2. Large wave of resignation from the Chinese Communist Party is happening
More than 35 million Chinese have quit the CCP till Apr. 2008, people are continue quitting at a rate of 44,000 to 56,000 per day in April 2008.
- China: 35 Million Chinese Quit the Communist Party
10.Videos: Tiananmen Square Massacre - June. 4, 1989
Thousands of students shot to death by tanks and soldiers on Tiananmen square in capital city Beijing in 1989
Basically, feed address for any specific category is Category address followed by 'Feed/'.
Did you know
Reporters Without Borders said in it’s 2005 special report titled “Xinhua: the world’s biggest propaganda agency”, that “Xinhua remains the voice of the sole party”, “particularly during the SARS epidemic, Xinhua has for last few months been putting out news reports embarrassing to the government, but they are designed to fool the international community, since they are not published in Chinese.”
Your Opinions can be sent by email (see About This Site section for email address) for posting Here. Critical comments and hate mails, however, may be not published at the Blog owner's decision.
Jane Macartney in Beijing , The Times Online, UK, Feb. 9, 2010-
In a sign of Beijing’s renewed hard line against dissent, a Chinese activist has been jailed for five years after he investigated whether shoddy construction contributed to deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in the devastating 2008 earthquake.
The charges against Tan Zuoren, 55, a longtime activist in southwestern Sichuan province, involved “inciting subversion of state power” because of essays in which he criticized the bloody crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
But friends and his lawyers were in little doubt that Mr Tan’s efforts to document and produce an independent report on the collapse of school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, when some 90,000 people died, were behind the sentence.
His lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang, told The Times: “The court can do whatever it likes. His crime was inciting subversion of the state, but they did not have a scrap of evidence. In fact Tan Zuoren had only voiced differing views about June 4 and written some essays over the course of 20 years. After 20 years he is to go to jail. This is tragic and a cause of much anger.”
Mr Pu said: “The court is violating the constitution since Tan Zuoren was merely exercising his right to freedom of speech.”
Mr Tan had been put on trial in the provincial capital, Chengdu, last August. In China, most verdicts are announced within hours or days of the trial, but in this case the court waited until the final day of the legally stipulated period before passing sentence.
The sentence against Mr Tan was the maximum possible for his crime. The severity of the term highlighted the increasingly tough approach adopted by the Government in recent months against any hint of dissent.
Leading dissident Liu Xiaobo was jailed for 11 years in December for subversion – the harshest sentence ever handed down since the charge was introduced in 1997.
It took the court just 10 minutes to read out the verdict against Mr Tan. His lawyer said: “There were no charges related to the quake. All of the proceedings were linked to June 4 (1989).”
Mr Tan was the first person in a decade to be sentenced for actions linked to the 1989 crackdown. Most supporters and human rights activists were in little doubt that it was his attempts to document whether schools had been built on the cheap and were thus particularly vulnerable when the earthquake hit that had angered the authorities.
His wife, Wang Qinghua, told The Times she had been prevented from entering the court to hear the verdict.
“I was mentally prepared for such a long sentence and we will appeal. I understand that my husband tried to make a statement but he was not allowed to finish,” she said.
Ai Weiwei, a prominent and outspoken artist who helped to design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics and had also campaigned for a full accounting for child victims of the earthquake, said the case was a travesty of justice.
He said: “I think this is a very important case for China, more important than that of Liu Xiaobo. It shows the Chinese legal system has taken a big step backwards. Tan’s ‘crime’ was entirely one of speech, of conscience.”
Last year, a court in Chengdu sentenced activist Huang Qi to three years for “revealing state secrets” after he tried to gather information on faulty construction of school buildings that critics say contributed to the children’s deaths. More than 5,000 of the dead were children.
