Radio interview with former Chinese diplomat in Sidney, Australia Chen Yonglin

This is an excellent interview by the way!

Weekend Blend - Mr. Chen Yonglin - Sunday, June 10, 2007
(Toronto) Daniel speaks witn former Chinese diplomat in Sidney, Australia Chen Yonglin who defected two years ago.

mp3 (click here to download)

The Falun Gong Issue is a Priority

Epoch Times: June 9, 2007 - CCP Sets Traps for Western Politicians

Excerpt: Chen said the CCP classifies people overseas into five groups and then tries to persecute them. These groups are Falun Gong, democratic activists, Taiwan, Tibet human right activists and Xinjiang human right activists. In recent years, the CCP has intensified the suppression. "The CCP's foreign policies are extensions of their domestic policies. It targets those who are perceived threats to the CCP's power overseas. The CCP now focuses mostly on Falun Gong because they have the biggest following and steadfast belief," says Chen, "Sixty percent of the CCP's effort (finance and manpower) is spent on suppressing Falun Gong, 20 to 30 percent on Taiwan, and five to ten percent on other issues." (more)

CFP: UN Reports the Chilling Facts on Organ Harvesting from Live Falun Gong Practitioners

Persecution and Torture in China

Canada Free Press: By Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, Monday, June 11, 2007

On March 20, 2007, Manfred Nowak, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture issued a report that corroborates previous findings in 2006 about persecution, abuse and torture of Chinese citizens.

His report states, "Organ harvesting has been inflicted on a large number of unwilling Falun Gong practitioners at a wide variety of locations for the purpose of making available organs for transplant operations." Mr. Nowak issued his report to the Human Rights Council's Fourth session, as part of their Agenda item 2, the Implementation of General Assembly Resolution 60/251.

On August 11, 2006, three UN Special Rapporteurs had sent an urgent appeal on organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. This was a joint action by the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr. Manfred Nowak, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir and the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Ms. Sigma Huda.

Mr. Nowak further states in his report, "Vital organs including hearts, kidneys, livers and corneas were systematically harvested from Falun Gong practitioners at Sujiatan Hospital, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, beginning in 2001. The practitioners were given injections to induce heart failure, and therefore were killed in the course of the organ harvesting operations or immediately thereafter."

The report adds, "It is reported that employees of several transplant centres have indicated that they have used organs from live Falun Gong practitioners for transplants. After the organs were removed, the bodies were cremated, and no corpse is left to examine for identification as the source of an organ transplant. Once the organs were removed they were shipped to transplant centres to be used for transplants for both domestic and foreign patients."

Although the Chinese government denied the allegations, the Report states that China's passage of a law on July 1, 2006, prohibiting the sale of organs and requiring the donor to give written permission, indicates that China allowed organ harvesting before that time.

"Moreover, evidence exists, for example, that at least up until April 2006, price lists for organ transplants in China were published on the Internet," states the report.

The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, also addressed the harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners in her annual report on 250 countries. Regarding freedom of religion or belief, her report states, "The Special Rapporteur continues to be very concerned by the continued violations of freedom of religion or belief suffered by members of the Falun Gong. In her previous reports to the Commission on Human Rights, she explicitly mentioned members of the Falun Gong as targets of various human rights violations because of their beliefs and she strongly condemns the continued lack of freedom of belief of members of Falun Gong."

The Silence about Organ Harvesting

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group initially described the organ harvesting issue in its newsletter, Sujiatun Death Camp: Putting Conscience On Trial". The news was met with silence.

On July 7, 2006, former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia Pacific) and MP David Kilgour and human rights attorney David Matas released their "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China." Presenting 17 points of evidence on the harvesting of organs from live Falun Gong practitioners, they stated, "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. The very horror makes us reel back in disbelief. But that disbelief does not mean that the allegations are untrue." Kilgour and Matas have traveled the world discussing their findings with organizations and nations, but, as yet, no country and no major media have condemned this heinous practice.

Dr. Shizhong Chen, founder of The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (www.falunhr.org), when asked about the importance of the UN Report, observed, "David Matas condemned the organ harvesting as a new kind of evil that humanity has yet to see. Sadly, we have also seen a new kind of silence to this evil, silence from world governments and from the media.

"This report by the Special Rapporteur removes any excuse of silence, of not knowing, not trusting and not believing the appeals of Falun Gong practitioners whose lives are supplying China's burgeoning transplant market. It also belies the US State Department report that they found 'no evidence' of organ harvesting after Chinese officials organized two guided tours for their benefit."

Many Cases of Persecution and Torture in China

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has submitted many appeals to the United Nations Special Rapporteurs and has often spoken to the UN Human Rights Council. In his 2005 Report on his mission to China, Nowak observed, in Table 1, that 66% of all alleged victims of torture were Falun Gong practitioners. In 2006, Mr. Nowak sent many urgent appeals to the government of China concerning Falun Gong practitioners and other Chinese citizens who were abused and tortured.

Mr. Nowak cited the persecution of many Chinese citizens in his report, among others, human rights lawyer, Mr. Gao Zhisheng.

The Persecution of Chinese Lawyer Gao Zhisheng

Mr. Gao Zhisheng has represented dissidents, religious believers, entire villages with disputes against officials, and Falun Gong practitioners. When he did his own personal investigation and found evidence of ongoing torture of Falun Gong practitioners, he wrote an open letter asking CCP leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. As a result, the CCP started persecuting him. In November 2005, Mr. Gao met with Mr. Manfred Nowak, who at that time was in China investigating the use of "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

On December 2, 2005, 12 days after Mr. Nowak met with him, the Justice Bureau closed Mr. Gao's Shenghzhi Law Firm. Mr. Nowak "strongly protested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs against the intimidation and surveillance by the security services that Mr. Gao was subjected to during their meeting in Beijing on November 20, 2005," and detailed the persecution suffered by Mr. Gao's wife, Ms. Geng He, their children of 13 and 2 years of age and his 70 year old mother-in-law. One time, two police officers beat Ms. Geng, ripped her clothing and tore off one of her fingernails. They followed Gao's daughter Gege at all times, including when she was in school and when she went to the bathroom. They even attempted to kidnap Gao's two-year-old son.

Other victims mentioned in the report include Ms. Mao Hengfeng whom Nowak interviewed on November 24, 2005, during his mission to China; Sun Xicheng, He Guoguang, Zhou Xiudi, Chen Zonglai, Wu Yuping, Jin Huijun, Mao Hengfeng, Chen Guancheng, Xu Zhiyong, lawyers Li Fangping and Li Subinhad, Ismail Semed, an ethnic Uighur from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR),), Mr. Chen Xiaoming, Ms. Fu Yuxia, and Mr. Han Zhongming, Ms. Ma Yalian, Yusuf Kadir Tohti and Abdukadir Sidik, Mr. Xu Shuangfu (also known as Xu Wenku) and Mr. Li Maoxing, Bu Dongwei (also known as David Bu), He Depu, whom the Special Rapporteur on Torture interviewed on November 22 and 24, 2005, at the Beijing No. 2 Prison, and Zhang Hongwei, a Falun Gong practitioner residing in Tonghua District, Jilin Province, currently detained at Jilin Prison.

