there are important Charter of Rights and Freedoms issues involved. (more)

Under extreme provocation, he is extending the olive branch of tolerance to the perpetrators of genocide.

He has effectively told the Chinese government: "We do indeed understand that the lives of mass murderers and torturers are seldom easy and, in the spirit of friendship, we are happy to assist you in stifling the voices of Canadian victims, which so embarrasses you." (more)

Free speech never more needed than against evil
by Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun

Vancouver Sun August 26, 2006 - CHINA Growing evidence of atrocities against Falun Gong followers leaves Mayor Sam Sullivan looking more than a little foolish

Falun Gong practioners protest on Granville Street outside the Chinese consulate: Free speech is sometimes a messy business.

The Falun Gong's shack and wall of protest signs outside the Chinese consulate's residence in Vancouver is proof of that.

And unless Mayor Sam Sullivan has his way, it proves daily to passersby that free speech is alive if not always thriving in Canada.

The posters aren't pretty. They aren't meant to be.

That the Chinese consul must face this each day is no doubt unpleasant. But that discomfort pales beside the gross inhumanity of which the Chinese government is accused.

There is growing evidence that in addition to harvesting organs from prisoners, the Chinese government is complicit in the harvesting of live organs from Falun Gong members who are found to be a match with wealthy patients from the developed world who are desperate for new hearts, lungs, kidneys and corneas.

Falun Gong teaches meditation through exercise -- a new twist on the centuries-old qigong -- that was begun in 1992 and had grown to include more than 70 million adherents before it was banned by the Chinese government in July 1999.

Last month, David Matas, a respected human-rights lawyer, and David Kilgour, a lawyer and former secretary of state for the Asia Pacific, released a report into the allegations that they did for the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong. The report is available on its website (http://eng.cipfg.org).

Denied entry to China to search for proof of the allegations, Kilgour and Matas concluded that there is enough evidence of large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners that there must be a serious and determined effort to substantiate the claims and legislation in all countries to prevent cross-border organ shopping.

"The allegations, if true, would represent a grotesque form of evil, which, despite all the depravations humanity has seen, would be new to this planet," they wrote. "The very horror makes us reel back in disbelief. But that disbelief does not mean that the allegations are untrue."

Their report was denounced by the Chinese government before it was released.

Before the Falun Gong was outlawed, there were 18,500 transplants in a five-year period in China. Between 2000 and 2005, there have been 60,000. Matas and Kilgour found that there are 10,000 more transplants annually than there are identifiable donors. They believe as many as 4,000 Falun Gong members have died after organ harvesting.

There are dozens of Chinese companies offering transplants. One cited by Matas and Kilgour was offering liver and kidney transplants for $180,000 US, hearts for $160,000 and $30,000 for a cornea. A quick search pulled up half a dozen different sites all offering competitive prices. BEK-Transplant, which does the transplants at Peking University hospitals and in Shanghai, has variable rates. Seniors get a $5,000 US discount on kidney transplants that go for $80,000. But there's a $5,000 additional fee for people with O-type blood.

Liver transplants are $135,000 -- $120,000 for seniors.

BEK says the donors are executed prisoners and waiting times vary from two to six months. Another site said waiting times are often a week compared to three or four years in Canada and the United States

Matas and Kilgour have described what is going on in China as as a grotesque crime against humanity. Their report has bolstered growing outrage. This week, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, a member of the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation, joined Kilgour in urging Canada and other countries to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing if no independent investigation is held.

Last week, after Kilgour met with Australian MPs, Australian foreign affairs officials confirmed that in July they asked China to allow an independent investigation.

For Sullivan to lump the messiness of this principled protest with derelict boats in False Creek, graffiti and litter belittles what may be an unfolding genocide.

But it seems the long arm of China has tapped the mayor -- an unabashed Sino-phile -- on the shoulder.

"When I go to China, they treat me like an emperor," the mayor told The Sun's Wency Leung recently. "We don't have that tradition of that red-carpet thing, so it's a little embarrassing for me in a way."

What seems to embarrass Vancouver's mayor is not the over-the-top treatment of minor officials like him who visit China, but that we democracy-prone Canadians don't do more kowtowing here.