By Linda Slupsky, Epoch Times Staff, updated Feb. 08, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— Mr. Rubin attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts show on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 7, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at The Music Center. Mr. Rubin, a movie producer said, “It is a very spectacular, beautiful show … The artistry, the costumes, and the sense of wonder are very beautiful.“
Mr. Rubin said the backdrop was very impressive and it lent a certain brightness to everything.
“I liked the way the imagery on the screen of the gods coming down suddenly is alive on the stage.” He also said the choreography was well presented, and that the costumes were absolutely stunning and that he had never seen such beautiful costumes.
“It makes you just stand out and smile when you watch them.” he said.
Dreamlike qualities are some aspects that he enjoyed in the storylines. He said that they were good themes about not being caught up in everyday life and dreaming. He enjoyed the themes of values, family, and friends.
Mr. Rubin found that the performers seemed to completely embody their characters.
“I don’t see them as just regular human beings. They kind of leap off the stage with a certain, a very special quality that almost made them god-like. The characters are very beautiful and they seem to be like angels and gods.”
He added, “I find that, first of all, they are very focused on their characterizations. I find that when you watch them, you completely believe what they are doing, as if they are performers from another plane of existence.”
Mr. Rubin said that he felt he was taken to a world where goodness prevails, where goodness triumphs over evil and where values are very important.
“I think that’s something that every country in the world should value.”
By Cary O’Reilly, The Bloomberg, Via The Business Week, Feb. 8, 2010-
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — A former Rockwell International and Boeing Co. aerospace engineer who worked on the Space Shuttle program was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for economic espionage and acting as an agent for China.
Dongfan “Greg” Chung, employed by Rockwell and then Boeing from 1973 until 2006, was sentenced today by District Judge Cormac Carney in Los Angeles, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Chung, 73, was found guilty of conspiracy, six counts of economic espionage, one count of acting as a Chinese agent of and one count of making false statements after a three-week bench trial last year. Chung, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a native of China, held a “secret” security clearance when he worked at Rockwell and Boeing on the Space Shuttle program.
At the sentencing hearing, Carney said that he could not “put a price tag” on national security, and that the long sentence for Chung was intended to send a signal to China to “stop sending your spies here.”
During the trial, the government showed that Chung stole Boeing trade secrets relating to the Space Shuttle and the Delta IV rocket, materials he acquired for the benefit of the People’s Republic of China, according to court documents.
The case against Chung resulted from an investigation into Chi Mak, another engineer who worked in the U.S. and obtained sensitive military information for China. Carney sentenced Chi Mak to more than 24 years in prison in 2008.
‘Tasking’ Letter
Chinese aviation industry representatives began sending Chung “tasking” letters as early as 1979, court records show. Over the years, Chung was directed to collect information including data on the Space Shuttle and military aircraft.
Chung responded in one undated letter that “I would like to make an effort to contribute to the Four Modernizations of China,” court records show. He provided his Chinese handlers with referenced engineering manuals he had collected, including 24 relating to the B-1 Bomber, according to prosecutors.
Between 1985 and 2003, Chung made multiple trips to China to deliver lectures on the Space Shuttle and other technology programs. While there he met with Chinese government officials, including agents affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army, court records show. Chung and the officials exchanged letters that recommended methods for passing information, including suggestions that Chung use Chi Mak and his wife Rebecca……. (more details from The Business Week)
LOS ANGELES— Doug Davey, an Emmy Award-winning sound mixer, was among the audience of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center, Sunday evening, Feb. 7.
Mr. Davey has worked on various series of Star Trek. His work with Star Trek: The Next Generation helped it win four Emmy Awards in Outstanding (Individual Achievement in) Sound Mixing for a Drama Series.
Mr. Davey said of Shen Yun, “It’s beautiful.” He added that he appreciates the music because that is his specialty, “But I’m enjoying the entire performance very much.”
Among the many unique features of Shen Yun is its live orchestra, which combines classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments. The sounds from the orchestra evoke a wide range of emotions, from dramatic and suspenseful, to serene and placid.