The list of victims goes on and on...

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Suggests Mechanisms to Hold States Accountable

In an effort to help stop the use of torture, Mr. Nowak proposes that consideration be given to methods for holding accountable those States in which torture is systematic or widespread.

As an example, he suggests, "Such States might be required to contribute adequate funds to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. In addition, the respective costs for treatment should ideally be borne by the individual perpetrators, their superiors and the authorities directly responsible."

Mr. Manfred Nowak's report is at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/torture/rapporteur/

Click on the second report: A/HRC/4/33/Add.1

The information about China begins on page 45 and continues to page 70; the organ harvesting begins on page 60.

Mr. Nowak is the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture to visit China for a UN investigation on torture. The findings from his 2005 visit triggered worldwide attention to the communist government's use of torture on its own citizens. His China mission report can be found here

Ms. Asma Jahangir's report is at:
http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?m=86

Click on "E" in the first report. The information on China begins on page 28.

UN Report on Organ Harvesting in China

Monument to Murder

In short, communism, an evil ideology unlike any the world has seen, is responsible for the slaughter of more than 94 million human beings. It tops all plagues, natural disasters, crime, and other political ideologies, probably combined.

Human Events - by Cal Thomas Posted: 06/11/2007 - Should anyone remain at the real end of history to chronicle a list of humanity’s worst systems for the benefit of any left to read it, the legacy of communism is sure to be at, or near, the top.

That’s why it is especially appropriate that in Washington, D.C., this week a Victims of Communism Memorial will be dedicated.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the quick collapse of the Soviet Union, many embraced the idea that the world had become free, or was headed in freedom’s direction. That one-quarter of the world population remained under communist dictatorship in China seemed of less concern than the dissolution of Soviet Russia. The Tiananmen Square Massacre in June of 1989 reminded the West that communism was as deadly to those who opposed it in China as it had been in the Soviet Union. But the West’s attention span is short and soon American companies were happy to do business with China because our commitment to the bottom line is stronger than it is to the moral line.

Lee Edwards, the chairman of The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOCMF), has attracted bipartisan support for the memorial, including Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who are offering remarks at the dedication. It comes on the 20th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s Berlin speech during which he famously said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

The brutality of communism was quickly swept under history’s rug, in large part because so many on the left had embraced it as the solution to humankind’s problems. The memorial stands as a rebuke to such twisted thinking.

“The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression” by Stephane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panne, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek and Jean-Louis Margolin lists by country the number of people murdered under communist regimes: 65 million (and counting) in China; 20 million in the Soviet Union, 2 million (and counting) in North Korea, 2 million in Cambodia, 1.7 million in Africa, 1.5 million in Afghanistan, 1 million in Vietnam, 1 million in communist Eastern Europe and 150,000 in Latin America.

In short, communism, an evil ideology unlike any the world has seen, is responsible for the slaughter of more than 94 million human beings. It tops all plagues, natural disasters, crime, and other political ideologies, probably combined.

The VOCMF provided some quotes that remind us of the individual human cost of communism. Anhthu Lu is a Vietnamese-American, who escaped his communist nation as one of the “boat people.” He says, “There is no hope for a better tomorrow under communism. One can only hope to survive the daily rounds of communist shelling, or explosion into the villages, the schools, the markets. That is how I remember my childhood, one filled with fears, with destruction and deaths. That is what communism is all about: terror, destruction, retribution.”

When he visited Stalin’s “paradise,” the French leftist writer Andre Gide said: “I doubt that in any country of the world, even Hitler’s Germany, is thought less free, more bowed down, more terrorized.”

Chinese philosopher Lin Yutang spoke of the “little terrors” of China: making 12-year-old children subject to capital punishment, sending women to work in underground coal mines, harassing workers during their lunchtime with threats of prison — or worse — if they are late returning to work.

While many Westerners recall Nazi-run death camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald, few remember Soviet death camps named Kolyma and Magadan. True, Alexandr Solzhenitsyn mentioned them in “The Gulag Archipelago” as did Varlam Sjalamov in “Tales from Kolyma,” but as the late Swedish journalist Andres Kung wrote, “There are people who have still not heard of these communist extermination camps — even though the communists preceded the Nazis in creating such camps and killed an even larger number of people in their camps.

While the memorial is a welcome reminder of man’s capacity to do evil, one wishes that a similar structure were erected to remind the world of leftist academics, clergy and journalists who enabled communism to survive by writing and speaking lies about its true nature. They were more than enablers. They were co-conspirators and accessories to murder. They, too, deserve to share in communism’s ignominy.

Jailed Chinese Reporter Joins Suit Against Yahoo

According to the Associated Press:

"Shi Tao, who was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in prison, is seeking compensation from the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Internet company, claiming Yahoo Hong Kong and Yahoo China provided information to the Chinese authorities that led to his arrest.

Shi, a former writer for the financial publication Contemporary Business News, was jailed for providing state secrets to foreigners. His conviction stemmed from an e-mail he sent containing his notes on a government circular that spelled out restrictions on the media.

Yahoo has acknowledged turning over data on Shi at the request of the Chinese government, saying company employees face civil and criminal sanctions if they ignore local laws. It denies Yahoo Hong Kong was involved."

Shi Tao was tossed in prison for 10 years in 2005 for sending the contents of a government document that was publicly distributed -- instructions to the media to not cover anything regarding Tiananmen Square or Falun Gong -- overseas to the Asia Democracy Foundation. Shi used his Yahoo e-mail account, and the company readily turned over his details to the Chinese government when prodded.

ALSO: Microsoft lab in China analyzing Internet users

Beijing Interfering with New York Dance Competition, Says Former Diplomat

Ex-diplomat alleges Chinese consulate using student groups as front organizations in America

Epoch Times: The long arm of the Chinese Communist Party is being felt at New York University this week after a student club, allegedly under instructions from Beijing, attempted to have a Chinese dance competition shut down.

When New Tang Dynasty Television announced that its global Chinese dance competition—a showcase of traditional dance with participants from around the world—would be held at New York University in July, the NYU Chinese Culture Club should have be thrilled.

Instead, the club posted a letter on its website blasting the competition and its organizers.

Former Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin says the club was acting under directions from the Chinese Communist Party, which has a history of harassing the independent, Chinese-language television station.

"The NYUCCC's public letter is about the same as a document issued by the Ministry of Propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party," says Chen, who defected from his position as First Consul at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney two years ago.

Chen was in Canada this week speaking to legislators and media about the threat of Chinese espionage. He says that an extensive network of front organizations is used by the Communist Party to push its agenda abroad, including university student clubs.

Chen Yonglin speaks at a press conference at Ottawa's Parliament Hill. (Matthew Hildebrand/The Epoch Times)

"Such groups are in fact controlled by the Chinese mission and are an extension of the Chinese communist regime overseas," said Chen, explaining that they are supposed to co-operate with Chinese consulate and embassies to suppress organization and individuals not in favour of the CCP.