Without the Falun Gong protest on one of Vancouver's busiest streets, many people would know nothing about the Falun Gong or the persecution of its adherents.

Without the protests of Falun Gong members and others, the Canada Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission might have blithely supported the Rogers-sponsored application to beam nine Chinese-government channels directly into Canadian homes via satellite. The Chinese media is strictly controlled by the Communist party. Reporters Without Borders has described China as one of the worst countries for censorship and in its 2006 report notes that "television and radio are subjected to even greater control than the written press."

The Falun Gong protest reminds us that we are part of a broader community and have a responsibility to do what we can to stop human rights violations wherever they occur. If that means putting up with a little bit of mess to ensure justice for people with no voice, it's worth it.

The mayor clearly doesn't get it, but he is only one vote on council. The rest of the councillors need to stand up for free speech, and they should add their voices to the call for an independent investigation into organ-harvesting in China.

Sullivan regime tightens gag on free speech by Sophia Bronwen, North Vancouver, Vancouver Sun

August 29, 2006 - Re: Free speech never more needed than against evil, Daphne Bramham, Aug. 26 "The rest of the councillors need to stand up for free speech, and they should add their voices to the call for an independent investigation into organ-harvesting [of Falun Gong practitioners] in China," writes Daphne Bramham.

This may be a tad difficult for the councillors. Just before Mayor Sam Sullivan announced the launching of a spontaneous bylaw enforcement campaign targeting the Falun Gong appeal site, city council received a report from the Roles, Relationships and Responsibilities Review Committee, which included protocols limiting councillors and community advisory committee members in their freedom to critique city policy. Furthermore, the report stated that anyone who ran afoul of the rules would be subject to discipline recommended by the mayor.

I think this policy needs to be considered in more depth, not only for municipal staff, but also for the citizens of Vancouver.

Sullivan regime tightens gag on free speech by Joan Quain, Victoria VanSun

August 29, 2006 Daphne Bramham makes an excellent point: The discomfort the Chinese consul may feel upon seeing the Falun Gong protest site is nothing compared to the atrocities heaped on the group in China. The same goes for whatever discomfort Mayor Sam Sullivan might experience when his Chinese business cronies come to visit.

The dictators in Beijing have reached a new and despicable low with the organ harvesting-for-profit scheme. It would show some real leadership if Sullivan were to do all in his power to enable the Falun Gong to call attention to the vicious persecution, now in its seventh year, rather than working to stifle their voice.

Related articles and links to this post: here, here, and here.

24 Hours: There's far worse problems than Falun Gong's protest

Vancouver Courier: City 'hospitality' trumps ethics

Globe and Mail: Falun Gong protesters oppose injunction Group says bylaw shouldn't apply to them

Vancouver Sun: Falun Gong denounces mayor City hall wants to force the group to dismantle protest site outside Chinese consulate

24 Hours Vancouver - Canada Sullivan still plans to oust protesters

The Province: Protest site must go, city tells court

24 Hours: Falun Gong to maintain ongoing vigil

G&M:Court order sought against Falun Gong protest

VANCOUVER/CKNW(980) Falun Gong members vow to fight city

CTV: City takes legal action against Falun Gong protest

Vancouver Sun: City seeking injunction to remove Falun Gong shack, signs from front of Chinese consulate

Guo Guoting defended Falun Gong in China

Since a few days ago it has become obvious that the crackdown on rights lawyers is a sign of paranoia on the part of the dictators and is a main factor behind their drastic measures. As we all know by now the Communist Party won’t last forever and the Chinese people are taking all the right steps to liberate themselves from this tyranny mainly by quitting the Party. Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has been missing for days, had been pushing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party recently and because of his effort quickly became a symbol of freedom across the nation.

"Recently, there's an overseas organisation called the Future China Forum, led by lawyer Guo Guoding and Professor Yuan Hongbing, and they cooperated with lawyer Gao, and drafted a future constitution for China.

I think, on this point, it's highly possible that the Chinese Communist Party charges lawyer Gao with colluding with overseas anti-China forces, and subverting the state, and the crime for subverting the state is very serious," he says. (more)

The dictators are furious and mad over these movements leading to the imminent fall of the Party. It wouldn't be surprising if Luo Gan, under the guidance of Jiang Zemin, is calling the shots.

