Defiance: Falun Gong crackdown - practitioners arrested in BeijingFalun Gong publications have been burned by Chinese authorities
Human rights campaigners continue to criticise China for executing hundreds of people every year and for failing to stop torture. The country is keen to stamp down on what it sees as dissent among its ethnic minorities, including Muslim Uighurs in the north-west. The authorities have targeted the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which they designate an "evil cult".
Chinese rule over Tibet is controversial. Human rights groups accuse the authorities of the systematic destruction of Tibetan Buddhist culture and the persecution of monks loyal to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader who is campaigning for autonomy within China.
Read More
Shen Yun has been touring the world since it was formed in 2006 and features a bunch of Chinese people singing, dancing and playing traditional Chinese instruments. The music is supposedly linked to Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual practice that has been...Read more: Dallas Observer
Chinese lawyer Tang Jitian (R) and his colleague Liu Wei look through legal documents in Beijing on April 29, 2010. Tang and Liu were disbarred earlier in 2010.
Toronto Star -The last time China's rulers faced a direct challenge — albeit from a quasi-religious group called Falun Gong — they branded it “an evil cult.” And unleashed the full fury of the state's powers to banish it. And crush it. When China faced another... Read More
The Washington Post - In an analysis of more than 1,800 Western news articles spanning eight years, writer Leeshai Lemish found that while "the documented number of Falun Gong practitioners' deaths from torture in custody increased, the number of articles in the Western press … rapidly decreased.""Labor camp survivors have told me they noticed a real correlation between the degree to which the persecution they faced was exposed overseas and the treatment they received," Mr. Lemish writes. "Some have described all of a sudden being treated better in detention, being transferred to a better cell and no longer being tortured. Only after they were released did they realize that the change took place at exactly the same time that their case was publicized abroad."
(The Guardian)
By Christopher Eldred - This past June 22nd, Hong Kong publisher Bao Pu scrapped plans to print an insider view of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest crackdowns that saw the death of at least hundreds of students. Under claims that he did not own the copyright to the memoirs of Li Peng, the former Premier of China who helped execute the crackdown, the planned printing of 20,000 copies had to be aborted. More
“Mother China” is easily the album’s strongest effort. It is spurred forward with an undeniably catchy guitar line and carries a very important lyrical message. “It’s about a specific human rights subject: the persecution of Falun Gong,” explains the singer.
“The situation in China is utterly terrible right now…the torture methods used on [Falun Gong] practitioners would make your stomach churn. People have to know about these types of things, and that’s why I put the song on the album. At the same time we are donating all the profits from ‘Mother China’ to efforts in ending the persecution of Falun Gong.” Read More
Reminiscent of Tracy Chapman, Dowe writes songs that highlight injustices, speaking of love and life’s trials and tribulations. Every song has a story to tell and a particular highlight is ‘A Song for Sean Bell’, about a young black man shot dead by police in New York City. A stunning debut – expect her to go far.
Independant UK: The new year must see an end to ruthless regimes using human pawns in international relations. After the barbaric execution of Akmal Shaikh, the first execution of a European by China since 1951, the EU's new role in foreign relations, which begins this week, must be shaped by a commitment to its values.
The argument against standing up to China is that we cannot afford to offend such a growing superpower, to jeopardise trade relations. But trade and politics have always been separate, and always will be.
The European experience with the monolithic Soviet Union during the Communist years was to name and shame its worst offences, and to do so with mounting intensity. This strategy worked and should now be applied to China. The "sophisticated" argument that China doesn't respond to Western anger carries no weight. Last week's indignant response from a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman following Western condemnation of the execution laid bare China's sensitivity to criticism. Our response should not be to shy away from voicing further criticism but to capitalise on that sensitivity and use it to apply pressure for change. Europe must ensure that its political priorities are heard as loudly in Beijing as at home.
The prominent Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng cautioned in The New York Times last week: "We Chinese are intimately acquainted with this authoritarian arrogance." He spent 15 years in various Chinese prisons for putting up a wall poster, but was released after pressure from Washington. We must seize the chance to create a more consistent, coherent and effective foreign policy, one that sets out to co-ordinate a common European stance towards a changing China, the world's largest country and still a terror state.
Edmonton Journal:
The 4.5-tonne sculpture, welded together from deactivated guns, landmines and ammunition, has been shown in many countries, including at UN headquarters in New York in 2001, and has never run into problems, said artist Sandra Bromley, who built the sculpture with Wallis Kendal.