Mr. Davey noticed that there were different instruments being played, but he couldn’t recognize them. “I don’t know their names. When the ladies were dancing with the plates Mongolian Hospitality, there were some instruments that I never heard before.”
He added that the combination of Chinese and Western instruments is “a beautiful mix” and that the music complements the dancers. “The orchestra is a big reason why I came to this show. I love real instruments. It’s beautiful,” he said.
In addition to the live orchestra, Shen Yun includes many other features that Mr. Davey enjoyed. In particular, the classic Chinese stories depicted through dance, the larger-than-life, three-dimensional backdrops that complement each performance, and the colorful, handmade costumes.
“All in all, I’m very much enjoying the show,” he said.
- The Epoctimes, is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts
(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, February 8, 2010) – CHRD learned today that Chengdu City Intermediate Court rejected the appeal of human rights activist and director of Tianwang Human Rights Center (www.64tianwang.com), Huang Qi (黄琦). Huang was convicted of “illegal possession of state secrets” and sentenced to three years in prison on November 23, 2009.
According to one source at the Chengdu City Detention Center, where Huang was held, a judge from the Chengdu City Intermediate Court announced the decision to Huang at the Detention Center this morning. Huang was not given an oral appeal hearing before the decision was made. Huang’s wife and his lawyer have not yet been formally notified of the decision.
“The Chengdu Court has denied us access to the relevant files and information. Obviously, they want to make it difficult for us to defend [Huang effectively],” one of Huang’s lawyers told CHRD earlier. The lawyer also said they were not optimistic about a public appeal hearing.
Reportedly, Huang has just been transferred from the Detention Center to a midway house for the newly convicted before they are sent to prisons.
Huang is from Chengdu City in Sichuan Province. In 1998, Huang established the first website in China that disseminated news about people who had been trafficked and disappeared. The website evolved to report on issues of injustice and complaints against the government (www.64tianwang.com). In May 2003, Huang was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to five years in prison and one year of political rights deprivation. After his early release on June 4, 2005, he continued his human rights work.
However, Huang disappeared on June 10, 2008. It was later discovered that he had been detained by the police. A few days before his detention, Huang met with some of the families who wanted to file lawsuits against officials allegedly responsible for the shoddy school buildings that killed the children in the Sichuan earthquake.
During Huang’s detention, he was barred from accessing his lawyers for over three months after he was first taken into custody. Huang’s family has not been allowed to visit the activist despite repeated requests.
CHRD reiterates its call for Huang’s immediate and unconditional release. CHRD believes that Huang is jailed for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and to defending human rights.
Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, via http://www.heritage.org, January 28, 2010 -
Myth #10: China has an official program to substantially cut its carbon emissions.
Truth: The goal is to cut carbon emissions intensity. Actual emissions will soar in the next decade.
China has not vowed to cut emissions but rather emissions intensity, in this case measured in emissions per unit of GDP. That is, the commitment is to reduce emissions only relative to the size of the economy; if China’s economy continues to grow, so will total emissions. And GDP comes in multiple flavors, with different kinds of inflation adjustments plus adjustments for the currency being used. This leaves a great deal of room to maneuver.
China’s 2005 carbon dioxide emissions, for instance, were approximately 5.43 billion tons, or approximately 2.95 tons of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 yuan of GDP.[22] The pledge is to cut carbon emissions intensity by 40 percent to 45 percent from the 2005 level, which would put emissions intensity near 1.75 tons carbon dioxide per 10,000 yuan of GDP.
From 2000 to 2009, simple GDP in yuan increased about 3.7 times. If that rate of nominal growth continues for the next decade, simple GDP will approach 135 trillion yuan in 2019. Using the target emissions intensity, carbon emissions in 2019 would more than quadruple over 2005, past 23 billion tons.
This is a numerical worst case and it is far more likely that China’s pledge refers to some adjusted version, not simple GDP. But which adjustment?
