Chinese spying on Falun Gong--not only in Germany

London Free Press by Marie Beaulieu - Updated: After reading the headlines in the paper today saying that "German prosecutors indict alleged Chinese spy for observing Falun Gong movement", I couldn't help but think that someone should remind the feds again that it's time to clean up the mess in Canada. In 2005 Hao Fengjun, a former police officer and Chinese defector, tried to tell them so. Hao said that China has more than 1,000 spies operating in Canada. He also said that in addition to spying, China is conducting a campaign of intimidation and harassment against Falun Gong members, mainly in Toronto and Vancouver. This action is consistent with a CSIS report that foreign intelligence services manipulate, threaten and exploit expatriates living in Canada. Hao claims that he has given a Chinese intelligence report about a Falun Gong practitioner in Canada to the Australian authorities. That speaks volume but is there anybody listening?

Related:

Foreign influence a fact in Canada

We are shocked-shocked!-that there are Chinese spies in this country

Falun Gong Cries Foul Over Long-Running Parade Discrimination

Falun Gong's marching band in the Christmas Parade in Vancouver on December 5, 2010.

ET: However, in 2007 a CBA councillor casually told the applicants that they were refused due to their protests in front of the Chinese consulate against the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China, which were making things “difficult” for the Chinese Consul-General.

Clive Ansley, president of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong, says the longstanding refusal boils down to the Chinese Communist Party’s influence overseas and on the parade committee headed by the CBA.

“I am well aware of the committee’s tight relationship with the Chinese Consulate-General. Their motives in refusing entry to the Falun Gong are entirely transparent,” says Ansley.

The group has participated in numerous parades in B.C. Last year, the Celestial Marching Band received the special recognition award in the marching band category in the Calgary Stampede parade.

MPs have been rallying in support of the Falun Gong, including Bill Siksay, MP for Burnaby-Douglas.

“I have supported the Falun Dafa Association’s participation in the Chinese New Year Parade in the past,” said Siksay. “This is a community celebration of an important event ... and I would hope that all folks who have a connection to the community in Vancouver would be welcome to attend.”

Calgary West MP Rob Anders said in an email, “I think it is a shame that Falun Gong would be excluded from any event having to do with China. Falun Gong is more Chinese than the Communist Party that oppresses people in China.”

In a previous interview with The Epoch Times, Ottawa-based Lucy Zhou of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada said incidents of interference by the Chinese regime continue to occur in Canada “as a result of the extension of the systematic persecution of Falun Gong.”

“Falun Gong practitioners in Canada, in Ottawa, have been facing constant pressure from the Chinese Embassy, which tries to ostracize the group in the Chinese community and also in the society at large.”

Zhou said that over the last ten years a “hate campaign” against Falun Gong—directed by the Chinese Embassy and consulates—has been taking place in Chinese communities in Ottawa and other cities, resulting in many instances of discrimination.

Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese meditation practice praised by devotees for its health and spiritual benefits. The Chinese regime launched a persecution against its adherents in July 1999 that continues today. More at Epoch Times

Shen Yun 'Too beautiful to take in' : Korean celeb

Dean of Haiyin Academy of Korean Traditional Music and famous for Seon Chang (a traditional Korean music), Kim Myo Soon attended Shen Yun’s second show in Daegu on January 22, 2011. After seeing the show, she said excitedly, “Shen Yun’s inner attraction is too beautiful to take in. It’s haunting in my mind. I think that in bringing to us so successful and outstanding a show, Shen Yun contributes a lot to our future work in the arts. After seeing the show, we will work harder to do better in our performances.” More at Epoch Times

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China's "Student Informant System": CIA Report

The Chinese Communist Party employs a growing network of student informants who monitor political expression on university campuses and denounce professors and students for politically subversive or unconventional views, according to a recent report from the Central Intelligence Agency.

Established in 1989 after the Tienanmen Square protests, "the principal objective of the Student Informant System [SIS] is to ensure campus stability and to control the debate and discussion of politically sensitive issues," the CIA report said. "Students have had their scholarships revoked and their academic records penalized because of information provided by student informants that is sometimes highly subjective, such as facial expressions."

"The SIS employs traditional political spying and denunciation techniques, seeking to create a 'white terror' (bai se kong bu) environment on campus - in which students and teachers fear surveillance more than arrest - to achieve and maintain influence and control."

The SIS has been met with both scholarly criticism and popular resistance, the CIA report said. A leading academic journal contended last year that "The information reported by student informants is neither accurate nor objective" and that "promoting a culture of denunciation may become an obstacle to learning." Meanwhile, "some Chinese students are resisting government efforts at political spying and rejecting the culture of denunciation. Netizens are publishing rosters of student informants online, resulting in the student informants being denounced by peers." Yet "the government appears determined to continue to use the SIS as a tool to ensure political stability on Chinese campuses."

A pdf copy of the CIA report was obtained by Secrecy News. See "China: Student Informant System to Expand, Limiting School Autonomy, Free Expression," CIA Open Source Works, November 23, 2010.

January 24th, 2011 - More at Secrecy News and Epoch Times /click on below icon.

Chinese Rights Activists Talk About the Regime’s Fake Immolation Incident on Tiananmen Square 10 Years Ago

Watch False Fire video here

NTDTV: On January 23, 2001, news of five people setting themselves on fire at China’s iconic Tiananmen Square gripped the country. Within hours, state-run media reported that those involved were followers of Falun Gong. The incident drew world-wide attention. The Chinese regime quickly used it to justify the nationwide campaign they had launched in 1999 to, quote, “eradicate” the spiritual group. To date, there are nearly 3,500 documented cases of Falun Gong practitioners confirmed to have died in the Chinese regime’s persecution.

Although the incident turned into a propaganda tool for the Chinese regime, it was later proven to be a staged event—used to rile up the public against Falun Gong.

[Mo Jiangang, Chinese Rights Activist]:
“The Tiananmen self-immolation incident is the Chinese Communist Party’s biggest political failure. It used slander and lies to hurt those with belief, creating an atmosphere of fear, imposing this fear on people with beliefs.”

This award-winning documentary produced by NTD shows various inconsistencies of the Chinese regime’s published version of events. These include why two police vans, equipped with fire-fighting equipment were immediately available at the scene, this mysterious blow to one of the victim’s head and the incorrect posture of this victim who claimed to be doing a Falun Gong exercise. Questions were also raised over how Chinese state-run media were able to obtain the footage, complete with close-ups and shots of varying angles during what would’ve been a very chaotic moment.

Last week, State-run Xinhua News Agency revisited the story, interviewing two people reportedly involved in the incident. But for many Chinese, those kinds of reports are no longer convincing.

[Zhu Yufu, Chinese Rights Activist]:
“Falun Gong is about Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. They would not harm their own lives. Self-immolation is incompatible with Falun Gong’s beliefs. I have been imprisoned with Falun Gong practitioners, and have witnessed the severe political persecution they have endured. I admire their immovable spirit under the suppression of the communist regime.”

Spokesperson for the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, Wang Zhiyuan says as more people become aware of the persecution, more of what the Chinese regime has done will be exposed.

Many international organizations have documented the staged self-immolation incident as part of the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. More at NTDTV

Related: False and Fiery Propaganda Persists in China

Obama Allows Anti-American Song to Play at State Dinner for China

CFP: The Epoch Times has a stunner of a story for January 22. Unbeknownst to most Americans, China insulted the United States right in front of Obama and the world by having its nationalist pianist, Lang Lang, play a Chinese propaganda song that called Americans “jackals” during the Chinese sponsored concert during the recent state dinner in Washington D.C. Chinese nationalists have been hailing this stick in the eye of the U.S. since it occurred at the state dinner on January 19. More...

Chinese Embassy Pays Students to Welcome ‘Chairman Hu’

A common occurrence at these protests: CCP's red flags are covering Falun Gong's yellow flags

Students and front groups used to keep protestors out of sight

Epoch Times: The Chinese Embassy in Washington is in “tight control” of the entire process, the GMU student told the reporter.

First the embassy in Washington notified all CSSAs in the DC area that they needed to mobilize for the welcoming. They were told when and where to arrive, and then sent out emails to encourage members to participate. Some referred to a cash payment, and often included a link to a Google spreadsheet for signing up. More...

C'mon Falun Gong and Feds - Show diplomats the door

Toronto Sun - Ezra Levant - But perhaps the most brazen foreign censor in Canada is Communist China. China has a pathological hatred of a peaceful spiritual sect called the Falun Gong. In China itself, Falun Gong adherents are routinely arrested and tortured. Roughly half of the people in China’s forced labour camps are Falun Gong. As documented by former Canadian MP David Kilgour, the most grotesque punishment meted out by the Chinese government is forced organ harvesting, where Falun Gong adherents literally have their bodies cut open and their organs seized by the government and sold for cash.

It’s a tactic Nazi “doctor” Josef Mengele would have approved of.

No trick too low

China’s hatred for the Falun Gong colours much of their diplomatic activity in Canada. Nothing is too petty for the Chinese Embassy to do.

In 2008, they pressured the Ottawa Tulip Festival into kicking out a Falun Gong band from playing in the festival as planned. In 2002, the same festival banned a Falun Gong float from the parade. In 2007, the Chinese Embassy tried to organize a letter-writing campaign to the CRTC to stop a TV channel critical of the Chinese regime from getting a licence. They even pressured a seniors’ association into revoking the membership of a 73-year-old woman who was Falun Gong. It’s endless.

Here’s a better idea. Let’s treat these extraterritorial acts of censorship the same way we treat espionage.

When we catch a foreign spy, we deport him. So let’s do the same thing with foreign embassies corroding our freedom.

Next time a Canadian Falun Gong is bullied, we kick out a Chinese diplomat.

Let’s start with a flourish by kicking out two Iranian diplomats. More...

Related:

Chinese Regime’s Tactics to Influence Canadian Officials, Corroborating CSIS Fadden’s comments

Falun Gong Excluded from Vancouver’s Chinese New Year Parade Yet Again!

Seeing red over China

The Guardian - Limbaugh, Ingraham and Savage unite in their disgust at President Obama's conduct of diplomacy with Hu Jintao

Rush Limbaugh: "You have to learn how to listen to the "ChiComs". When you hear Hu Jintao talk about "mutual respect", what that means is … It does not mean, "We will bury you. We will conquer you." I'm sure they already think that. "Mutual respect" means, "Shut the hell up about our human rights abuses! Don't talk to me about the Falun Gong. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear about Tibet. Don't even bring up the Dalai Lama. We liked the fact you made him go out the back door next to the trash."

Ann Ingraham: "Are you following me here, people? It's not controversial that we have a state dinner for one of the biggest enemies of freedom out there. It is controversial that the speaker of the house doesn't go 99 degrees for him – you know, bowing."

Michael Savage was also unimpressed by the administration's kowtowing to a regime that is "mocking" us.

More...

Spectacular Shen Yun in Detroit

Special to Metromix By Robert del Valle - The word "spectacular" is used freely in the world of entertainment (especially by those promoting the entertainment), but occasionally the word falls far short of the desired mark. We suspect this occurs frequently when Shen Yun Performing Arts takes the stage and proceeds to dazzle an audience with what can only be described as an incredible voyage through music, dance, and the timeless oceans of legend and history.

Care to take that voyage yourself? Then buy a ticket soon and reserve a seat at the Detroit Opera House between January 21 and 23.

Based in New York City, Shen Yun is an ensemble devoted to preserving the traditional and story-based theatrical arts of China - arts that, to say the least, were often compromised by the shifting political moods in Chinese society after World War II. This is a repertoire that, as the company's own press releases so succinctly state, was "five thousand years in the making." The costumes worn, the instruments played, the vignettes and episodes that follow one after another are a collective vision of color and fire. Even Cirque du Soleil, itself an outstanding company of entertainers, has acknowledged and praised Shen Yun for its uncompromising commitment to excellence.

One thing more. Shen Yun has often faced criticism here and abroad because of its identification with the banned Falun Gong practices of mainland China. At the same time, it has been praised for providing refuge and work for individuals who follow those same practices. The issue is there and it will undoubtedly raise its head when the company arrives in Detroit.

We'll simply leave you and other readers with an extended invitation to make your own judgments on the matter. This celestial offering is simply too beautiful to pass up or miss. More...

China Policy: Ossified, Wishful, Ruinous

Epoch Times by John Kusumi & Ning Ye: During 40 recent years, U.S.-China policy can be summarized by five words: getting cozy with communist China. It is against our better interests; it is economically ruinous; and by building up a nuclear-armed, communist superpower, it directly threatens the U.S.’s own national security. It is a risky scheme to have a hasty rush to Maoism.

... but not with the wider aspirations of its people, best expressed in its pro-democracy, labor, and religious movements such as Falun Gong. ...

More...

US Congressman: Chinese Regime a 'Gangster Regime'

The Epoch Times: Dana Rohrabacher said of China, “This is a gangster regime that murders their own people and should be treated that way or they won’t respect us…

“There has been no reform, no liberal reform in China at all. There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no freedom of assembly. … There are no opposition parties in China. Anyone who sticks their head up in China is immediately thrown into prison.”

Rohrabacher said the worst feature of China’s human rights record was its “ongoing repression of religion.”

He specifically cited as an example the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.

“[Falun Gong practitioners] are being thrown into prison by the thousands and being beaten to death to steal their organs and sell their organs. It doesn’t get much more ghoulish than this,” the congressman said. More...

Watch CNN Video here

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Falun Gong Excluded from Vancouver’s Chinese New Year Parade Yet Again!

They were not part of the parade!

Canada Free Press / MWC News - by Marie Beaulieu: Updated - Recently the Parade Preparatory Committee for the Year of the Rabbit 2011 Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration rejected the Vancouver Falun Gong group’s application to participate in the annual Chinese New Year parade under the pretext that they don’t accept any new groups.

The application was delivered in person by two Falun Gong practitioners on November 23. Upon entering the office, the practitioners were verbally assaulted by the Chinese Freemason representative who sits on the Parade Committee. The man refused to give his name, threw the application in the rubbish bin, and rudely ordered the practitioners to leave at once. Later a written notice of rejection signed by James Chu was received on December 24.

This is not the first time that the Falun Gong application has been rejected by this committee. They have been going through this process with them since 2003 although in 2009, the city police allowed the group to march one block after everybody else simply because the committee would not give them the necessary approval to be part of the parade. At that parade, the Chinese Freemasons formed a human link in front of practitioners to block them and keep them from marching ahead. As a result the Falun Gong group ended up about two blocks at the back of the parade. Hmm...

Throughout the years Falun Gong practitioners have been invited to various parades and have won many awards in the Greater Vancouver area. Some examples of prominent parades that they participated in are Roger’s Christmas parade in Vancouver; St. Patrick's Day parade; Vancouver Canada Day parade; Steveston Vancouver Canada Day parade; the Burnaby Hats Off Day parade; etc. The Vancouver Falun Gong Celestial Marching Band also received a special recognition award in the marching band category at the 2010 Calgary Stampede parade.

Looking at the past annual entries in the New Year parade, the Vancouver Falun Gong group is currently one of the biggest groups comprised mainly of Chinese participants. So why not let them in the parade? After all, they are a peaceful and responsible group. All they want to do is to have the right as Canadian Falun Gong practitioners of Chinese descent to celebrate the Chinese New Year with the community.What's wrong with that?

Of course, the Falun Gong community feels deep regret at being rejected yet again and want to raise awareness about this situation which is basically the "Chinese discriminating against Chinese" amidst our Canadian society. Needless to say, the Falun Gong group, whose majority of members are of Chinese origin, form an integral part of the Chinese community and contribute to its well being in many ways, and should be acknowledged as such.

It's not hard to imagine that the originating oppressor this time is the Chinese Communist Party, the current oppressors are our own Chinese community, and the target is Falun Gong. This ties in with what CSIS Director Richard Fadden said last year about influence from foreign governments on Canadian soil. We need to recognize this as a significant problem in Vancouver and Canada sooner than later.

If you'd like to help remedy this situation so that this type of discrimination will cease and that the parade organizing committees start living up to its parade theme: “the celebration of the new Chinese Lunar Year in conjunction with the many diverse and multicultural groups within our community...”, please write to your friendly Member of Parliament and City Councillor before February 6, which is the parade date. Together we stand strong, divided we fall.

Related:

Falun Gong Confirms Tales of Foreign Influence in Canada

Shen Yun Debuts in Korea after Chinese Regime's Attempted Interference

NTDTV: Video - New York based Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company began the Asian leg of its 2011 season in Busan, Korea on Wednesday. But according to the local co-presenter of the show, the classical Chinese dance and music company was faced with some pressure before its debut.

[Se-yeol Oh, Spokesman of Falun Dafa Association of Korea]:
“On January 19 and 20, the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company was scheduled to perform at the Busan Cultural Center. But the Chinese Communist regime’s Consulate General pressured Busan city to terminate the theatre rental agreement.”

On Sunday the co-presenters of the show, that is, the Falun Dafa Association of Korea and local residents condemned the attempted interference at a press conference in front of the Chinese regime’s Consulate General in Busan.

[Mr. Choi Woo-Won, Philosophy Professor, Pusan National University]:
“This is a rude behavior towards the people of Busan, and belittles the Korean Government. It’s a wicked action that completely goes against international standards.”

NTD Television is a media sponsor of many of Shen Yun’s performances around the world. This is not the first time the Chinese regime has tried to stop Shen Yun’s shows from going ahead. Dozens of attempted interference by Chinese consulates worldwide have been documented, including some by the U.S. State Department.

Despite the interference, the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company was warmly welcomed when they arrived in Busan on Monday. The company’s assistant manager Mr. Guan Guimin told the Epoch Times newspaper that Shen Yun’s mission in reviving traditional Chinese culture is feared by the Chinese Communist Party.

The Falun Dafa Association of Korea said on Sunday that the Busan Cultural Center’s rental termination is invalid. It then sought a court order to ensure the performances went ahead as planned.

Related:

Chinese Regime Fails to Stop South Korean Shen Yun Shows: ET

Three Cheers to Shen Yun for Artistically Bringing China’s Situation to Canadians

Epoch Times: Op/ed By Paul Kokoski - Regarding the article President of Humber College Says Shen Yun's Dancing 'Spectacular' , I wish to commend the Shen Yun Performing Arts group for it's spectacular performance Thursday, January 13. In particular I enjoyed the "Opening of Heaven's Gate's" and other scenes that were meant as a commentary on the religious persecution taking place in communist China today. The big screen behind the stage enhanced this idea providing stunning visual effects of heavenly beings coming down to earth to save mankind from the anti-religious, thought-police. More...

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Why I Protested Hu Jintao at the White House? To stop the killing of the Falun Gong for their organs

AP photo of a Secret Service officer covering the mouth of Wenyi Wang as she was escorted from the camera stand on the South Lawn yesterday (Apr 20, 2006).

The story behind the 2006 protest By Wenyi Wang

Epoch Times: On April 20, 2006 I interrupted remarks by China’s paramount leader Hu Jintao at a press conference at the White House with a simple protest: I shouted and held up a banner.

In my protest I shouted two phrases in Chinese. I first shouted “Stop the persecution of Falun Gong.” I did so to try to stop an atrocity then unfolding in China. We had learned that the harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China was accelerating.

On March 9, 2006, The Epoch Times had broken the story of how hospitals in China were removing organs from still-living Falun Gong practitioners in order to supply a booming transplantation industry.

After the story broke, I was assigned to work full-time on it. I am an M.D. in pathology and a a Ph.D. in neuropharmocology. During this time I worked with witnesses to the organ harvesting on a daily basis. I am also a practitioner of Falun Gong. More...

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China’s Illicit Organ Trade Continues Unabated

When Chinese Has You for Dinner: Dim Summit Prospects for US/China

“Petition (Movie) – The court of the complainants”

Hu’S on First: It Is China-US Summit Time by Danny Schechter

Pacific Free Press: On the eve of the Chinese President’s visit to the United States, and the intense speculation about his intentions—and ours—I found myself a dark room at the Anthology Film Archive in the East Village watching a spectacular documentary by Chinese filmmaker Zhao Liang called Petition.

It's about the tens of thousands of people with grievances who seek redress in China at offices ostensibly set up to resolve their problems.

The right to petition is guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution—yes China has a Constitution, but it is unevenly enforced like our own. Falun Gong first tried, but failed, to bring its human rights claims to a Petition office like the bureaucratic centers shown in the film as do a small army of individuals who every day, bravely—sometimes fanatically--- insist it is their human right to be heard. (In Falun Gong's case, they were outlawed and systematically repressed for more than a decade with a large cost of lives.)...

...Listen to the description of Petition: “Since 1996, Zhao has documented the ‘petitioners’ who come from all over China to make complaints in Beijing about abuses committed by their local authorities. Gathered near the complaint offices, living in most cases in makeshift shelters, the complainants wait for months or years to obtain justice. Peasants thrown off their land, workers from factories which have gone into liquidation, small homeowners who have seen their houses demolished but received no compensation, they pursue justice with unceasing stubbornness, facing the most brutal intimidation and most often finding that their hopes are in vain.”

So far, neither Washington nor Beijing have realized the apocalyptic projections of their many critics. Both states still pay lip service to their ideal, but both can be unraveling.
A fancy State Dinner will not bridge the gaps that separate our two countries and “paths of development,” as the Chinese say.

The US says it wants more democracy in China but officials like Tim Geithner are upset by the debates taking place there, and pine for the days when they could deal with a dictator like Mao or Deng who, as the New York Times explained, “commanded basically unquestioned authority.”

Our leaders prefer dealing with that type of authority and wish they had it here.”

Back in Beijing, in the shabby Petition Villages where Chinese citizens soldier on in their fight for justice, or in this country where our citizens are frustrated and angry with an economic crisis appears to have no end, no one will expect much from this summit in faraway Washington where diplomatic dances produce kabuki plays filled with smiles but no real changes. More...

UN rebuts China for its “cult” stigmatization of Falun Gong

Falun Gong protest at the UN Summit in New York (2010)

La Pensa: On October 21, 2010, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt drew the world’s attention to China’s persecution of Falun Gong. He specifically denounced China’s stigmatization of Falun Gong and some other “small communities” as “cults,” during his presentation at the 65th U.N. General Assembly, held in New York.

Special Rapporteur Bielefeldt said, “Small communities, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha'is, Ahmadis, Falun Gong, and others are sometimes stigmatized as ‘cults’ and frequently meet with societal prejudices which may escalate into fully fledged conspiracy theories.”

This is Prof. Bielefeldt’s first report to the U.N. General Assembly since he took the position as Special Rapporteur in August 2010. Asma Jahangir previously held the position. In his 15-minute presentation to the 192 member states, he criticized the government of China for its systematic persecution of and attitude of “intolerance” towards belief groups, including Falun Gong.

His speech was reported to have “irritated” the delegation of China. The delegate responded with their usual demanding tone and repeated the Communist Party’s position that the “correct response” is to eradicate Falun Gong.

The international media described China as being “irritated” yet again. This reaction accords with former reports of this kind. For example, after the U.N. Committee against Torture (CAT) published their China torture report on November 21, 2008, news media including the New York Times, BBC, VOA, and RFI unanimously described the government of China as being “irritated.” Through this, the raspy and aggressive nature of the Communist party has been well exposed to the international community.

The U.N. Special Rapporteurs’ reports are among the most highly regarded documents on the status of human rights in concerned countries. The annual reports are based on case investigations carried out over the years and the responses by the governments in question. They often generate heated debate during U.N. human rights sessions.

Bielefeldt’s findings might also be largely based on the mandate’s previous investigation on Falun Gong allegations, which China itself often declared that they are jailing its own citizens for practicing Falun Gong and view it as a crime that will threaten the nation’s stability.

Jahangir, former Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, has raised the concerns of the persecution of Falun Gong since 2001. She called on the government of China to comply with international law and U.N. conventions.

In Jahangir's 2010 report, “While the circumstances under which the deaths occurred differ, all the victims were Falun Gong practitioners and they all died under the supervision of law enforcement officers or soon after their release from custody.”

The former Special Rapporteur also noted, Human Rights Committee member Rosalyn Higgins “resolutely opposed the idea that States could have complete latitude to decide what was and what was not a genuine religious belief. The contents of a religion should be defined by the worshippers themselves.”

The German human rights and law professor, Special Rapporteur Bielefeldt, has done extensive studies on religions and was the director of the German Institute for Human Rights for a numbers of the years. His debut at the General Assembly notified the world that he has already begun his monitory on the countries such as China.

Self-Immolation of Falun Gong: Actually a Hoax

The New Tang Dynasty TV documentary film "False Fire: China's Tragic New Standard in State Deception," which won the 51st Columbus International Movie Television honor prize on November 8, 2003, can be viewed here/Video. It analyzes the 2001 TAM staged self-immolation of Falun Gong by the CCP.

Photo: Ms. Liu Chunling, mother of the 12-year-old girl, can be seen from the slow-motion sequence of the CCTV video that she fell down when she was hit on the head by a blunt object thrown by a policeman. Tiananmen Square, 23 Jan. 2001

Flashback: A CNN reporter was on the spot during the beginning of the incident, but was detained immediately and the film and camera were confiscated. At first, Xinhua claimed that the widely shown video was from CNN. However, CNN’s chief news executive, Eason Jordan, was quoted in the Washington Post as saying that “the footage used in the Chinese television reports could not have come from CNN videotape because the CNN cameraman was arrested almost immediately after the incident began.”

The Washington Post also visited the hometown of one of the women and concluded that she was unlikely to be a Falun Gong practitioner, based on extensive interviews.

The NGO International Education Development testified at the UN in Geneva as long ago as 2001 that “we have obtained a video of that incident that in our view proves that this event was staged by the government.”

Yet many Western media have continued to uncritically report the communist party line that Falun Gong practitioners were involved.

“They (Chinese regime, CCP) concoct propaganda and repeat it ceaselessly to further a campaign of persecution. It happened with capitalists in the 50s, intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution, and students turned enemies-of-the-state in 1989. The party fabricates and invents in order to incite hatred among the Chinese populace toward a particular group in the society.” John Jaw, WOIPFG

Full Article at Epoch Times

Related:

On Ten Year Anniversary, Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation Continues to Be Deadly Frame-up

Four Words Obama Should Say to Hu Jintao

Rather than subordinating rights to trade and other concerns, President Obama should place support for human rights at the center of U.S. policy toward China.

Epoch Times: U.S. advocacy for the rights of the Chinese people cannot avoid dealing with the persecution of Falun Gong. President Obama should embrace the opportunity that this persecution offers.

Falun Gong practitioners suffer the largest religious persecution in the world today. Prior to the beginning of the persecution in July 1999, several Western news outlets reported that 100 million Chinese were practicing Falun Gong—one in every 12 Chinese. Today, the Falun Dafa Information Center estimates that between 20 million and 40 million people are still practicing Falun Gong, in spite of severe persecution.

This persecution involves the largest-scale and most severe abuse of human rights in China. According to the U.N. special rapporteur on Torture two-thirds of the reports of torture in China involve Falun Gong adherents. The U.S. State Department refers to international observers who say that one-half of those in China’s vast labor camp system are Falun Gong—a number in the hundreds of thousands.

This persecution is also the most sensitive topic in dealing with the CCP, which warns other governments not to bring it up—which is exactly why President Obama should do so.

The size and severity of the human rights violations targeting Falun Gong and the sensitivity of this issue for the CCP make it a massive fulcrum that President Obama can use to give U.S. policy its greatest leverage.

Putting the moral weight of the United States behind Falun Gong practitioners’ demand for freedom of conscience will give hope to all those in China fighting for their rights.

The United States, rather than appearing to be the failed system portrayed by CCP propaganda, will emerge as the true friend of the Chinese people. More...

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China’s Illicit Organ Trade Continues Unabated to include Falun Gong, Christians, Tibetans, Uighurs, and others

Ethan Guttman: China's Gruesome Organ Harvest - The world isn't watching. Why not?

ET: David Matas (author of Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for their organs) says the practice has actually increased since then. “If anything the discrepancy is increasing, because the death penalty is going down and transplant volumes are going up. So if you look at it simply in terms of death penalty statistics and volume of transplants, then we’d have to conclude that the problem is not just continuing but getting worse.”

The regime admitted in 2005 that it had been harvesting the organs of prisoners on death row, a practice that started in the mid-1980s.

In remarks given at given at a Congressional-Executive Commission on China roundtable in June 2010, author Ethan Gutmann said that the theft of organs has spread from the Falun Gong population to imprisoned Uighurs, Christians, and Tibetans.

In “China’s Gruesome Organ Harvest,” Gutmann interviewed several Falun Gong practitioners who had been blood- and organ-tested while incarcerated to gage their suitability as a donor—something Matas says is still going on. Full article at Epoch Times

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Shen Yun 'Awe Inspiring' Says CNBC Vice President

Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company performed to a full house at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch theatre in New York City on Jan. 15. (Watch introductory video)

Epoch Times: During the intermission, CNBC vice president Steve Fastook said the performance was "Awe inspiring."

"I think it’s stunning," Mr. Fastook said. "It’s my second year and I think it’s even better than last year. I was just really, really impressed."

"It’s something that I’m never going to miss," he added.

Shen Yun Performing Arts is based in New York and has set out to rekindle China's traditional cultural heritage.

Full story: The Epoch Times

The Chinese Regime's War on Dance

A dancer playing a waist drum in a Shen Yun performance. In order to establish a culture based in communism and atheism, since it took power the Chinese communist party took to destroying China's traditional culture, values and beliefs.

Epoch Times: Those who survived the Chinese Cultural Revolution will not forget its horrors. It was a time when religion was labeled "superstition," intellectuals were branded "class enemies," and the underlying principles of China's 5,000 years of culture were destroyed. Shortly after the Cultural Revolution began, Mao appointed his third wife, Jiang Qing, as the deputy director of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, and she would gain control over the CCP’s destruction and re-establishment of culture and performing arts.

Mao’s wife, referred to as “Madame Mao,” allowed only five “revolutionary stories to be danced,” and Cai was a principal dancer of one of these at the Shanghai Opera House. Mao’s wife, “controlled the style, themes and expression of art so that it was geared toward a revolutionary and military intent,” states the report....

Traditional dance became a target for elimination by the CCP because the art form was closely tied to the values of the Chinese people—values the regime sought to uproot in order to establish its own power. “These aesthetic values are distilled from the major philosophies (Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism), which constitute the cultural values of the Chinese civilization,” states the report.

In 2006, a group of Chinese artists living in New York set out to revive the lost dance traditions. They formed Shen Yun Performing Arts and brought together some of the leading talents in Chinese dance, music, and choreography.

“The Chinese communist regime has been seeking to interfere with our performances for years by trying to pressure officials and theaters to cancel our shows,” states a press release from Shen Yun Performing Arts.

FULL ARTICLE at Epoch Times

"Mao's Last Dancer" Star Chi Chao Praises Shen Yun

Epoch Times: Mr. Cao recalled that last year, he was fortunate enough to be invited by an official from the British cultural department to watch a Shen Yun show in London.

'No other show can compare'

Mr. Cao said the content of Shen Yun's performance was rich. "It is very encompassing, large scale, and in a class of its own. It is an artistic feast, not seen in other shows. It's unlike the content of ordinary shows, that are all the same.”

He said Shen Yun reflected the charm and spirit of traditional Chinese culture. "It is deeply meaningful."

"It is a production of such a large scale attracting so many audiences and has won the hearts of so many people. It goes to show how successful the performances are,” Mr. Cao said.

“What is most unusual is that every year the shows have a new program. It shows (the company) has strong creativity and [is] very effective. It is a great achievement, a great thing that Shen Yun was formed and developed overseas and able to promote traditional Chinese culture on the global stage."

Mr. Cao is currently a lead dancer with the UK's Birmingham Royal Ballet. He was awarded the Gold Medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition (touted as the Olympics of ballet) and is known as 'China's ballet prince.' He was also the lead actor in the movie Mao's Last Dancer, playing the role of Chinese ballet dancer, Li Cunxin.

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Should Falun Gong remind Hu directly to stop the killing in China?

Wang Wenyi shouting for the CCP to stop the persecution of Falun Gong during Hu's 2006 visit at the White House

Should Falun Gong remind Hu directly again to stop the killing of practitioners in China...just in case Obama forgets to bring up the issue of forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong political prisoners, which by the way breaks all human rights conventions on the planet, or will that part be traded in for a 21 gun salute moment? Let's hope not.

AP - For the protocol-obsessed Chinese leadership, a highlight of the visit will be Wednesday's state banquet — an honor denied Hu on his last trip to the White House in 2006. President George W. Bush thought state banquets should be reserved for allies and like-minded powers and instead gave Hu a lunch. Even worse, a member of Falun Gong, the spiritual movement banned by China, disrupted Hu and Bush's joint appearance, and an announcer incorrectly called China "The Republic of China," the formal name of democratically ruled Taiwan. More...

"I cried out for those who have been tortured and suffered genocidal persecution," Wang wrote, adding that her protest was a matter of life and death, as far as she was concerned. "I acted in a way consistent with the American spirit. I also acted to protect the dignity of America and humankind." Wang Wenyi 2006

Related:

17 Jan, 2011: Why I protested Hu Jintao at the White House

Taipei Times: Shouting for freedom, not heckling

Foundation President and Director Laud Shen Yun

Phoenix from South California wrote on her blog: "Tenor Hong Ming blew me away by the power of his song and echoed for some time to come (and I’m no stranger to opera either)"

Toronto: They were also impressed by tenor Tian Ge who sang “How Hard to Save You,” which describes the destruction wrought on the Chinese people and their culture after the communist regime came to power.

“I could read the story behind his words and I got a real feeling for what he was singing,” said Ms. Dawson.

“I found it actually educational,” said her colleague. “The lyrics were great. I understood what he was singing about and then I could feel the emotion in his voice, which I think was the most impacting for me. There was a story behind the song and of course a little moral in the story, so I enjoyed that. More...

Related: Powerful Singers Impress Shen Yun's Audience in Montreal - Watch Video

Gao Zhisheng's New Article

Epoch Times: Before September 2007, there were only four people in China who refused to follow the Chinese Communist Party and persisted in being friends with me openly. As a result, one of them is continually followed by police; the other three were kidnapped in September and suffered brutal beatings and mental torture.

In 2008, Hu Jia, who continued to refuse to follow the orders of the CCP, was held in prison. Huang Yan was kidnapped and kept in prison with Falun Gong practitioners where she suffered cruel torture. In addition, Huang heard and witnessed that the torture Falun Gong adherents had suffered was even more terrifying. Under the intimidation of torture, no one dares to communicate with me openly in today’s China.

It is now extremely difficult for me to make my voice heard. Moreover, I am constantly in a situation of peril. For more than three years, the authorities have invested a large amount of manpower, money, as well as employed the most merciless methods, to achieve their goal of silencing me.

...Gao explains the Chinese Communist Party has “good friends” and “good partners” all over the world today.

“They all should be well aware of the reality of the anti-civilization nature of the Chinese Communist Party, the darkest regime of the current times. However, many of these ‘good friends’ and ‘good partners’ of the Chinese Communist Party, in pursuit of material benefits, have become a part of this black government. In the case of some other ‘good friends’ and ‘good partners’ of the Party, they have been blinded by the Party’s exquisite lies. They are totally ignorant of the Communist Party’s basic evil nature, and they even sing the Party’s praises even though what they see is a sham.” More...

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The Beauty of Classical Chinese Dance Experienced Through Shen Yun

“The [dancers'] movements are so precise, they’re just amazing,” Mrs. Sancilio said, adding “We see all types of things, but never anything like this.”

Shen Yun, based in New York, has set out to revive China’s traditional culture through the performing arts. Among its artists are award-winning Chinese dancers, singers, and musicians.

The Chinese words, “Shen Yun,” translate to “the beauty of heavenly beings dancing.” The dance company carries the traditional Chinese belief that art is a reflection of the artist, and that inner purity and beauty are the foundation of true art.

Full Article at Epoch Times

Bodies exhibit to stop touring: Lawyers

Bodies: The Exhibition has drawn 100,000 visitors in Winnipeg alone since it opened four months ago. The displays of preserved and dissected cadavers in lifelike poses has also drawn significant criticism from those who say there's no proof the bodies aren't those of Chinese political prisoners or members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is persecuted in China.

WINNIPEG Free Press - An attempt to force Manitoba to seize and bury the cadavers in the controversial Bodies: The Exhibition show was abandoned Thursday after the protesters learned the owner of the exhibit will stop the tour due to money problems.

The Bodies exhibit has been dogged with controversy because of allegations that the corpses were the bodies of political prisoners and Falun Gong followers who had been imprisoned in China.

Lawyer Norman Boudreau, who represents the Vancouver-based Coalition of the Persecution of the Falun Gong, told a judge Thursday that it was no longer necessary to have the province seize the cadavers as the owner, Premier Exhibitions Inc., will no longer be taking the exhibit on tour when the Winnipeg show ends next week.

"We agree to adjourn this motion," he said.

Boudreau said his clients would only proceed with an application to have the court rule that the provincial government has the jurisdiction to seize the cadavers and bury them.