Besides the weapons, the exhibit includes panels with photographs of more than 100 victims of violence from dozens of countries, including two images of Tibetan nuns.
"The message is the unmasking of violence, we wanted to challenge the culture of violence and create dialogue about it," she said.
"This is on public display to the world and China wouldn't stand for that at a UN facility," said Knight, adding he's surprised UN staff gave in to China's pressure. It's ironic that a sculpture promoting peace would be censored at the UN, an organization devoted to peace and security, he said.
Kendal and Bromley's sculpture was displayed first at the Edmonton Art Gallery in 2000.
From the outset, this administration chose to marginalize human rights in the context of U.S.-China bilateral relations. On her first trip to Asia, Secretary of State Clinton was downright dismissive of human rights concerns saying that ‘those issues can't interfere’ with economic, security or environmental concerns.‘each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’Read more
By Wesley Wark, Ottawa Citizen Special -- New global powers, such as China, are emerging as the most aggressive practitioners of spying; dangerous non-state actors, such as transnational terrorist groups, increasingly recognize the need and value of spying on their enemies and counter-intelligence to protect themselves. The spy world has shifted into the cyber realm, deepening concerns about cyber aggression and cyber security. The question of loyalty to the state looks increasingly fluid, hence the concern about the Daniel Houghtons of this world.
It may be that we are headed into, not just the summer of spies, but the century of spies, in which some part of the peace and security of the globe will rest on the ability of intelligence services to do their jobs well. If so, we are in for a rough ride, and will need to re-think our notions of espionage.
Read more
In January, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke powerfully in support of Internet freedom, saying, “We stand for a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas. And we recognize that the world’s information infrastructure will become what we and others make of it.”
Since then, the State Department has brought the issue of online freedom to the table in its diplomacy around the world and joined with Internet providers and social media companies to foster public-private partnership in Internet freedom. Such collaboration is key, since authoritarian regimes so often contract out the daily work of censorship to private companies.
Read more
“That is absolutely despicable,” shouted Rep. Smith. “[Those who] cherish freedom must speak out against the brutality and hate that everyday manifests by the dictatorship of Beijing.”
Rep. Ros-Lehtenin said that the “Chinese communist regime’s obsessive and relentless hunting down of practitioners of Falun Gong” is “one of the most flagrant examples of systematic persecution in the 21st Century.”Ros-Lehtenin was the author of H.R. 605 which called upon the Chinese regime to cease its campaign against Falun Gong practitioners and abolish the 6-10 office, which is given the mandate to "eradicate" Falun Gong. The resolution also called for the release of Falun Gong practitioners from prisons and reeducation through labor camps. It passed in March, overwhelmingly, 421 to 1.Congresswoman Ros-Lehtenin said nothing had changed in the last four months since her resolution passed.
“The persecution of Falun Gong is barbaric, bloody, and brutal, and it must come to an end at once!”Read more.
The German federal prosecutor’s office has accused two senior diplomats from Shanghai of spying on members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement
Falun Gong has been outlawed in China since 1999. Beijing perceives it as a cult and has devoted an agency, known as Office 610, to its global elimination. But Chinese espionage cases are becoming, in general, increasingly common in Germany. In the 2007 “Trojan” incident, Chinese spy software concealed in Microsoft Word documents hacked into German computers and stole information; the hackers were believed to be under the command of the People’s Liberation Army.
Earlier this year, the German Foreign Ministry forced the recall of a Chinese general consul in Munich after he was accused of spying on Uighur expatriates. In fact, the German government has reportedly had to create a special counterintelligence department to address Chinese security breaches. Though the public relationship between the two countries remains cordial, the escalating Cold War-style spy game threatens to tarnish years of diplomacy.
"I have instructed my Department to raise the issue at EU level, to liaise with EU Member States in investigating the allegations, and to seek a response from the Chinese authorities."
In the Kilgour/Matas report Bloody Harvest it says,
"We have concluded that the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centres and ‘people’s courts,’ since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Their vital organs, including kidneys, livers, corneas and hearts, were seized involuntarily for sale at high prices, sometimes to foreigners, who normally face long waits for voluntary donations of such organs in their home countries."Read more:
An oil painting on canvas, part of the 'Illumination' exhibit in the Capitol rotunda. Xiaoping Chen
Falun gong (or falun dafa) is a meditation practice and spiritual movement focused on the principals of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. More than 10 years ago, because of the movement's wide and fast popularity, the Chinese government began repressing those who practiced falun gong, imprisoning them.
According to reports in The New York Times, some were held for years. Some were tortured; others died.
The persecution was "pretty gruesome," said Tim Gebhart, who helped to publicize the art exhibit. "And it's something the media doesn't know a lot about because it's so hard to get the information out of China."
"Zhen Shan Ren," a touring show on the second floor of the Capitol rotunda, reflects that persecution, as well as falun dafa's quieter, meditative moments (shown above). It features large-scale oil and watercolor paintings by 12 artists, most of whom are from China or have expatriated.
Kunlun Zhang, one of the artists showing work in the exhibit, was imprisoned in 2001.
The show is scheduled to tour throughout Wisconsin.
My husband never turned up. On Feb. 18, I waited for him at Newark International Airport with flowers. It had been over three years since I last saw him before fleeing China. Jiang Feng was to arrive on a Continental Airlines flight from Shanghai, but after the last passengers left he was still nowhere to be seen. My calls to China confirmed my greatest fears: He checked in, but never boarded the flight. Chinese secret police abducted him.
We married 12 years ago in Anhui province. I was a musician and he worked as a piano tuner. But before our first anniversary we were kidnapped from our workplaces and jailed. That was July 20, 1999, the first round of arrests of Falun Gong practitioners like us.
Our worlds collapsed as the campaign rolled in with a force equal to that of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Suddenly, we were enemies of the state, cut off from our family and friends. We were arrested for practicing meditation and following our discipline - principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Falun Gong was becoming too popular for the Communist Party's liking and our crime was having an independent belief system. Read more.
“The reach is deep, and it’s very unfortunate.”
Anders says the extent of the regime’s influence goes even beyond what Richard Fadden, head of CSIS, Canada's intelligence agency, said in comments on CBC in June or his televised appearance before a parliamentary committee earlier this month.
“I would argue that I’ve seen things happen on a federal level as well in our own government. And so I think there’s a lot more than he has even mentioned,” he says.Last month, Fadden said in an interview with CBC television that some Canadian officials are under the influence of foreign regimes, alluding to China as the most aggressive country in the effort to gain influence. He said that many of those being manipulated by Beijing were not even aware they were acting on the regime's interests due to the long-term nature of their relationship with Chinese agents of influence.
“I think that Mr. Fadden only gingerly scratched the surface. I feel for him that he was dragged before an investigative committee with parliament, to have to explain, and I think that this situation is far worse that what he let on.”
“What will happen is MPs are given five-star treatment when they go to China, and they’re being introduced to young people who speak immaculate English … and given the impression that China wants to be just like Canada,” he explains.
“They get approached by people who offer them business deals that frankly are too good to be true, because these are deals that are being set up by the Communist Party, and are being done as an informal way to bribe Western politicians, because it sounds like a business deal, but they are business deals that never fail, and are very lucrative.”Seduced and robbed...
“I think it’s really important for people to understand just what in the world does really take place in China—the prison camps, re-education through labor, child labor, forced labor, torture. This is the real China,” he said. “The worst thing they’ve done is choose a totally innocent group of people [Falun Gong practitioners], and torture them to death, and this has got to stop."
"So the significance of Falun Gong to China [is], it is the real China,” Mr. Matas said.
Mr. Matas said stopping the persecution against Falun Gong in China is the key to ending the persecutions of other groups inside China: “My view is if you stop that, you stop everything."Read more:
More:
- State secret: A Staged Tragedy by Chinese Authority: Self-Immolation in Tiananmen Square, 2001
After ten+ years of often-brutal persecution by Chinas Communist authorities, the Chinese spiritual practice Falun Gong remains a visible presence worldwide. Its still practiced, although often in secret, by millions in the Mainland. What makes these people so committed to their beliefs? In A Decade of Courage: Soul of a Nation we look at the rapidly changing, post-Cultural Revolution China in which the practice emerged. We hear the stories of people who came to Falun Gong for various reasons, but who say their lives have been changed as a result. And, ten years after the Communist ban, on the tenth year that practitioners worldwide celebrate May 13th as World Falun Dafa Day, and 17 years after the practice was first spread on May 13th, 1992, we ask what this practice has meant for todays China, and what it will mean for Chinas future.
via NTDTV
ACLA brought a motion to intervene in the case of Rong Jin, a Falun Gong practitioner who was tortured in China. Jin is suing Bo Xilai for torture she suffered while a student in mainland China.
“We opposed the intervention application of the All China Lawyers Association on the grounds that it is part of the persecution of the Falun Gong group in China,” saysMunyonzwe Hamalengwa, Jin’s lawyer -- state immunity is a general defense against any crime.
“If a government official tortures you, they are not supposed to be sued. It is almost like they should get off scot-free.”
Jin’s lawyers are arguing that state immunity does not apply in this instance because Bo Xilai was acting in a private capacity and that ACLA must not be given intervenor status because they are part of the persecution...
“They've got blood on their hands themselves, they're part of the denial of the rule of law, and our view is that the court should not exercise its discretion in their favour to participate in a fair legal system because they themselves are unfair.”
ACLA is directly controlled by China’s justice ministry, which is in turn directly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, making the association fully under the direction of the very regime charged with torture, notes Matas.
An appeal filed to the Ontario Court of Appeals seeks to overturn a previous decision allowing ACLA to intervene in the case. More
July 20th will mark eleven years of inhuman persecution of the Falun Gong community by the Chinese party-state. It’s thus good to see so many Canadians of such varied cultural and religious backgrounds standing in solidarity today in our national capital. Officials in
We call for the government of
The Communist Party has deployed the most vicious lies in state media to demonize Falun Gong and used all available means to persecute those who believe in its principles. In contrast, for 11 years, Falun Gong practitioners in
1. " Repressing democratic protest in Canada is an abuse of the embassy and consular functions as set out in the Vienna Convention ... The embassies and consulates of non-democratic states should not take advantage of democratic freedoms to attempt to expand their repression abroad. China should not be abusi..."
“Under her influence, some Canadian students bravely debated with anti-China elements on the Internet, some wrote to television stations, and newspapers to point out that their reporting was not according to the facts,” the report said.
Eventually, one major Canadian television station even apologized for its coverage as a result of “the combined efforts” of Yan and her students.
And none of this would have been possible without Beijing’s efforts to establish Confucius Institutes, like the one Ms. Yan directs at the University of Waterloo.
London Free Press / Suburban / Sentinel Review : When Chen Yonglin, former First secretary and Consul for Political Affairs in Sydney, toured Canada in 2007 he exposed the Chinese regime's mandate for all Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide to influence government officials, mobilize Chinese students and the Chinese community, and control the Chinese media to influence public policy on China.
Like Fadden, Chen revealed that the tactics include putting pressure on the officials of various western governments and exchanging political benefits by economic means. He stated that one of the most effective methods used to develop influence over political leaders is to provide them with all-expenses-paid travel to China and lavish entertainment while they are there.
This method is common to all Chinese foreign missions in the West and should come as no surprise to anyone. As well, it was made known that one of their prime targets is the Falun Gong spiritual group and that influencing VIPs in thinking that they are a cult--thus discouraging any form of support and denying social programs to the group--is one of their top priorities.
Knowing the nature of the beast and its ability to erode our Canadian values, one may wonder why politicians still insist on accepting freebies from the Chinese regime and other countries without weighing the consequences. What are they thinking? If it were not for Mr. Fadden's frank talk apprising Canadians of the reality of the situation we might still be going down a slippery slope continuing to take advice from a totalitarian regime. How democratic is that? It's time to stop whining and do what's right to protect our democracy and sovereignty.
Letter, July 14. Calgary Herald - Had Thomas Bate done his homework, he would know that the organs of Falun Gong practitioners and others have been harvested for profit for several years, likely since the persecution of this group by the regime started in 1999. The book, Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong For Their Organs, provides all the facts needed and is very graphic.
And according to other sources, the brutal invasion of Tibet by Beijing in the 1950s is not as simple as Bate describes it, either. Tibetan freedom fighters call it a sheer attack on the sovereignty of their country and cultural genocide.
Marie Beaulieu
Canada Free Press / MWC / Tibetan Review: Ottawa/Vancouver – This week, 17 organizations and individuals wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon requesting the government of Canada to declare Liu Shaohua, first secretary of the education section at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, to be persona non grata for his role in mobilizing Chinese students and scholars to suppress Canadian protesters.
Liu Shaohua was caught on tape asking Chinese students and scholars to fight a ‘political struggle’ during Hu Jingtao’s visit.
He said “Falun Gong, Tibetan separatists, Uyghur separatists, and democracy people” were planning protests that would “sabotage” and “interfere with” Hu’s visit. He stated: “This is a battle that relates to defending the reputation of our motherland!” and whoever cannot come “must ask for leave from me.” He said the embassy will cover all expenses, but “do not talk about it outside.”
“The biggest danger of Liu Shaohua is that he is selling to the people a version of reality which is extremely wrong and extremely dangerous” said Mr. Michael Craig, Chair of the China Rights Networks, “When a diplomat encourages hate against a group of people in Canada, he is acting against the diplomatic rules”.Read More
They likened the practice to the Nazi treatment of Jewish prisoners in World War II concentration camps, which included using them for sadistic medical experiments and taking the gold fillings from the teeth of corpses.
"These groups are useless to the state," Mr. Gutmann said. "They are toxic, so you can't release them. But they're worth a great deal of money in terms of their organs."
Organs from just one person can fetch a total of $100,000 on the worldwide market, he added.
"This is an abuse that can end," Mr. Matas said. "The Chinese may feel it can abuse the Falun Gong to stay in power, but it doesn't have to take their organs."
Read more
Toronto Sun: By Peter Worthington, July 14, 2010 - When Richard Fadden, the director of CSIS, admits he “went too far” in saying certain politicians were being influenced by a foreign government, he is (one hopes) only referring to his remarks to the CBC. He and CSIS aren’t going “too far” at all, by being alert to politicians influenced by foreign elements. That’s just being vigilant, and CSIS doing its duty on behalf of Canada.
The Toronto Star scolds that he’s “unrepentant.”
Good.
What’s to repent?
The demand by some NDP and Bloc MPs that Fadden resign is ludicrous, and fortunately not supported by Liberal MPs who are more sensible and have had experience running the country.
A stronger case could be made that Fadden should resign if CSIS weren’t alert and checking the influence some foreign countries seek to exert on Canada — on politicians, business leaders, even select media people.
Fadden blurting out what he did in a CBC interview caused no damage to anyone. The demand by a Vancouver councillor that Fadden should publicly reveal the names of politicians he thinks are being influenced, is simply foolish.
Every government, friendly and hostile, is interested in influencing others. This is not necessarily subversive or even illegal. And if CSIS is concerned a particular politician — or citizen for that matter — is being unduly influenced by elements of another country or its government, it’s perfectly in order to alert that person as to what’s going on, and to be wary.
When the RCMP was in charge of Canada’s security, it was standard practice to warn politicians or individuals if there was risk that a foreign intelligence service might be focusing on them. Most recipients of this advisory appreciated it.
When I was sent to open a news bureau in Moscow, the RCMP (then responsible for Canada’s security and intelligence) gave me a pretty thorough briefing as to what to expect and the sort of attempts Soviet intelligence might try to win cooperation. It was useful and intriguing.
Honest politicians should be grateful CSIS is keeping an eye on the store and will warn if hanky-panky is afoot.
To suggest, as NDPer Don Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway) has done, that by his CBC remarks Fadden has “smeared” 1,600 municipal politicians in British Columbia is too silly to warrant comment — other than to consider voting against Davies next election.
“Foreign influence” today is not the same as it was during the Cold War. It is not “agents of influence” aimed at subverting the host country, and recruiting traitors into acts of treason and espionage that is the goal. More, it is gaining economic advantage. Even a business decision.
Richard Fadden is adamant he has no intention of resigning.
Good. Nor is he seeking “to duck behind walls of secrecy,” as the Star implies.
The federal government doesn’t seem overly concerned about Fadden’s gaffe to the CBC. He can provide names to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, who can alert the individuals to the dangers of getting overly cosy with foreign governments.
So far, there’s no hint of anything illegal — nothing resembling treason or coercion of Canadians. In fact, perhaps Fadden should be commended for making the country aware of the realities of international business — even if it was on the CBC, which does not always have the country’s best interests at heart.
Why? Well, perhaps he could have explained to Patterson why he believes that Canada and China can “learn from each other in matters of rights, justice, civil service reform and corporate social responsibility.”
Perhaps he could explain to Patterson why he thinks China - which he named along with North Korea and Libya in a 2005 lecture to Amnesty Ireland as the world’s three biggest human rights abusers - has made more progress on human rights lately than any country in the world, including Canada.
Or maybe the Liberal leader could have explained to Patterson’s little daughter Hannah where her daddy went.
You see, Patterson’s husband, a noted, 39-year-old Beijing artist was - as described in a recent Toronto Star story from their Asia bureau - “recently detained without charge, beaten by police and taken to a detention centre where he has sat for the last 36 days.”
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. It’s quite common there.
Keep in mind that Ignatieff, as an academic, routinely spoke out against China and at one point even criticized Prime Minister Stephen Harper for not being tough enough on that brutal regime. This was the same Ignatieff who, when running for the Liberal leadership, after Harper had been harshly critical of China’s abysmal human rights record, then turned full circle and accused Harper of “megaphone diplomacy,” saying criticizing China would only make matters worse.
Earlier this year, in fact, Ignatieff told a group of Calgary students that Canada had a duty to speak out against human rights abuses regardless of where they happen. “Just because China is big and powerful doesn’t mean that Canada should back down on this issue,” he said.
Here. Here.
But wait a minute. Given the opportunity to speak publicly in China on that country’s human rights record, Ignatieff told a group of selected university students that, yes indeed, “We must be ready to speak plainly with one another about human rights.”
Who can argue? Except, of course, he didn’t go on to speak plainly at all about China’s record. Instead, he praised them.
He even went so far - and no, I’m not making this up - as to actually praise the so-called Cultural Revolution, a period where hundreds of thousands of innocent Chinese citizens were murdered or starved to death in what the National Post properly describes as “part of a larger pattern of Communist crimes against humanity that caused tens of millions of deaths.”
But our brave Liberal leader did say it was time for plain talk on human rights abuses.
So what did he do? He criticized Canada’s human rights record, telling his adoring, government-approved audience that “I am not blind to the gap that exists between our ideals and reality for some of my fellow citizens.”
To be sure, Canada isn’t perfect when it comes to human rights. But it’s a hell of a lot better than China in that sphere - as is nearly the entire world.
And for the man who wants to be prime minister to offer a moral equivalence between the democratic rights of Canadians and the dictatorial oppression of the Chinese is, well, obscene.
Ignatieff did not even mention some of China’s most egregious human rights abuses, e.g.its brutal oppression of such ethnic minorities as the Tibetans and Uyghur Muslims and of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and even Christian missionaries. He didn’t even bother to point out the fact that Canadians’ enjoy democracy and free elections. Chinese don’t.
But hey, when you’re trying to impress your hosts, why get bogged down in detail, eh?
Here’s an idea. For the next several weeks, Ignatieff is flitting around Canada on a partisan bus tour, stopping wherever he can for burgers and dogs and hoping to turn around his sagging political fortunes before the next election.
If he comes to your town - as he likely will - why not take a moment out to wander over to Ignatieff and simply ask him to explain that given his previous hardline comments on China and the opportunity to demonstrate that he really means it, why was it than when he finally went to China he decided to criticize Canadians instead and portray a false image of that regime in a cowardly attempt to please his Chinese patrons and - no doubt he hopes - perhaps pick up some Chinese-Canadian votes in the next election?
Let me know if he has an explanation.
by David KilgourToronto Sun: Canada should turf a Chinese diplomat for rallying students against human rights activists protesting Hu Jintao's visit last month, some of the activists said Wednesday.
The group says an official with China's embassy was trying to interfere with Canadians who wanted to demonstrate against the Chinese president.
Hu was in Ottawa prior to the G20 summit. Falun Gong practitioners, whose faith is banned in China, and pro-democracy protesters gathered at his hotel and on Parliament Hill. Pro-Communist demonstrators outnumbered them.
The Epoch Times, a pro-Falun Gong paper, reported they had a recording and an e-mail showing the official told Chinese students studying in Canada they had to go to support Hu.
“They want to give people here the (impression) that everybody's a part of communist China,” said Grace Wollensak, a Falun Gong practitioner.
David Kilgour, a former MP and secretary of state for Asia-Pacific, called the official a thug.
“They have no concept of where the boundaries are and in a case like this, unless we do something, the Chinese embassy will continue to abuse its position here as much as it possibly can,” he said.