The difference between the arithmetic change of GDP from year to year and real GDP growth is called the deflator. It is all but impossible to make sense of China’s GDP deflator over time. With 10 years to play with, the Communist Party can announce whatever adjusted GDP it wants. Carbon dioxide emissions are unlikely to quadruple, but they very possibly will double, and Beijing will still be able to claim success in its intensity program.
Amid all the uncertainty, the best bet for the next decade is that the PRC rejects international estimates of its emissions the way it rejects international monitoring now. Beijing will substitute its own measurements, which will have some familiar magical properties. (to be cont’d)
LOS ANGELES— Shen Yun Performing Arts second performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Music Center deeply touched the heart of Omega Medina, a well known figure in the music business.
“I really didn’t expect it to be this spectacular! I expected it to be very, very good. But I come away with feeling like a better human being. And I think it’s because the level of the exquisite beauty. It is absolutely astonishing to see the colors. To see the discipline, the skill that these dancers, you know, execute these very difficult maneuvers. The choreography is beautiful and the graphics I thought were so interesting. It was so well incorporated into the whole picture. I just felt it was a complete edifying experience of the human spirit,” said Ms. Medina at the VIP reception following Shen Yun’s performance.
Ms. Medina has a long history in music. She first graduated from Hartt College of Music with a B.M cum laude, and then earned her M.S from The Julliard School. She is also a trained soprano and has performed recital and opera repertoire. She then went on to work for The Recording Company where she was the Senior Manager of Classical Music for the Grammy Awards. Ms. Medina is currently on the Business Advisory Council of Young Musicians Foundation, and is the President of the Jury for the Carter Larsen Hollywood Piano Competition.
Having been in the entertainment business for many years, Ms. Medina felt refreshed to experience something not associated with the current pop culture.
“It just took me to a place that I don’t get to often in our pop culture. In our secular culture. It was so refined and cultivated that I just feel richer. Richer in the good sense.”
Ms. Medina appreciated multiple dimensions of the artistry, and she said “What really stands out is the overall cohesiveness of the execution, of the dancers and singers. And the scenery, the costumes, everything worked together. And it produced for me an enchanting experience.
“Visually, the colors are just so calming and yet they’re vibrant, at the same time. And I just thought that the performance was brilliantly designed. … I feel like a better human being because it speaks not only to my intellect, but it speaks to my heart … I feel like a good human being for having experienced this magnificent event. It’s educational … just was a special treat for me,” said Ms. Medina.
When asked why Shen Yun was able to touch her heart, Ms. Medina replied: “I think some of it is attributed to the calming effect of the colors. And I also think it’s the execution and the creation of the dances. They’re so elegant. And when you have graceful movement, you receive it better. It’s not harsh, it’s not crass. It is not aggressive in the sense that it’s vulgar. No, it is on a higher level.”
A common concept in ancient Chinese culture that Ms. Medina saw from the performers is that true beauty stems from the inside.
“The beauty is innate, it comes from within, and you can see it. It just transcends everything and it comes through the movement. It comes through that whole package being choreographed, being executed to the best and skillful way. It just makes, I think the audience feel that much more elevated. It edifies the audience. I just feel blessed. May I say that? I just feel blessed having been exposed to this level, this caliber of performance,” said Ms. Medina.
Ms. Medina also appreciated other aspects of Shen Yun.
“And the education. I was so glad to see representation from Tibet. Mongolia. You don’t see this, and I’ve been to China. I was there about a year and a half ago.” She continued, “The artistry in this is what peaked my, I would say, the muse in me, you know. The level of the artistry and the execution … Just, everything was so well done and so beautiful.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)
Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, via http://www.heritage.org, January 28, 2010 -
Myth #9: China’s greenhouse gas emissions are about the same as America’s.
Truth: China’s emissions are as much as 25 percent larger, and the gap is widening every day.