According to Reuters: China's top security official, Luo Gan, recently warned the "rights protection" movement harbored forces dedicated to overturning the Communist Party.

"We must adopt vigorous measures to effectively prevent hostile forces and people with ulterior motives exploiting conflicts within the people to create incidents and engaging in sabotage under the disguise of 'rights protection'," Luo said in a June issue of a party journal.

Yet campaigners and dissidents said legal skirmishes offered more hope than outright political warfare with China's rulers.

"Using the law to promote rights can only have a limited impact when the judiciary is not independent," said Liu Xiaobo, a veteran dissident now under house arrest in Beijing.

"But street politics is even more restricted. If you want rule of law, you can't get it without lawyers". (full report)

Exiled Shanghai lawyer, Guo Guoting, elaborates on the judicial system in China and the war on Falun Gong.

For the latest reports go here.

Lawyer denounces China's tactics
by Richard Watts, Times Colonist

Victoria Times Colonist: August 24, 2006 - Victoria's Guo Ting Guo was a top commercial lawyer in Shanghai, specializing in maritime law, when he agree to represent a few human rights activists.

Guo dared to represent practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual meditative movement banned in China. Subsequently, his home was raided by more than 30 police officers and he found himself forbidden to practice law. In 2005, he fled the country and now lives in Canada as a refugee.

Now, the 46-year-old Christian (not a Falun Gong practitioner) is living in Victoria, learning English and hoping to practise law again. His wife remains in China and is divorcing him. His teenage daughter is in Victoria, but angry at her father because she thinks he broke up her family.

Guo uses his new Canadian freedom to accuse the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government of being rotten and corrupt. He was on the steps of the legislature Wednesday with a handful of others, mostly Canadian Falun Gong practitioners in a small demonstration.

Flanked by grisly pictures of what the demonstrators contended were victims of Chinese torture, they stressed the need to spread the word about atrocities they say are happening now in China.

Demonstrators pointed to a recent report out of Ottawa, charging that Chinese authorities are harvesting human organs from imprisoned Falun Gong members for sale overseas.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa has recently denied the allegation of Falun Gong organ harvests, saying organs are only harvested from legally executed prisoners with written consent.

At the demonstration, Guo said he has no doubt the Falun Gong members are being killed in prison to harvest their organs for sale. He described Falun Gong as something like Tai Chi exercises with the addition of spirituality. Guo said members have a sense of the universe and people's place in it. It's more of a spiritual philosophy than a religion.

Guo said he believes the Chinese government's harsh reaction was driven by the speed of the movement's spread. He recalls official Chinese reports documenting the spread from a single meeting of 50 people in 1992 to eventually 70 million people, including government members.

But in 1999, the Chinese government declared the movement illegal and began a crackdown. Guo believes it's just a symptom of a bigger problem in communist China. "Falun Gong is not the first victim and it won't be the last," said Guo.

He said he would like to see the Canadian government taking a firm stand to publicly condemn China for its human rights abuses, including its treatment of Falun Gong.

At the demonstration, Marie Beaulieu, a Falun Gong practitioner living in Victoria, said given how benign the meditative exercises are, she appreciates why people outside China can't understand what is happening. "This presentation does not make sense at all to us. We can't understand it in the West at all," said Beaulieu.

Support Gao Zhisheng by quitting the Party

Today, Victoria Falun Gong practitioners and exiled lawyer Guo Guoting with the rights defense movement and Future China Forum took part in a rally calling the for the release of Gao Zhisheng and to stop the crackdown on human rights lawyers in China. When asked about the judicial system in China, Guoting said: "In China, if the dispute is not so sensitive, such as in political cases or with Falun Gong, maybe the law can be applied. But if the case involves a leader or a Communist Party cadre, the law will not be implemented at all."

ABC reports: "Recently, there's an overseas organisation called the Future China Forum, led by lawyer Guo Guoding and Professor Yuan Hongbing, and they cooperated with lawyer Gao, and drafted a future constitution for China.