"Often, it is not convenient for the Chinese mission to do certain things. So to use student organizations, with a neutral name, is more effective."

Chen explained that there are several ways in which the CCP manipulates overseas Chinese student organizations, including providing funding for club activities, writing reference letters and providing scholarships to Chinese students who dutifully toe the party line, and co-opting Chinese students by giving them free gifts, such as tickets to entertainment events. Failure to comply can result in threats to a Chinese student's career opportunities.

NTDTV's spokesperson Carrie Hung also believes the NYU Chinese Culture Club has acted under orders from the Chinese consulate.

"This is not news to us. Ever since New Tang Dynasty TV was established, the CCP has tried to interfere with our business."

Leaked documents from the Chinese regime have included directives to use front organizations to lobby against NTDTV, interfere with its annual Chinese New Year show, and pressure cable and satellite carriers against airing its programs.

NTDTV's Canadian office has been vandalized repeatedly, quarantined on multiple occasions after being sent packages of white powder, and employees tires have been slashed. The station suspects the Chinese regime has been behind the attacks.

Huang explains the network has drawn the ire of Beijing because it is the only Chinese-language television network that broadcasts uncensored into the Chinese mainland, including news programs critical of the regime. It has been particularly vocal in revealing the CCP's persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, the suppression of democracy activists, and other human rights abuses.

Chen believes this is the reason the television station's activities have been targeted.

He says there are several ways the Chinese authorities have attempted to interfere with NTDTV's activities. One of them is to pressure the venue not to allow the activity to be held, which is precisely what the NYU Chinese Culture Club is attempted to have done.

According to NTDTV's website, its international classical Chinese dance competition is intended to "launch a new era in Chinese dance by inspiring the creation of dance pieces, fostering cultural exchange, and promoting traditional dance of pure authenticity, pure goodness, and pure beauty."

Chen said that he has seen NTDTV'S Chinese New Year Spectacular, a show that in 2007 has been acclaimed in more than 30 cities around the world. "The culture it presents is like a breath of fresh air."

"It is ridiculous that a dance competition is denigrated to such an extent," says Chen.

But Chen added that such statements as that made by the Chinese Cultural Club represents only a small number of Chinese students and scholars of the university and that they do not represent the views of the majority of Chinese students.

NTDTV's Carrie Hung says audiences should judge the event for themselves.

"What NTDTV has done is to bring Chinese dance to the world stage, which should be applauded and supported," said Huang.

Nonsense, China says of espionage accusations

My letter to the editor (unpublished yet!)

I am really annoyed at Chinese Consul-General Lu Shumin’s statement that: "This is not the first time that we hear of these allegations (espionage), and it's purely, purely fabrication." Would somebody tell the Chinese boss that it’s not the last time he’ll hear about it either unless they stop their nasty spying on Canadians. It’s high time that the Harper government gets tougher on China regardless of the almighty dollar. Chinese espionage is costing Canadians $1 billion every month—why should we take the loss? It is clear that trading with Communist China offsets the gain!

Vancouver Sun: Published: Saturday, June 09, 2007 -OTTAWA -- China's top diplomat in Canada is denying allegations that his government is sending spies to disrupt activities and steal Canadian secrets.

"This is not the first time that we hear of these allegations, and it's purely, purely fabrication," Ambassador Lu Shumin said at a news conference Friday.

Earlier this week, the National Post newspaper reported about complex espionage tactics at work, ranging from inserting front candidates in Canadian elections to working behind the scenes to sabotage the Falun Gong spiritual movement which has been banned in China.

Lu rejected all of the claims, including recent testimony at a Senate committee by Jim Judd, the head of Canada's spy agency -- the Canadian Security Intelligence Service -- who suggested that China had a network of spies in the country, digging for political and business secrets.

"We have normal relations with Canada, we have normal exchanges, we have signed agreements with Canada," Lu said. "We're doing all this through a normal channel and have friendly cooperation and exchanges to achieve a win-win situation. Is there a need for us to send, as you say, so many spies here today? It's pure nonsense."

Letter: Bejing’s long arm hits again: Falun Gong

Letter - Canada Free Press : Re: China works against practitioners of Falun Gong through North American news media - June 10th, 2007

I too, find it shocking and yet interesting that our tax dollars are sustaining Communist newspapers that largely discriminate against Canadian Falun Gong practitioners. It is an open secret that many Chinese papers spread massive amounts of anti-Falun Gong propaganda in Canada’s major cities but it’s not surprising. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver have been hit many times during the past year. Over the centuries, dictators have used hate propaganda as a foundation to simply validate their evil deeds and genocidal campaigns. However, what I’d like to know, is why on earth are these hate crimes allowed to happen on Canadian soil?

Thanks to defector Chen Yonglin, our government can now stand on guard. I totally agree that it doesn’t seem right that people, who fled the most murderous regime on the planet, be haunted by brutal dictators in their new homeland for their beliefs. It’s high time for Canada to get tougher with Communist China regardless of the almighty dollar. Beijing’s long arm of lawlessness is not welcome here.

Marie Beaulieu

Letter: Ex-Chinese diplomat warns fugitive could be killed if extradited from Canada

Opinion - published in the Daily Gleaner (Fredericton, NB) print edition.

Thanks to Chen Yonglin’s revelations, now the Harper government along with Canadians should be well aware of the dubious nature of the Beijing political elite. In many ways, it is clear that the Chinese consulates are like tentacles used to further oppress dissidents in their new homeland. Many defectors all appear to agree on that one thing. Besides the Lai and Celil’s cases, it would be great if the PM would champion the cause of exiled Tibetans, Taiwanese and especially the Falun Gong who have been hit the hardest by the Communist regime's campaign of hatred overseas. Maybe the time is ripe for Harper to show more integrity and get tougher on China regardless of the almighty dollar. I must admit that he’s off to a good start though, but enough is enough!

Marie Beaulieu

VANCOUVER (CP) -Jeremy Hainsworth, Canadian Press: Sunday, June 10, 2007

A former Chinese diplomat says Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing could be assassinated before he gets back to China if Canada extadites him as Beijing has asked.

Lai is accused of masterminding a huge smuggling and corruption scheme in China and has been living under house arrest in Vancouver since August of 1999.

China is seeking his return to face the charges.

Canada asked for and received a diplomatic note from Beijing with assurance Lai would not be executed if returned and convicted.

Former Chinese foreign affairs diplomat Chen Yonglin, however, told a crowd in Vancouver on Saturday that Lai has been an embarassment to the Chinese Communist Party.

Chen said people at the top levels of power in China were allegedly involved in the schemes of which Lai is accused.

"If Lai Changxing, if he gets deported, before he gets back to China, he would likely be assassinated," Chen said.

The Canadian government is appealing a ruling that gave the Chinese fugitive more time to stay in Canada.

Lawyers for Immigration Canada are challenging a Federal Court decision in April that approved a request from Lai Changxing for a judicial review of a ruling that he faces no risk of torture or execution if deported to China.

Lai came close to leaving a year ago when he lost his claim for refugee status.

Chen has spoken to audiences across Canada warning that China uses front groups and spies to pressure western governments, including Canada's.

Chen said the Chinese embassy in Ottawa and the consulate in Vancouver use their influence with the emigre Chinese community to work against the Falun Gong, democracy activists, and Tibetan and Taiwanese groups.

When he defected in Australia two years ago, Chen said there were at least 1,000 Chinese agents working in Australia and Canada probably harboured just as many.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Jim Judd said recently that China accounts for about half of the attention his agency gives to foreign spying efforts and interference in Canadian activities.

Chen warned Wednesday that China has used prostitutes to entrap foreigners and blackmail them to support Chinese lobbying back home.

But he said he has no evidence that any Canadian politicians or officials have been victims.

Chen, however, said he was not surpised to hear Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan had tried to shut down Falun Gong protesters outside the Chinese consulate after he was treated like "an emperor" in China.

Earlier this year, a Chinese-Canadian TV network claimed the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa tried to enlist the Chinese community to oppose its licence bid before the CRTC.

The agony of pardons, &c.

An excellent piece by Jay Nordlinger.

National Review Online - June 11, 2007 - ...I sometimes think of the self-styled “realists,” who are scared to death that Americans will care too much about the suffering and subjugation of others. I don’t think there is any such danger. I think the “realists” can rest easy — Americans aren’t about to do anything about genocide in Sudan, or atrocities anywhere else. The president’s second inaugural address is not about to seize hold of people. The Falun Gong folks are, if anything, a nuisance, spoiling the atmosphere of the latest trade deal.

No, the “realists” need not worry. They can rest secure in their beds, even if others cannot. (more)

China wanted cash to discuss human rights

They can't go much lower than that ... OH yes they can!

From Monday's Globe and Mail by GEOFFREY YORK June 11, 2007 at 4:05 AM EDT

BEIJING — Chinese diplomats offered to allow Canada to discuss sensitive human-rights issues if Canada paid for "goodwill gestures" such as foreign scholarships and sabbaticals for Chinese bureaucrats, a researcher says.

The Chinese diplomats suggested they could give Canada more influence over the agenda of its annual human-rights dialogue with China if it agreed to pay for university scholarships and made a $60,000 cash donation to an impoverished district of southwestern China, the researcher says.

The revelation has angered Canadian rights activists, who say that China was bargaining for financial compensation in exchange for human rights.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry officials made the proposal at a meeting in September of 2005, with a Canadian embassy official in attendance, according to Charles Burton, a political scientist and former Canadian diplomat who was also at the meeting.

Mr. Burton briefly mentioned the incident in the public version of his government-commissioned report on the annual human-rights dialogue between Canada and China. But some details of the Chinese proposal were censored from the public version at the insistence of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs.

The dialogue, an annual meeting between Canadian and Chinese officials to discuss human rights, is being reviewed by a House of Commons committee because of concerns that the dialogue is an empty propaganda exercise.

The committee's final report is being delayed by disputes between MPs on the committee. In the meantime, the annual dialogue has been postponed, with the Conservative government saying that it wants reforms to make the dialogue more productive. No dialogue has been held since 2005.

One of the main concerns about the annual dialogue is that China refuses to allow any participation by Canadian groups that focus on Tibet, Taiwan, Muslim minorities, Falun Gong, or other sensitive issues.

At the meeting in 2005, during Mr. Burton's study of the dialogue, the Chinese diplomats said they could allow participation by these groups and more discussion of sensitive issues if Canada made "goodwill gestures" such as a $60,000 donation to an impoverished county in Yunnan province or Canadian-financed scholarships and sabbaticals at Canadian universities for Chinese officials, Mr. Burton said.

He said the Chinese diplomats made a "clear and explicit connection" between the request for Canadian financial aid and the offer of concessions on the agenda and participation in the dialogue.

Canadian rights group are outraged at the request. "This sort of bargaining with China, using international human-rights law as its currency, is completely unacceptable," said Carole Samdup, co-ordinator of the economic and social rights program at Rights & Democracy, a human-rights group based in Montreal.

"It is unreasonable for any government to expect compensation, financial or otherwise, for respecting human rights."

She noted that the dialogue was launched in 1997 in exchange for Canada's decision to refrain from supporting a resolution condemning China at the annual meeting of the United Nations human rights commission.

"Having won the UNHCR deal, China now appears to be negotiating for additional compensation just to hold up its end of the bargain," Ms. Samdup said.

Cheuk Kwan, chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said the request for "goodwill gestures" is a way for China to take advantage of Western concerns about human rights by offering them up for discussion in return for donations and other favours.

"To me, this is despicable and unfair - unfair to their own people when their government is using their rights as chips on the bargaining table," Mr. Kwan said.

In his report last year, Mr. Burton concluded that the annual human-rights review is ineffective and plagued by "pervasive cynicism." Most of the dialogue is scripted in advance and supervised by Chinese bureaucrats who have no involvement in human-rights issues, he found.

Lu Shumin, Canada's ambassador to China, said that his government is willing to reopen the human-rights dialogue when Canada is ready.

"It's up to the Canadians to decide," he told reporters at the embassy in Ottawa. "The Chinese attitude is very open. ... There is no difficulty on our side to continue the dialogue."

Asked whether China would be willing to open the dialogue to Canadian NGOs like the Canada Tibet Committee, Mr. Lu declined to answer.

With a report from Alan Freeman in Ottawa

Canadian human rights activist David Kilgour

[11-06-2007] By Dita Asiedu

Radio Prague: Listen 16kb/s ~ 32kb/s

"Where do the organs come from for all the transplants in China? The allegation of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners provides an answer." - a quote from a report from Canadian human rights activist David Kilgour. Mr Kilgour, a former Member of Parliament who also served as Canada's Secretary of State for the Asia Pacific region, was recently in Prague lobbying for support in the fight against illegal organ harvesting in China.

David Kilgour

Andrea Fajkusova, our colleague from Radio Prague's Spanish section, met up with him during his visit. She first asked him what he thought of the Olympic Watch group, established in Prague in 2001, with the aim of monitoring the human rights situation in China in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games:

"I can congratulate you on having an Olympic Watch. I refer to it a lot and there is a sort of an informal network now in that we're trying to get together and build bridges with groups like the Darfur community and community or the number of groups that are concerned about what's going on. There was an article in the paper that I saw in Google saying that human rights are getting worse in China as we get closer to the Olympics. It asks that the government of China said that it would improve human rights if it got the Games but instead they are getting worse. They are locking up more people and they are doing this to Falun Gong... what kind of an Olympic movement would sanction this kind of behaviour?"

"Frankly, we have almost given up on the international Olympic committee. We think they are completely spineless about this matter, but we are pushing the national Olympic committees in the 70 countries where they exist to push this issue. I urge the government of this democratic country to continue to encourage other governments of perhaps countries that have not been through the totalitarian system that you went through to take a stronger stand on this."

A new law came into force in China on May 1, concerning organ transplants. What will this law change?

"I hope it changes everything but the trouble is that the doctors, the military, the hospitals are making hundreds of millions of dollars by selling organs. So, does anyone think that this new law is going to be enforced? So many laws in China are not enforced and they're simply passed for public relations reasons. There is no doubt that the army brags about getting a lot of financing from profits of organ harvesting on one of the websites. So I would be very surprised if the law means anything. This is a quote from the website of the organ transplant centre of the Armed Forces' general hospital in Beijing and the website says: 'the organ transplant centre is our main department for making money'. Its gross income for 2003 was 16 million yuan, which I guess is about 3 million dollars. So they brag about how they are making money.

"So, the short answer to your question is that I think this was announced because of the Olympic Games and I would be very surprised if the practice stopped. We will know if it stops because we have good information and I doubt very much that this law is going to make much difference."

And who are the clients of this organ market?

"That is a really tough question. My co-author David Matas went to a country in Asia. I better not name it but they told him that about 5,000 people a year go to China for organs, from one country. These are obviously wealthy people who can pay the prices. In Canada, for example, we have made inquiries with our medical people and we discovered that from three hospitals alone in Canada, one in Vancouver, in Calgary and one in Toronto about one hundred people from Canada had gone for organs over the last few years. It is rising too. They tend to come from countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan, but there is no doubt that there are people coming from the USA and Canada...I've never heard anybody say that someone from the Czech Republic was there."

And how can we find out whether a product was made in a labour camp in China?

"That is a question we have been asked in the Czech Republic and Ming and I are going to attempt to come up with a list of products. What happens is that a company asks a sub-contractor in China to get them promotional products for Christmas. The sub-contractor goes to the work camp and they get the products. The company in the West doesn't know, it says, where these products come from. But that's why we have got to get a list of these products so that hopefully this will stop happening. But China has been producing these products for a long time in these forced labour camps.

"I can give you an anecdote of a company called Dynasty Wine. A couple of years ago I was at a friend's place for dinner and somebody from the Chinese Embassy brought a bottle of Dynasty Wine. Well, allegedly this is a product that is made with forced labour in these labour camps. So, in the West when are we going to wake up to realise that these kinds of things that you heard from Ming are going on in these camps?"

Kilgour puts China under spotlight

CanadianChristianity.com - June 8, 2007 - Former MP and outspoken Christian David Kilgour gave a hard-hitting speech June 2 to the Rights Now Forum staged by the China Rights Network at the University of Toronto. He noted the difficulties arising from operating "a pluralist market economy within an essentially totalitarian state"; and assailed what he termed the resulting "discrimination against the 700-900 million persons living in rural China." The Communist Party, he maintained, "remains in effect police, prosecutor, judge and jury for any and all cases it deems important." The bulk of his speech focused on disturbing allegations that Falun Gong members "continue to be, in effect, murdered by medical personnel across China for their vital organs." Citing a report he co-authored, he said 33 key pieces of evidence for the alleged atrocities "are verifiable and in most cases are incontestable."

China works against practitioners of Falun Gong through North American news media

CFP: By Judi McLeod, Friday, June 8, 2007 - The Peoples' Republic of China, whose tainted food exports continue to plague North America, has for a long time been polluting peoples' minds with propaganda.

China's message is delivered in daily newspapers overseas. And the message deliberately targets groups maligned by the Communist government.

The message is served up on a daily basis in a town close to you.

"In Canada, the Toronto-based Chinese Canadian Post is distributed with an insert of the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, which is larger than the newspaper itself. The paper's publisher, David Lim, is known in the Toronto Chinese community for his ties to the consulate." (The Epoch Times, June 7, 2007).

Shamefully, the publication receives advertising from the ultra politically correct Ontario government and the City of Toronto, both corporations kept afloat by taxpayers.

Taxpayers, whose dollars pay for the advertising, likely do not know that their money goes to support a regime with one of the worst human rights records in history.

The Toronto edition of the Ming Pao newspaper, one of the largest newspapers read mainly by Hong Kong Chinese in Canada, also prints content from a Mainland Chinese newspaper.

"Ming Pao Canada CEO Ka-Ming Lui wouldn't describe in detail his newspaper's arrangement with Guangzhou Daily. He denied that Ming Pao was paid to publish the content, but he also admitted Ming Pao was not paying for it. (The Epoch Times).

"He also said his newspaper has a clear policy not to publish Falun Gong advertisements. 'This (policy) has been in place for many years--it's no secret.' Lui said Ming Pao papers across North America follow the same policy."

The "policy" is one that allows discrimination against a minority--the practitioners of Falun Gong--and if any other government imposed such a policy public outrage would be the result.

New Tang Dynasty Television, which reports regularly about the persecution of Falun Gong in China ran up against this policy when it tried to place an ad for its international classical dance competition to be held later this month.

Ming Pao said at least three other Toronto Chinese-language newspapers refused to print the paid advertisement.

Surely it is a travesty that no Chinese-language newspaper, aside from the Chinese edition of the brave Epoch Times, would print the ad in Ottawa.

That's Ottawa, the nation's capitol and home of the Conservative Canadian minority government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper!

The information on the status of Chinese controlled newspapers comes from Chen Yonglin, who made a high-profile defection from the Chinese consulate in Sydney, Australia two years ago.

In an era where the politically correct mainstream media follows the path of least resistance, The Epoch Times conducted an in-depth interview with Chen and publicized never-before-released documents to substantiate his charges. The documents show how China is following a course to "discredit" and "intimidate" five specific target groups: Tibetan exiles, Taiwanese, Uighur Muslims, democracy activists--and most of all Falun gong practitioners.

The strategy of this ongoing campaign is an attempt to control Chinese-language media overseas, and through student and community groups acting as front organizations. Chen, whose conscience forbade him from doing the work, which he says came complete with spying on Australians in five groups and interfering in their activities, raised the alarm.

Chen served as the first secretary of the consulate in Sydney and oversaw the consulate's political department, which was in charge of combating the five groups.

As head of the political arm, he was a member of the Special Anti-Falun Gong Working Group, which included the head of each department at the Sydney consulate and the Consul general.

This sort of set up is not peculiar to Australia. According to Chen, the same type of group in is action in Chinese missions worldwide.

Minutes of one of the Working Group's meeting obtained by The Epoch Times, dated February 7, 2001, were signed off by both the consul general and deputy consul general of the consulate and included reports of 22 anti-Falun Gong activities.

Among them is an entry about a Chinese-language newspaper that was reprimanded for publishing a Falun Gong advertisement.

Meanwhile, not even a distance marked by thousands of miles can keep the practitioners of Falun Gong safe from the Peoples' Republic of China.

Evidence proves case against China

Re: Organ harvesting editorial was wrong, May 28.

Ottawa Citizen: Published: Wednesday, June 06, 2007

It appears inappropriate for Zuo Wenxing of the Chinese Embassy to accuse the Citizen in its editorial of being "irresponsible and misleading." The editorial did not "accuse China" but quoted Doctors Against Organ Harvesting.

Our medical organization was alerted by various sources that an unprecedented form of live organ harvesting is taking place in China. Readers can visit our website. Among other sources, we also referred to the report of David Kilgour and David Matas at the website organharvestinvestigation.net. Despite the fact that China denied entry to these two reputable lawyers, they were able to compile a large number of proofs. The evidence is based on reproducible data that followed standard procedures in legal investigation. Their report is a remarkable source. We recommend everyone read it before spreading rumours about it.

According to the Chinese newspaper Tsing Dao Daily, Huang Jiefu, deputy minister of health, acknowledged in November 2005 that 95 per cent of the transplant organs come from executed prisoners. This number appears realistic in a country where its citizens are traditionally reluctant to donate organs and where a lack of a public organ donation program makes it implausible how suitable organs can be found within one to four weeks for transplantation. The Transplantation Society (TTS), the World Medical Association and other medical organizations state that prisoners in custody are not in a position to give consent freely. Therefore we conclude denying any organ retrieval "without donor consent" in China is misleading. We would rather state that most of the organs used for transplantation in China are harvested without consent.

The claim that "China has all along abided by the relevant guiding principles of the WHO" appears vague. What is relevant, what is not? In the Principles of Medical Ethics, adopted by WHO in 1982, doctors are reminded not to adversely affect prisoners or detainees. According to our data these Principles of Medical Ethics are violated in China. It is particularly misleading given the fact that medical doctors are involved in killing innocent people for harvesting their organs in Chinese detention camps.

We would like to emphasize that intimidating a newspaper by claiming three times that the journalistic research is based on "rumours" is not the way to claim what is true. The evidence indicates beyond doubt, and beyond the point of being called "rumour" that organs are particularly harvested from Falun Gong practitioners.

Torsten Trey, MD

Washington, D.C.
Spokesman for Doctors
Against Organ Harvesting

Ex-envoy warns of Chinese spies

Huge network of secret agents' tries to influence governments, including Canada's, defector says

Be vigilant Canada--time to ruffle China's feathers a bit. Look here for more media coverage.

Toronto Star: Olivia Ward - Jun 06, 2007 04:30 AM - Chen Yonglin came to Canada with a diplomat's manner, a case full of documents and a tough message about China's activities abroad.

"China has a huge network of secret agents, and it is working hard to influence governments, including Canada's," says the former Chinese consul for political affairs who defected in Australia two years ago.

"It infiltrates the Chinese community and also puts pressure on groups that it considers the enemy, like Falun Gong, democracy activists and others."

Chen, a soft-spoken 39-year-old, who heads the Chinese Dissidents Association of Australia, was in Toronto yesterday, and will speak today in Ottawa.

But his dramatic defection from the Sydney consulate in May 2005 made diplomatic waves around the world, which deepened when he appeared at a rally a few days later and announced that he would reveal details of a Chinese spying program in Australia.

Chen said he went into hiding with his wife and daughter after he was forced to campaign against Falun Gong and pro-democracy dissidents and discovered that they were "really good people." Falun Gong is a controversial spiritual sect that has been repressed by Beijing as "anti Chinese."

"I wanted to pursue freedom, and this was against my conscience," said Chen, whose father died in jail after a beating during the Cultural Revolution.

On his visit to Canada he brought with him a portfolio of Chinese documents that he said were evidence of China's spying campaign in Australia – including a "blacklist" of high-profile Australians who were being monitored for their "negative" attitudes to China. They included a deputy mayor and the head of the Australian United Nations Association.

He said China's "treatment of dissidents in other countries is an extension of their domestic politics."

China "uses the same methods in Western countries" including Canada to exert influence over issues that are politically sensitive, he said. Among them are Tibet, Taiwan and the Uigars of western China.

Beijing recently rebuked Ottawa for allowing MPs to visit Taiwan, which it considers part of China, along with Tibet. It was angered by Ottawa's decision to award honorary citizenship to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Ottawa has also locked horns with China over the case of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen who has been jailed for life in China on terrorism charges.

The Chinese Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. But in the past, China has angrily rejected allegations of spying and industrial espionage in Canada.

But last month Jim Judd, head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told a Senate committee that Beijing was at the top of a list of 12 countries trying to uncover politician and economic secrets in Canada and said "China accounts for close to 50 per cent of our counter-intelligence program." CSIS has also accused Beijing of waging a "hearts and minds" campaign by creating cultural institutes to spread its message.

"As China rises as a world power it perceives its interests in the typical way of great powers," says China expert Bruce Gilley, an associate professor of political studies at Queen's University. "It doesn't feel it needs to play by the rules."

In the U.S., he said, there are a "steady stream of prosecutions" of people with ties to China for espionage. Last month, three were convicted of conspiring to pass information about American naval technology to China.

But Chen said, the most serious issue is China's persecution of its suspected enemies.

"Human rights is most important. The (Stephen) Harper government has balanced human rights and trade. But it is something that should be a long-term effort. The government should not allow human rights to be compromised."

CHINA: ESPIONAGE

Canada called easy target for spies
Country likely houses hundreds of Chinese agents, former diplomat says

No kidding! The Toronto Star covered this story here.

Globe and Mail:COLIN FREEZE TORONTO - June 6, 2007- A Chinese defector who once estimated that 1,000 Chinese agents are operating in Australia says that Canada likely has a comparable amount within its borders.

Chen Yonglin is an outspoken former diplomat who successfully sought political asylum in Australia. In an interview in Toronto yesterday, he said that China is likely using the kinds of tactics to quash expatriate dissent in Canada that he was asked to use while posted in Australia. He is to hold a news conference today in Ottawa.

"Canada has 'soft ribs,' " said Mr. Chen, 38, using a colloquialism that means it doesn't have much armour around its sensitive state organs. Given the size of the Chinese-Canadian population, the country's advanced technology and the relative ease of immigration compared to the United States, he said it is safe to assume a high degree of penetration by Chinese agents.

Canadian politicians and intelligence agencies are expressing alarm about the level of Chinese espionage and interference, a situation that may reflect Beijing's preoccupation with domestic dissent. Groups sometimes known to China as the "Five Poisons" - pro-democracy and pro-Taiwan groups, activists for the Uyghur and Tibetan ethnic minorities, and the Falun Gong religious movement - are all seen as threats to one-party rule. The challenge for Beijing is to control these groups at home - and abroad.

Since his 2005 defection, Mr. Chen has proved a godsend for the Falun Gong and a bit of a public-relations nightmare for China, which has long persecuted members of the movement, which it calls an "evil cult." Canadian Falun Gong members are facilitating this week's public appearances of Mr. Chen, who says he is a Christian supporter of the movement's principles.

Generally, his allegations of Chinese interference made since his defection during appearances in G8 states and legislatures have been treated as credible. From 2001 to 2005, he served as the consul for political affairs in Sydney. He says he quit because he could no longer listen to directives to harass the Falun Gong.

"I didn't do it well," said Mr. Chen yesterday, reflecting on his disruption campaigns. His marching orders? "Monitor their activities, collect their personal information, list them onto blacklists and run campaigns against them," he said. Diplomats, he said, are also told to urge local MPs and elites that the "Falun Gong is a cult and they should keep a distance. Any relationship with the Falun Gong will damage bilateral relations."

Westerners, he argued, are becoming too blinded by the prospect of economic opportunity to see human-rights abuses, and China's political system is becoming more tenuous. He added that many foreigners also don't understand the subtle nature of Chinese spying.

An embassy might house a handful of professional spies, who focus on traditional jobs like stealing nuclear, government or high-tech secrets, he said. Yet legions of other Chinese nationals do some of the work too.

"In the Chinese model, there are professionals, but also a large number of informants working overseas," Mr. Chen said. Students and state-backed businessmen are prevailed upon to snoop around on Beijing's behalf. He even alleges that diplomatic mail bags full of U.S. dollars are routinely sent to embassies so officials can buy influence and finance networks of informants who keep dissidents in check.

Australian politicians who weighed Mr. Chen's allegations in 2005 found his testimony compelling - a picture of "largely unchecked surveillance and, at times, harassment of Australian citizens" according to one senator - although other officials questioned some of his more sensational allegations.

Secret war in Canada

The ideological war between Chinese officials and the Falun Gong is increasingly being waged on Canadian soil.

MAY, 2007: Falun Gong members serve a Chinese minister with a crimes-against-humanity lawsuit while he visits Ottawa.

APRIL, 2007: The head of Canadian intelligence says that his whole counterespionage division spends almost half its efforts on Chinese spies.

MARCH, 2007: A diplomat's wife - a Falun Gong convert - defects to Canada. She holds a press conference announcing she has documents showing that embassy officials conspired to block the Canadian regulators from approving a pro-Falun Gong TV station.

NOVEMBER, 2006: Canada refuses to renew the visa of a Chinese diplomat. The Falun-Gong-friendly Epoch Times reports the education officer had been harassing the movement's members.

JUNE, 2004: Complaints by Falun Gong members lead the Edmonton Police Service to initiate a hate-crimes investigation against two people, including one said to be a consular official, accused of handing out pamphlets titled "The Cult Nature of Falun Gong."

Letter: Tiananmen – Witness to history

On June 3, 1989, the People's Liberation Army gathered on the streets of Muxudi area in Beijing, and killed Ding's 17-year-old son, Jiang Jielian. His ashes are still kept in Ding's house. Ding hopes that when the June 4th incident is rehabilitated, half of her son's ashes will be placed in a "June 4th Monument" and the other half will be scattered at Tai Lake in Jiangshu Province, their homeland, along with the ashes of Ding and her husband after they die. (more)

MWC, Ottawa Citizen, Taipei Times, and Times Colonist published the letter: China's ongoing war against freedom; Light a candle to remember Tiananmen, Tiananmen still frightening

Remembering the bloodshed at Tiananmen on the dark night of June 4, 1989 still sends shivers down my spine.

At this crucial time before the 2008 Olympics, the Tiananmen massacre reverberates with kindred spirits throughout the free world more and more.

Since 1989 the tyrannical Communist Party (CCP) hasn’t loosened its grip one bit--its war against freedom is relentless.

This is the land where assaults on dissident voices have multiplied in the dawn of the Olympics, where the young and the old are tortured and organ harvesting is synonym of genocide.

On June 4th I will light a candle for the kind souls who’ve lost their lives in the name of freedom. China must be liberated!

Marie Beaulieu

Hong Kong Falun Gong warns about political system

What can be more deceiving than that? It sounds like HKSAR has sold their soul to the devil.

Taipei Times: By Loa Iok-sin - Friday, Jun 01, 2007, Page 3 - Falun Gong practitioners yesterday warned Taiwan against Beijing's "one country, two systems" policy.

Before the UK handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, Beijing promised to maintain the legal and political institutions in Hong Kong for 50 years following the handover.

"Only 10 years after Hong Kong's return [to China], we're experiencing more and more repression from Beijing," said Chu Wan-chih (朱婉琪), a Human Rights Law Foundation lawyer who has been assisting arrested Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice introduced by Li Hongzhi (李洪志) in 1992. Falun Gong has been banned in China, and has been branded an "evil cult" by the Beijing government. Practitioners in China are often prosecuted and tortured.

Although Hong Kong enjoys special administrative status under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters are now facing tighter control, and sometimes threats, from Beijing Chu said.

"Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong, whether locals or foreigners, are often closely watched and followed by Chinese officials," Chu, accompanied by Falun Gong practitioners and their sympathizers, said at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

Chu then told the press conference that she had also been harassed.

"Once, when I was in Hong Kong, I got a phone call as I walked into my hotel room after dinner," she said. "The caller, speaking in Mandarin with a Chinese accent, kept telling me, `You should know who I am,' and `I've been watching you since you arrived at the airport.'"

Chu said she was disappointed with China's "one country, two systems" policy in Hong Kong, and warned "all Taiwanese people with any expectations of the system ? to look at Hong Kong as an example."

Censored B.C. schools in China 'sub par'

Curriculum's watered down if hot topics avoided, experts here say

Janet Steffenhagen has sure done her homework. What does Shirley Bond have to say to that? It would be in Shirley's best interest not to confuse Canada's standards with China's. Oh BTW, this is what is going on in China's classrooms these days - it is quite far from the Confucius make-over and polished image that we're fed through the media.

Vancouver Sun: Published: Friday, June 01, 2007

B.C. schools in China are making false claims if they say they are delivering the B.C. curriculum while also avoiding hot topics such as Tiananmen Square, China's relationship with Taiwan and its human-rights record, educators said Thursday.

Schools that are unwilling to tackle controversial issues are delivering a watered-down education that is not worthy of a B.C. graduation diploma, said Charles Ungerleider, an education professor at the University of B.C.

"An education is designed to lead you out from the narrow confines of your previous knowledge and experience," said Ungerleider, who was deputy education minister from 1998 to 2001. "If education doesn't do that, it has failed you."

Schools that avoid controversy will devalue the B.C. diploma, he added.

Ungerleider made the comments after The Vancouver Sun published confidential excerpts from handbooks distributed at two B.C.-certified schools in China warning teachers to avoid "politically sensitive" topics such as Tiananmen Square, Taiwan, Tibet, the Dalai Lama, Falun Gong, Japan and China's human rights record.

The handbook said the growth of foreign high schools had prompted the Chinese government to apply strict ideological scrutiny over textbooks and instruction in those schools. It told teachers to feign ignorance if students asked about those topics.

The schools -- Grand Canadian Academy in Tongxiang and the B.C. Maodun High School -- are certified by the provincial government to teach the B.C. curriculum and award B.C. diplomas. Education Minister Shirley Bond said Wednesday she remains confident they are doing that, despite the handbook.

Others were skeptical.

Wayne Axford, who teaches History 12 at Burnaby Central secondary, said one of the advancements of the B.C. education system in the past 25 years is the willingness to examine sensitive subjects and look at issues from all sides.

He said several sections of the B.C. curriculum would naturally lead to some of the forbidden topics. For example, History 12 students are expected to understand the impact of the Cold War on China and the Middle East (which needs mention of Taiwan), evaluate economic change in China (which raises questions about rights and freedoms) and understand the struggle for human rights (Tiananmen Square).

"I can't imagine teaching History 12 without controversy," he said. "That's what makes it interesting."

The B.C. agent for the schools, David Maljaars, said the section of the handbook warning teachers away from politically sensitive issues no longer exists.

But a former Maodun principal said he does not believe that means teachers are now free to teach as they would in B.C.

Doug Roy, who resigned in January, said he was not only told by the school to avoid controversy, but he was also cautioned by local Communist party officials to watch what he said.

But a representative of another B.C.-certified school in China -- Sino-Bright School in Beijing -- said teachers in that school approach the curriculum exactly as they would in B.C. "There are absolutely no restrictions on what they can teach," said Brian Fichter.

Still, he said he wasn't surprised that some schools worry about Chinese oversight. During a recent seven-month stay in China, he said his phone calls and e-mails were monitored and he was followed everywhere by government officials.

"They knew where I was all the time," he said. "But are my teachers restricted? Absolutely not."

Don Currie, a former principal with B.C. Maple Leaf schools in China, said he was warned by Chinese department heads in his school to avoid certain topics, but he told his teachers to teach as they would in any B.C. school.

"There were never any repercussions," he said.

jsteffenhagen@png.canwest.com

Letter: Bo Xilai should be expelled

London Free Press: May 29, 2007 - Re: Canada-China talks raise Falun Gong ire

If Canada is not a safe haven for criminals, why in the world do we open our doors to a perpetrator of crimes against Falun Gong, despite much protest? Did they think we wouldn’t notice? Emerson has long known about Bo’s dark past and special interest in persecuting Falun Gong so this lawsuit should come as no surprise to him. But what is most disturbing though is the fact that Bo was let in the Country while currently on the RCMP watch list complete with lawsuits in 11 countries. One thing is for certain, when it comes to our foreign policy, it sure looks like the Liberal legacy of serving two masters has been resurrected thanks to Emerson. Canada should do much better than that and stick to their principled agenda. Canadians beware of corrupt Chinese officials and play your cards right!

Marie Beaulieu

Look here for more on this topic.

The world stands by as organs harvested from Chinese prisoners

Well said Joan!

Anchorage, AK,USA - Published: June 1, 2007 - At the Alaska World Affairs Council program on April 27, Dr. Wenyi Wang, now an enemy of China, spoke to raise awareness of China's new transplant tourism market. She is a medical doctor and reporter for Epoch Times and has courageously spoken out for human rights in China and against the killing of Falun Gong practitioners there.

Both official and black market hospitals sell transplant organs for $20,000 to $180,000 each. A customer is guaranteed a match within one to four weeks. Political and other prisoners, including young practitioners who suddenly and mysteriously disappear, become live donors to this growing market for an international marketplace.

A small group of doctors and attorneys, mainly from the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, have formed a coalition to increase global awareness of such medical crimes. Yet the international community and the United Nations say they need to do further investigations before reaching conclusions. Many are reluctant to speak out to object to Chinese communist practices because it would interfere with their business in China.

In the meantime, because China's central government profits greatly from transplant tourism, as it does from other national industries, the world pays China to build its economy and military with the blood and organs of its human resource bank. And the global community quietly tolerates a new form of genocide.

-- Joan Tovsen

Seeing no evil is an immoral policy

John Robson raises some good points here. People need to wake up to the China genocide and take action.

Ottawa Citizen:Published: Friday, June 01, 2007 - Suppose that somewhere in the world a repressive regime was not merely slaughtering practitioners of a peaceful religion but selling their organs. Should we try to do something? Besides ignoring it because they're good trading partners, I mean?

The answer is not as obvious as it might seem. We may be unable to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries even when they need it very badly.

But we cannot avoid the issue; there are credible accusations that China is not only harassing and imprisoning practitioners of Falun Gong, but murdering them and then harvesting their corneas, kidneys and other organs for sale to those needing transplants.

Canada's trade minister, David Emerson, shakes hands with China's commerce minister, Bo Xilai, after presenting him with a 2010 Olympic Games jacket in Ottawa this week. Emerson should take care not to get any blood on himself, John Robson writes.

I know it sounds too horrible to be true, and maybe it isn't true. But the past century taught us that nothing is too horrible to be true. And respected former Canadian MP David Kilgour and B'nai Brith senior counsel David Matas have produced enough evidence (see their report at organharvestinvestigation.net/ report0701/report20070131-eng.pdf) to command our attention.

Or so you'd think. But when I checked out the Falun Gong protest this Monday against the official visit to Canada of Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai, I found nobody there but Falun Gong practitioners. No press, no activists, no politicians. What's going on? A few voices have been raised; on Wednesday, Ottawa rabbi Reuven Bulka and others called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. This newspaper has had stories, editorial commentary and a column by Donna Jacobs. But with a few other noble exceptions, there has been silence. Where is Amnesty International or the NDP?

It is, of course, possible to deny that China is repressive, let alone guilty of such atrocities. As did a May 28 Citizen letter to the editor of exactly the oleaginous sort habitually penned by diplomats from tyrannical regimes. But the rest of us know about Tiananmen Square, the lao gai (China's gulag) and much else besides. Pretending we don't is no solution.

Granting that China is repressive does not automatically mean we should try to do something about it. For starters, if you believe governments derive their legitimate powers from the consent of the governed, then our government only has the right to interfere in the domestic affairs of China, however horrendous, if we citizens of Canada delegate that right to it. Which we can only do if we possess it.

Maybe we do. We clearly do not have the permission of the inhabitants of China to arrange their affairs for them on an ongoing basis. But if we are at bottom our brother's keepers, then when things are sufficiently horrible we might have the right -- even the duty -- to try to help. Also, because historically tyrannies have proved more aggressive than democracies, our undoubted right of self-defence may authorize us to act against foreign repression.

In either event, we could then delegate those rights to our government. But granting that we have the right to intervene does not mean it would necessarily be prudent to try. If we lack the power to overthrow tyrants or bring them to heel, empty threats and ineffective blows may simply provoke them into even greater belligerence, repression or both.

As Richard Nixon was rightly wont to stress, trying to frustrate a tyrant's foreign policy goals rarely directly threatens his regime; targeting his domestic political arrangements necessarily does. And he will respond accordingly.

These are serious issues deserving serious discussion. Far more serious, indeed, than they have received. The sophisticated columnists recently hectoring the Harper government for irritating the Chinese over human rights at the expense of trade did not then praise the government for welcoming Minister Bo. They ignored the visit. As far as I can tell, only CanWest newspapers, including this one, even ran news stories about his being served with legal papers over his alleged role in repression.

I repeat that it is not entirely obvious what should have been said or done. Can one refuse to have commercial dealings with a repressive regime? How repressive must it be? Does prudence require circumspection if the regime is powerful? Should we boycott the 2008 Olympics? Throw out the ambassador? Close down the state-sponsored Confucius Institutes sprouting in Canadian academic organizations? Or merely insist quietly that Beijing not send particularly provocative visitors on official business?

All these are important questions. I have warned and still warn against facile attempts to remake the world. But I am flabbergasted that people would studiously ignore the issue, or say it doesn't matter if money is soaked in blood provided there's a big enough pile of it.

John Robson's column appears weekly.