The effort to limit greenhouse-gas emissions is not usually thought of as a topic when discussing the Chinese economy, but it should be. By itself, the PRC is set to generate the majority of the world’s carbon emissions over the next decade.[20] In contrast, China’s population will fall below 20 percent of the world total. The emissions story is about China’s development model, not size.
In 2006, most monitoring agencies put American and Chinese emissions at roughly equal levels. Three years, however, is a great deal in Chinese industry time. A very conservative estimate puts Chinese emissions growing by 10 percent more than America’s in 2007 and the first half of 2008, before the financial shock hit.
In the nearly 18 months since, the PRC’s extremely aggressive stimulus and orientation toward heavy industry almost surely mean its emissions growthhas remained rapid. Coal production is still expanding between 12 percent and 13 percent annually. The industries most cited by the central government as overinvested and expanding too fast– steel, cement, and aluminum–are major greenhouse-gas emitters.[21] As a result, it is entirely possible that 2009 Chinese emissions were 25 percent larger than U.S. emissions.
All the unanswered questions about Chinese economic data apply to the environment as well. Chinese GDP is likely underestimated; so is energy use and pollution. Government monitoring is skewed by limited funding and political motives. There have been repeated failures to keep unsafe coal mines and outdated steel plants closed, and their output is often ignored because they should have been shut down. The true quantity of Chinese greenhouse emissions is uncertain. (to be cont’d)
Here’s a 5 in 1 HD promotion video for the leading Chinese dance and music organization Shen Yun Performing Arts‘ 2010 show. Video length 2′41″, Enjoy !
By Leigh Smith, Epoch Times Staff, Updated Feb.6, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— Shen Yun Performing Arts opened at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center, on Friday Jan. 5, the first of ten shows. On a cool winter’s night in Los Angeles, the home of four internationally acclaimed resident performing companies, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera, Master Chorale and Center Theatre Group, the audience experienced a different type of cultural experience.
Shen Yun is renowned as the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company.
Sharon Carz, a professional figure skater who represented the U.S. in the World Championships for the paired competition, was in the audience for opening night of Shen Yun in Los Angeles and was amazed by the performance, loving every aspect of it.
“It was some of the most amazing choreography I have seen … I would love to see more of this. This was a neat experience for the culture of Los Angeles and I wish there could be more of this, on all respects, with the message that was sent, and the dancing and the music. It was really an honor to see this,” she said.
Ms. Carz felt there was a message for the people of the world from the New York-based Shen Yun. She explained, “A message of peace, of international culture that everybody can relate to on a very beautiful level.”
Soprano Pi-ju Huang, sang Hesitate No Longer. Ms. Carz was moved to tears by the emotion of the soprano’s voice.
“I have tears. The woman who was the opera singer, she struck a chord. Her passion, it got me. I’ve seen a few opera’s, but the notes she hit and on the level she did, I’m going to start crying again! It was very good.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)
By Heide B. Malhotra, Epoch Times Staff, updated Feb. 6, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— The rain didn’t keep Ms. Sze Jones, a character modeler that works as a video game cinematic artist, from attending the opening performance of the Shen Yun Performing Arts Company at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Music Center.
Ms. Jones is a talented video game concept artist and 3-D modeler. She has created beautiful characters and works of art for some very famous games, such as Warhammer Age of Reckoning (WAR) and Charlize Therone in Aeon Flux the game.
She is of Chinese origin and after seeing the show a year ago, she wanted to see what the New York-based artists had in store for her this year.
Ms. Jones brought her friends Ms. Silvia Calvet, a dancer, who had traveled the 200 miles from San Diego to see the Shen Yun show, and Kristine, also a dancer. Both were delighted to have come to the show.
“I’m Chinese actually. This is my second year coming. I don’t get to see much Chinese culture living in West Los Angeles, and this is always the thing I want to see,” Ms. Jones said. “This show is very good.”
Last year’s show got her into action. “I’m taking some Chinese dance classes right now. Last year, after I saw the show, I searched everywhere for Chinese dancing and I found a place in Torrance that teaches Chinese folk dance.
“I wanted to come back and watch the show again to learn some things.
“It’s so good! The costume design, the makeup, the dancers are so dedicated and their facial expressions…it’s all so cool.”
For her the dancing was what drew her to this show and she said, “I really like the Handkerchiefs dance, the Mongolian Hospitality dance and the angels in heaven dance with the Fans.
“My teacher recommended that I take binoculars. So, when I looked through them it was like I was peeking into heaven.
“The Chinese instrument, the erhu [Chinese two-stringed instrument]. You could see she was so into the instrument, it made me want to cry.”
Ms. Jones explained that she only started dancing fairly recently and that she will be learning chopstick dancing. The show helped her grow into her new role as dancer.
“This show reminded me of the fantasy characters I create, and the costumes and make up help inspire me to do more work.”
Ms. Calve said a few words. “I came from San Diego. I saw it announced over there, but I never made it, so my friend said to come tonight and I did!
“Very professional show. We’re all dancers and it was total perfection. Perfect moves, perfect points, everything. Colorful, background, ambiance, and very peaceful, a well-being that helps you appreciate life more as a part of humanity. It was perfect, it really was.
“I am a professional dancer and we chose to go together, and we learned from this show. It was really perfect, wonderful.”
Kristine didn’t want to leave without adding a few words, “I loved it! I really loved it. I missed it last year and was determined not to miss it this year. It was my first time. It was better than I expected. It was really a lot of fun, colorful, dramatic, and we had a good time.”
Shen Yun will perform in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center Friday Feb. 5 through Sunday Feb. 14.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
By Aileen McCabe, Canwest News Service, Canada, Feb. 6, 2010-
Honourary degree for Dalai Lama last fall precedes removal from education ministry’s list of recommended universities
China has made a habit recently of “punishing” many of the people, institutions and nations that cross it on the Tibet issue, and the University of Calgary appears to be the latest victim.
A call Friday to the Hotline for Overseas Studies Service Centre in Beijing asking for information about attending the Canadian university elicited the following advice: “If you don’t already go to that school yet, it is better not to go because you will face risks.”
The operator told a Chineselanguage inquirer that if she was already at the University of Calgary, her degree would be certified by the Chinese Ministry of Education, but warned, “the policy might change” in years to come.
Without fanfare, the University of Calgary was dropped in December from the Chinese Ministry of Education’s list of recommended universities for Chinese students going abroad to study.
The operator said the hotline recommends Chinese students choose their university only from among those on the list.
The inquiry was obviously not the first of the day, either. When the operator was asked about University of Calgary, she could be heard saying to someone nearby: “It’s another phone call about the University of Calgary.”
Although no one will say officially that Beijing has blocked Chinese students from going to University of Calgary because the school awarded the Dalai Lama an honourary degree last fall, it seems plausible that is the reason.
Asked why Beijing blacklisted the university, a spokeswoman at the Chinese Consulate in Calgary told the Calgary Herald simply that the university “should know.”
It may seem a petty move by the world’s nascent superpower, but delisting will be costly for the university. China currently has the largest pool of foreign students looking to study abroad and universities around the world are competing to attract them. Little wonder. The 178,000 foreign students in Canada spent $6.5 billion in 2008, according to Canadian government figures. That’s an average of more than $36,000 each for the 600 Chinese students at the University of Calgary this year.
Repeatedly in recent years, Beijing has launched retaliatory action in its uphill battle to convince the world the Dalai Lama is a dangerous separatist intent on dividing China, not a Tibetan holy man.