I think, on this point, it's highly possible that the Chinese Communist Party charges lawyer Gao with colluding with overseas anti-China forces, and subverting the state, and the crime for subverting the state is very serious," he says. (more)

Human Rights Watch said the pattern of abuses against lawyers contravened China's obligations under international law, as well as its stated commitment to the rule of law. China's constitution and numerous domestic laws protect all individuals against violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure discrimination, pressure or other arbitrary action as a consequence of legitimate exercise of their rights. In addition, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, as does the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China signed in 1998 but has not yet ratified.

Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese authorities to release Gao, declare a mistrial in Chen's case and ensure that lawyers are free of intimidation and interference as they carry out their professional duties; they are entitled to this protection under the United Nations Statement of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Epoch Times keeps us posted on Gao's arrest and rescue effort here.

SPEECH TO THE RALLY FOR RESCUING

RIGHTS ATTORNEY GAO ZHISHENG

We stand here today in solidarity to honour the same cause as the brave lawyers from China. A few days ago, China’s most prominent rights lawyer and rights defender, Gao Zhisheng, was arrested by the Chinese authorities. Known as the Martin Luther King of China, Gao is a Christian who has been the most visible critic of the Communist regime, within China, for its persecution against Christians, Muslims and practitioners of the Falun Gong meditation practice.

In China, almost no one is willing to risk career, family, freedom, and sometimes life itself by openly defying the fiats of the Chinese Communist Party. At present, the Chinese regime is engaged in a campaign of genocide against Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese Communist Party has made a political decision to completely destroy its people, by whatever means necessary and remove Falun Gong entirely from Chinese society. The government has committed almost 3,000 documented murders of Falun Gong practitioners in detention and other institutions to the present time. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners who refuse to give up their belief have been incarcerated in slave labour camps and are undergoing some of the most diabolical tortures ever conceived by human minds. The recent news of large-scale organ harvesting targeting the practitioners across China is one example of the most grotesque form of evil on the planet. Their bodies are cremated after all vital organs are removed while they are still alive. Thousands have disappeared and their family members wonder if they have become unwilling organ donors. The July 6 report of the independent investigation conducted by Kilgour-Matas confirms those allegations to be true. It is said that the mounting evidence amounts to genocide.

Of central concern to lawyers should be the way in which the Chinese ‘legal’ system and ‘judiciary’ have been prostituted to the whims of the political leadership and the restraints which have been imposed on lawyers.

The Chinese Government has formally forbidden all lawyers to take on the defense of any Falun Gong practitioners who are charged (or more commonly just sentenced to prison, without charge), usually on the basis of having ‘used an evil cult to obstruct the working of the law’. Moreover, the courts have been formally instructed that under no account are they to accept any lawsuits on behalf of Falun Gong members. In addition, the courts are instructed that with respect to any matter relating to the Falun Gong, the courts shall accept the instructions of the ‘610 Office’, a completely extrajudicial body established by the government which lacks any constitutional authority to whatever to usurp the authority of the ‘courts’.

The Chinese government has also instructed police, prison guards, and prosecutors to use ‘all necessary means’ to deal with Falun Gong practitioners. These are code words meaning ‘You may kill or torture with impunity’. In fact, there have been specific directives to these officials and functionaries stating that if Falun Gong practitioners should die under questioning, the interrogators will not be held be responsible, the deaths should be listed as suicides, and the bodies cremated as quickly as possible.

In this context, it is almost beyond comprehension that a Chinese lawyer would step forward to defend Falun Gong practitioners and defy the Party/Government/Courts/Police in a state that is today the world's most serious violator of human rights. But that is what Gao Zhisheng has done.

Let me tell you briefly about this. Over the past seven years, Falun Gong practitioners have called for a stop to the persecution. This year is unique in that attorney Gao Zhisheng, who had delivered open letters to the CCP supporting Falun Gong, now stands beside Falun Gong practitioners. An individual in Tianjing City once appraised Gao Zhisheng's letters as having "Thoroughly wiped out the evil names that the Chinese Communist Party had tried to impose upon Falun Gong." Many people in China began to see the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong through Gao's letters. His subsequent harassments by the CCP also drew international attention.

Facing ever-raising indignation in China, some people prefer violence, some persist in peaceful reform, while others maintain a pessimistic stance. The widespread distribution of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party accompanied by the huge wave of withdrawals from the CCP has also captured international attention.