He explained that he'd learned the touring exhibit would shut down after its Winnipeg run as a cost-saving move by Premier Exhibition.

Boudreau also said a potential $250,000 bill the coalition faced if Premier Exhibition had to place the cadavers in storage during a prolonged hearing made continuing that fight untenable for the cash-strapped group.

"Our client cannot afford $250,000 to have this decision," Boudreau said. "The Bodies exhibit will no longer be toured so, in effect, we have made our point, we have won our application in that regard."

Maria Cheung, a social work professor at the University of Manitoba who has been protesting the Bodies exhibit throughout its run, said she is pleased the controversial show is not going elsewhere.

"This show is basically violating human rights," Cheung said. "This is good for the company not to do this type of thing anymore. It is unethical.

"Businesses need to conduct their businesses ethically. This is a good decision."

A spokesperson for Premier Exhibition could not be reached for comment.

Boudreau and Winnipeg human rights lawyer David Matas took their issue to court after Manitoba Health Minister Theresa Oswald rejected a request from Matas and the Falun Gong coalition to seize the cadavers and bury the bodies before the exhibit leaves Winnipeg next week.

Premier Exhibitions officials said they leased the cadavers from the Chinese government.

The bodies, which were "unclaimed" in China, are displayed without the consent of the deceased.

Matas' groundbreaking research on the Falun Gong, a persecuted religious group in China, provides evidence the Chinese government forcibly removes organs from imprisoned Falun Gong members for use in transplant procedures there and around the world.

No date has been set for the court hearing on the jurisdiction issue, but Boudreau said it's important to press the government on that point.

"If a similar situation in the future again occurs, we will be able to rely on that decision," Boudreau said. "Hopefully the government will change the law and require, like in New York, that exhibitors have to prove they have consent from the individuals who passed away or from their estates."

Bodies: The Exhibition is a spinoff of the popular Body Worlds show, developed in Germany.

Read more

Windsor Star wrote - What other cities did:

New York: Following an ABC News 20/20 investigation, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo succeeded in securing a disclaimer on the exhibit saying organizers could not verify the bodies aren't those of Chinese prisoners. Any future exhibits must document the origins of each body, the cause of death and the deceased's consent.

Hawaii: The island state has banned all displays of cadavers for profit.

Seattle: Last summer, Seattle city council effectively banned all Bodies-type exhibits that could not produce proof of informed consent from the dead, or from the dead's next of kin.

Pittsburgh: An 11-year employee of the Carnegie Science Center quit to protest the exhibit in 2007 and state politicians considered cutting funding to the museum.

Germany, Russia, France, Venezuela...More on Bodies - Not Blog

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Burmese Lawyer: Shen Yun 'Very uplifting and inspiring. It goes beyond words'

PORTLAND, Oregon—Jennie Yee, a retired lawyer from Burma, was greatly moved by the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the last of three shows at the Keller Auditorium on Sunday, Jan. 9. She could barely speak due to the emotions she was feeling.

“Even before the dances began, all the scenery, music, went so deep into my heart, and when the performance started, it went directly inside of me,” she said.

Ms. Yee was touched with “so much meaning and understanding. They [performers] bring awareness about human life from the beginning to the end. I feel like crying … It gave me so much knowledge about people’s spirituality, about the cleanliness of the human heart.”

Full Article at Epoch Times

What does organ pillaging in China have to do with Falun Gong ?

Organ Pillaging: Ongoing Crime Against Humanity by Chinese Party-State by Hon. David Kilgour, J.D.

Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline which seeks to improve body, character and ethics. It contains features of traditional systems, like Buddhism and Daoism (Taoism), combined with a set of gentle exercises. Its core principles are “truth, compassion and forbearance”, which echo those of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other faiths. It today has practitioners in numerous countries.

In China, where it first became public in 1992, Falun Gong grew within seven years to 70-100 million practitioners by the government’s own estimate. Some Communist party leaders in early 1999 reacted negatively at seeing citizens from all walks of life, including party members, engaging publicly in a form of exercise, which had a belief system behind it different from Marxism-Leninism. The exercises, moreover, could be done anywhere at any time, singly or in groups, indoors or outdoors. The amorphous nature meant it was impossible for the party-state to control it.

Full article at Epoch Times

As West woos China, no word about missing rights activist Gao Zhisheng

The Independent: When the Chancellor, George Osborne, and Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, hosted visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang at a cosy dinner at Mansion House on Monday, it is a fair bet that the extra-judicial torture of the man formerly on China's official list of its 10 best lawyers was not among the topics discussed.

The details of what the Chinese police did to Gao Zhisheng during his mysterious 10-month disappearance would have ruined anyone's appetite.

The brilliant human rights lawyer, who had risen from an orphaned childhood in a cave dwelling to a starring role in Beijing's courts, defending citizens against land theft, censorship and religious intolerance, was beaten day and night, temporarily blinded and threatened with death.

Next week Hu Jintao, China's supreme leader, goes to Washington, and despite China's flat refusal to take more than token measures to revalue the renminbi, its crucial role in continuing to invest in the US is likely to keep all political lips tightly zipped. It was a strangely muted President Obama who toured China in November 2009, a shadow of his usual eloquent self, and Mr Hu is likely to bring that infectious air of Confucian calm along with him.

And while the Chinese are courted, flattered and indulged, what of Gao Zhisheng?

That degree of cruelty, there's no way to recount it...'

Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer who has defended many enemies of the Chinese state including members of the Falun Gong sect, was first jailed for "subversion" in 2006.

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