Last fall, it even appeared to shoot itself in the foot when it slowed down its push for closer relations with Taiwan, cancelling or postponing several rounds of official discussions, because the Nobel Peace Prize winner had been invited to pay a visit to the prosperous island that has been estranged from the Mainland since 1949. His visit came in the wake of Typhoon Morakot that left 700 dead in southern Taiwan and the Dalai Lama was invited in his role as spiritual leader to comfort the island’s predominantly Buddhist population……. (more detailsfrom Vancouver Sun)
Reporters Without Borders calls on the Chinese authorities to produce evidence that detained human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, of whom there has been no news since 4 February 2009, is still alive.
“We fear the worst,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities must provide his relatives with proof that he is still alive. They must give the family details about his current place of detention and must allow his wife to have direct contact with him.”
The press freedom organisation added: “If anything has happened to him while in detention, the authorities will be held responsible and those who had a direct hand in it must be identified and punished. The uncertainty about his fate has gone on long enough.”
After being sentenced for the first time to three years in prison in 2006, he was released and then rearrested several times. He was arrested for the last time in his home in Shaanxi by Public Security Department officials on 4 February 2009. When later asked what had happened to him, the police said he “disappeared” in September 2009.
As a defence attorney, Gao’s clients included Zheng Yichun, a journalist and former professor who was sentenced in 2005 to seven years in prison because of what he had written. Recognised by the justice ministry as “one of the country’s 10 best lawyers” in 2001, Gao also defended members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Cai Zhohua, a protestant pastor who was given a three-year sentence for printing and distributing bibles.
He was one of a group of activists (including Hua Jia) who staged a rotating hunger strike for human rights in 2006. Participants in a total of 29 provinces and abroad took it in turns to fast for 24 hours. Several of them were arrested.
In an open letter written in November 2007 and published in February 2009, he described one of the torture sessions he underwent as follows: “ ‘Gao Zhisheng! You mother****er! Your date with death is today! Brothers! Let’s show the bastard how brutal we can get. Kill the bastard.’ A leader of the group screamed. Then, four men with electric batons started to beat my head and body with ferocity. Nothing but the noise of the beating and my moaning could be heard in the room. I was beaten so severely that my whole body began shaking uncontrollably on the floor.”
Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, via http://www.heritage.org, January 28, 2010 -
Myth #8: China is rebalancing toward more domestic consumption.
Truth: The dominance of investment over consumption in driving China’s economy is intensifying.
The PRC’s official trade surplus fell by $100 billion in 2009. The U.S. reports the bilateral trade deficit will also decline for 2009, though by a smaller proportion.[17] This will be hailed, correctly, as a welcome event and, incorrectly, as a sign that the Chinese economy is changing.
The trade surplus shrank because Chinese exports fell faster than imports. In other words, Chinese demand for foreign goods weakened, but global demand for Chinese goods weakened more. The major change occurred outside the PRC, as global demand faltered. In fact, Chinese market share is rising and China has passed or will soon pass Germany as the world’s top exporter.[18]
Inside the PRC, strong Chinese consumption has received much praise. Some is deserved: Chinese consumption has held up better than the rest of the world’s. Still, there are multiple reasons to dismiss this as a meaningful change.
Chinese consumption before the global crisisalso looked robust. But from 2003 to 2007–when the expansion induced under General SecretaryHu Jintao took place– consumption fell as a proportion of GDP every year. This is because investment was much larger and grew far faster in those easy times.
This is still the case in the tough times of 2008 and 2009: The role of consumption keeps diminishing compared to investment. Over the course of the last decade, nominal fixed investment expanded by a factor of 12. By 2009, fixed investment was close to twice as large as retail sales by volume, and still growing almost twice as fast.[19] By itself, fixed investment stood at no less than 67 percent of GDP last year and is still rising.
The view ahead is no more encouraging. It is widely hoped that internal Chinese demand will eventually drive imports higher. But demand has been as strong as could be reasonably hoped for throughout the crisis, and imports have dropped noticeably. Imports are tied tightly to exports via the PRC’s role as an assembly center in global manufacturing.
Worse, the extreme growth of investment during the financial crisis has added to the problem of oversupply. As total global demand has weakened, Chinese production capacity, driven by investment, has (perversely) expanded. That excess capacity will create even greater pressure to export in 2010 and beyond. (to be con’t)
Shen Yun, a show that has been called by professionals as “State of the arts”, “mind-blowing”, ”first class”, “the best”, “the top”, “perfection”, “out of the world” and “beyond all-beyond”, now is traveling in about 20 countries, 100 cities around the world.
Shen Yun, a show that has been called by professionals as “State of the arts”, “mind-blowing”, ”first class”, “the best”, “the top”, “perfection”, “out of the world” and “beyond all-beyond”, now is traveling in about 20 countries, 100 cities around the world.
Only a month and a half into its 2010 world tour, and New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has stopped in 23 cities in North America. Shen Yun will perform in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center Friday Feb. 5 through Sunday Feb. 14.
Federal, state, and local officials have welcomed Shen Yun and expressed their wishes for the show’s continued success.
United States Senator Diana Feinstein extended her greetings to the music and dance company, writing, “This wonderful performance is sure to educate, thrill, and inspirit the people of Los Angeles as it has for the people around the world since its inception.”
In its inaugural 2007 season, Shen Yun performed for more than 200,000 audience members, according to its website. The show has grown steadily since then. Last year, 3 companies toured the world and performed in front of 800, 000 people.
Shen Yun has dazzled audience members and garnered critical acclaim among professionals in the arts community, including dancers, singers, conductors, actors, and artists.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters wrote, “I am excited that residents of the Greater Los Angeles area will have the privilege of experiencing this critically acclaimed show. Best wishes for continued success.”
Congressman Xavier Becerra wrote, “I commend Shen Yun for their contribution to cultural pluralism in Los Angeles.”
Shen Yun’s stated mission is to breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture by offering its audiences an experience of sublime beauty. In addition to breath-taking aesthetics, the dances and songs convey universal themes such as compassion, bravery, dignity, and faith.
California State Assemblymen Tony Mendoza, Kevin de Leon, and Ted W. Liu wrote a resolution commending Shen Yun……. (more details from The Epochtimes)
Derek Scissors, Ph.D., Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, via http://www.heritage.org, January 28, 2010 -
Myth #7: China continues to reform its economy, with perhaps an understandable pause due to the financial crisis.
Truth: China’s market reform slowed sharply in 2002 and effectively stopped in 2005.
The 1980s saw path-breaking market reform in the PRC. The 1990s saw a mix of reform and, after the Asian financial crisis, greater state intervention. The 2000s saw early implementation of World Trade Organization concessions pushed aside by a dominant state. In prices, privatization, and even foreign investment, China was heading away from the market long before Lehman Brothers collapsed.[14]
Privatization of the corporate sector was first stalled, and then explicitly reversed by the Chinese government. All national corporations in sectors that make up the core of the economy are required by law to be state-controlled.[15] Their executives are routinely shuttled back and forth by the Communist Party to government positions.
The state exercises control over most of the rest of the economy through the financial system. It owns all large financial institutions, which lend according to state priorities, topped by favoritism for large state enterprises.
The People’s Bank sets very narrow ranges for the price of both domestic money (the interest rate) and foreign money (the exchange rate). Liberalization of the price of goods has been stalled by constant state intervention in the areas of food, health care, and energy.
The end result is that competition has been warped into a largely political battle among sibling state firms. For oil and petrochemicals, gas, coal, power, telecom, and tobacco industries combined, there are a total of 17 firms operating nationally, all state-owned. Consolidation is being pushed by the state from aviation to retail, reducing competition and further concentrating assets in the hands of the state.[16]
Inward foreign investment has seen increasing restriction. For example, the anti-monopoly law explicitly excludes the state giants and appears to apply only to foreign companies, while being touted as “reform.” Against that, domestic investment on non-market terms is pushed by the state ever higher.(to be cont’d)