Gao said, "In my opinion, the crux of China's problems is the evil system currently maintained by the CCP. Once the CCP collapses, this system will naturally disintegrate. However, many people still hold unrealistic perceptions of the CCP. How can we help these people eliminate such false hopes or improve their understandings? The Nine Commentaries provides a good means for people to see the CCP for what it is. I believe that spreading The Nine Commentaries is presently the most peaceful and effective way of reforming China. In fact, as you have all seen, The Nine Commentaries' effect on China is already in progress. The number of people withdrawing from the CCP every day continues to break previous records."

"I can say that I now have a better understanding of the Party. The Nine Commentaries was very helpful. And this is not only my personal opinion."

Someone from Chongqing told him, "Attorney Gao, I distribute hundreds of copies of The Nine Commentaries to my fellow countrymen every year." He described to Attorney Gao his personal transformation—"Previously, as did most Chinese, I also trusted the CCP without doubt. I felt so sad that first time I read The Nine Commentaries. So I read it a second time and then a third time. Then, I started paying attention to the actions of the CCP which directly affected my daily life."

After that, this person read the three open letters written by Attorney Gao. Now, he has quit the CCP and has been urging his friends to quit as well. He said, "Attorney Gao, now that I have quit the CCP, I feel my soul has been cleansed."

Attorney Gao said, "I think what he said is also a reflection of my own thoughts. Just as I wrote at the end of my CCP-quitting statement: This was the proudest day of my life!"

Gao went on to say, "Actually, we really did not question much about the CCP's past actions and rules before, especially because we did not know its past history. Someone once asked me why I had not cared about Falun Gong during the previous years and why I only started to pay attention recently. Before 2003, I really did not think about whether it was unjust for the CCP to suppress Falun Gong. I was not intentionally seeking anything when I read The Nine Commentaries, but it has transformed our minds step by step."

Since the end of 2005, Attorney Gao's fate has been joined together with the cultivation practice of Falun Gong, which has now been persecuted for seven years. They have one thing in common: each did not give up their beliefs under the pressure from the CCP, but rather each grew stronger in the resistance against the persecution.

Attorney Gao said, “At this time, I want the outside world to consider this question: During these past seven years, has the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the CCP changed at all? My life has been constantly disrupted by the CCP just because of paying close attention to the issue of the CCP's continuing persecution of Falun Gong. This tells you something. What I have done is like stirring up a hornet's nest! The CCP has not lessened a bit in its persecution of Falun Gong."

The Beijing Justice Bureau ordered Gao Zhisheng to shut down his law firm and stop practicing law for one year beginning on November 4, 2005 which was later on shut down permanently. According to the CECC, Pu Zhiqiang speculated that Gao's open letter calling attention to the "barbaric persecution" of Falun Gong members may have been just one of several reasons for increased government harassment of Gao. Gao had represented numerous activists and taken on sensitive cases of particular interest to news media and human rights groups in 2005. He subsequently was subjected to constant harassment from the CCP thugs including a few attempts on his life. Nevertheless, Gao never once stop to express his views on the evilness of the Party and soon became the leading symbol of the freedom movement in China.

Recently three more lawyers were detained. Even in Hong Kong, a lawmaker was seriously beaten a couple of days ago due to his membership in the Coalition to investigate the persecution of Falun Gong. These detentions and formal arrests have triggered a nationwide campaign (in China) to oppose violence, and this campaign is quickly spreading.

Attorney Guo Feixiong suggests that various international and domestic strengths need to be firm and unyielding in rescuing Gao Zhisheng. “We are not rescuing one person, but China's entire morale and the human spirit. What we are helping is China's entire democratic movement and the human rights movement. Not only does it have an individual characteristic, but it also has a comprehensive overall significance."

We are very worried for Gao’s safety and will demand that the Chinese regime release him without harm and stop immediately the crackdown on human rights lawyers in China.

We wish them well as they slowly progress towards a new free China.

Thank you for joining us in this effort.

Heishi

Related Articles:

Interview with Gao Zhisheng Before His Arrest

The Winning Strategy for Rescuing Gao Zhisheng

Captain Yuan Sheng Joins D.C. Rally for Rescuing Gao Zhisheng

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH