ChinaAid, February 16, 2010 -
CHINAAID– “This is nonsense!” Gao’s wife Geng He furiously refuted the rumor which first broke out on February 12, 2010. In response to the San Francisco-based think tank Dui Hua Foundation’s request for information about Gao Zhisheng, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. said that Gao Zhisheng was alive, working happily in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, more than 1,800 km from Beijing. Around the same time, a Chinese informant then posted photos of Gao Zhisheng online in a Chinese report, claiming he worked in the same company as Gao Zhisheng. He said that Gao was a talkative, even funny man, who had allegedly become a successful operational manager, talking about his wife and family and even “whistling a happy tune” daily.
On February 14th, the story broke to western media, leading to speculation as to whether the reports were valid. One American legal expert Chinese government’s disclosure a “step in the right direction,” but has called the Chinese government’s treatment of Gao’s case highly irregular. Gao’s wife, Geng He has denounced the claim as false, greatly frustrated by the lack of communication and deception. Neither she nor Gao’s brother or sister have been able to contact him, much less acquire “useful information” about his whereabouts and condition.
On February 15th, China Free Press agency Canyu released an article exposing the fake photos and highlighting an interview with Geng He. Tell-tale marks of tampering in the photos include the discrepancy of the time of year, based on Gao wearing a summer shirt while sitting beside a Uyghur man in a winter jacket, as well as striking similarities between the images allegedly taken of Gao very recently, and a set of photos taken before his arrest and torture in 2007. (See the Canyu report)
President of ChinaAid Bob Fu anticipates a more sinister angle to the false reports: “With no evidence to suggest otherwise, this appears to be a ploy by the Chinese government to confuse people and cover up the truth. By telling reporters and advocacy organizations that Gao is in Xinjiang, it will keep them from hunting around Beijing for answers. The Chinese government is just playing games now.”
There has also been evidence to suggest that Gao’s wife and children continue to be held under close surveillance by the Chinese spy network while living in the United States. In the Chinese informant’s report, he referred to Gao’s son accidentally eating a pesticide pallet, and becoming ill. No reports of the event had been recorded prior to that, and Geng He herself only mentioned it in a phone call conversation some months ago. Other details of Gao’s daughter’s recent hospitalization and emotional troubles indicate the informant had access to inside information, which could only be obtained by close monitoring of the family.
The Gao family is not alone. One recent report, released on February 9, 2010, used the stated number of informants in Kailu County, Inner Mongolia, to estimate the number of Chinese spies at nearly 3% of the Chinese population, a low estimate considering other regions like Xinjiang and Beijing have higher security threats. It has been a stated goal of the Chinese government to use punishment as a preventative measure, relying on paid and unpaid informants to provide timely inside information to preserve stability. (See the report at Telegraph.co.uk).
For the Gao family, the danger is very real. Gao Zhisheng has still made no personal contact with them, and the Chinese government continues to withhold verifiable information about his condition and whereabouts.
ChinaAid urges you to act now. Call on the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to press the Chinese government for the truth. Urge your U.S. Congressman or local representative to denounce the punishment of those who disagree with the Chinese government.
We question the motives of the Chinese government, and urge them to contact Gao’s family directly and to make his information public. We call on the Chinese government to disclose verifiable information about Gao Zhisheng, and to cease the intentional misdirection of those who seek the truth.
LOS ANGELES— Romantics and theater enthusiasts who attended the sold-out Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Music Center on Valentine’s Day expressed their enthusiasm for the performance.
Donald Neuen, professor of choral conducting and choral studies at UCLA, and his wife Susan were among the ethnically diverse audience of young and old. “We just loved the show,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be wonderful, but we didn’t know it was going to be that wonderful—everything beautiful, everything in good taste, everything professional.”
The recipient of two outstanding-alumnus awards, Mr. Neuen regularly directs the UCLA Chorale and the UCLA Chamber Singers. He has guest-conducted choruses and orchestras in 40 U.S. states, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia, and is the artistic director of the Angeles Chorale.
“Not very often in the United States do we have a show that is simply beautiful—only beautiful,” Mr. Neuen said. “It’s so refreshing to have such good taste—and so professional—serenity, energy, but mainly beauty. It was great, great!”
The New York-based performing arts company, with a mission of preserving 5,000 years of China’s rich and majestic culture, presents traditional myths and tales through classical Chinese dance. accompanied by a live orchestra.
Mr. Neuen, who is no stranger to classical Chinese culture and art, was impressed with the combination of Chinese and Western music: “It was nice, the blend of Chinese instruments with Western instruments, and the singers were wonderful. And that instrumentalist, the solo instrumentalist, was incredible,” he said, referring to the erhu soloist who played the traditional two-stringed instrument.
The professor said Shen Yun had been an inspiration and an “out-of-world experience.” “It nourished our soul, it really nourished our soul,” he said.
Mrs. Neuen agreed: “Oh, absolutely. In fact, you wanted to cry—cheer. You wanted to go ‘Yay! This is right! This is beautiful!’ But you were so immersed in watching it that you couldn’t. You just had to hold so many feelings inside. But I know the audience was just touched so deeply by the beautiful things they saw and heard,” she said.
A former professional singer, Mrs. Neuen described the Shen Yun singers as “grand.” “They were just wonderful, and the instruments were great. But the fullness of the Chinese voice, the velvet sound, was just beautiful,” she said.
Like her husband, Mrs. Neuen enjoyed the traditional Chinese culture presented by Shen Yun, saying she felt as if she had been “immersed in Chinese culture.”
“You know, the movements are different and so, so smooth, just like rippling water. And the cloud dance—just like clouds! And just the interpretation of nature—that was so beautifully done with the human body. Just an out-of-world experience,” she said.
“We haven’t seen anything so wonderful in many, many years,” Mr. Neuen said.
“Oh, we can’t say enough [about] the spiritual inspiration, the musical inspiration—everything, everything,” he said. They said they would be back to see the show next year.
As a new Chinese year dawns, Beijing is feeling empowered on many fronts. Its seat is assured at the top table of every global summit, whether on financial matters, security or climate change.
At one level, the global balance of economic power has shifted decisively eastward. Most of the west spent the money it earned, borrowed more and spent that too. It is broke, while China’s pockets are bulging.
The Chinese economy expanded by around 8% in 2009. The country has unrivalled status as exporter-in-chief to the rich world’s consumers. Its own vast population is eyed thirstily by the industrialised world as a potential market, but the Communist Party has control over the terms of access.
That changing relationship has been accompanied by more Chinese assertiveness, both in foreign policy and domestic affairs. Dissent is being stifled with more vigour and less heed to outside criticism.
But it would be a mistake to see in that trend only Chinese strength. States also become more coercive when they feel insecure.
China’s phenomenal economic expansion has many characteristics of a bubble. Most enterprises run on state loans, awarded on political, not commercial criteria. Debts accumulated in this way amount to nearly three times China’s GDP – trillions of dollars. The exact amount is impossible to know because truly independent auditing would be tantamount to political sedition.
But as China integrates more with the global economy it will struggle to sustain the pretence that its domestic economy is based on real transactions, when so much of it is paper fiction. There will have to be an adjustment. It could be just painful; it could be calamitous.
That need for economic reform is inseparable from the need for greater democracy. The transition to a more functional domestic economy requires clear legal standards of property and consumer rights. That amounts to the same kind of reforms that democracy activists demand. Long-term economic stability and human rights both rely on trusted, independent legal institutions.
China urgently needs to discern its good businesses from its rotten ones. It will struggle to do that unless it has consumer organisations, sound commercial banks, free trade unions, independent accountants.
It must, in other words, let civil society flourish. That means more political freedom. Beijing is clearly not interested in taking lessons on political morality from the west. It might be more open to arguments based on hard commerce.
ROME (Reuters) – A police raid on a sprawling complex of warehouses in Rome turned up about 500,000 tonnes of Chinese goods including fakes of some of the world’s most famous designer labels, Italian police said on Saturday.
The operation, carried out in the past few days and announced on Saturday, was one of the biggest of its kind in Italy, they said.
The merchandise, which included fakes of big name brands, boxes with designer logos, and toys that did not meet European safety standards, was worth at least 5 million euros.
About 70 police agents took part in the raid on the southern outskirts of the city and found some 37 Chinese citizens, some of whom acted as lookouts, on the premises of the complex of eight warehouses.
“Inside we found an amazing number of boxes of name brand goods subdivided by type. All that was missing were the labels which had yet to be put on,” said police official Maurizio Improta.
Television footage provided by police showed fakes or empty boxes with logos of brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Calvin Klein, Roberto Cavalli, Armani Jeans and Puma.
“This is one of the biggest ever hauls of counterfeit goods in Italy,” Improta said.
The goods included clothing, furs and spectacles. The merchandise came from China and police said it was possible the complex of warehouses was used as a distribution point for other Italian and European cities.
BEIJING — A Chinese court has charged the founder of home appliance giant GOME — once the country’s richest man — with bribery, insider trading and illegal business dealings, state media reported.
The indictment of Huang Guangyu brings China one step closer to what is expected to be the highest-profile trial yet in the country of a private entrepreneur, and one that will be watched closely in the business community.
Huang, who had been held by authorities for 14 months without charge, will be tried in a Beijing court, without specifying a start date, the Xinhua news agency said Sunday, citing local media.
He is suspected of manipulating trading in two mainland-listed companies, China’s Securities Regulatory Commission has previously said.
A court official declined to comment on the case when contacted by AFP on Monday.
Huang, 40, once known as the “Price Butcher” for the low prices at his chain of consumer electronics stores, was named China’s richest man with an estimated net worth of 6.3 billion dollars by the Hurun Report in October 2008.
He was detained and placed under investigation a month later, and resigned as GOME director and chairman in January 2009.
Two top police officials, including a former deputy minister of public security, were detained on suspicion of bribery in connection with the case.
Before his arrest, Huang was revered in the media as a model entrepreneur who rose from nothing by successfully capitalising on China’s decades of economic reforms……. (more details from AFP)
Gao Zhisheng is a well-known human rights lawyer who was imprisoned by Chinese authorities after he defended rights activists and Falun Dafa practitioners. When Gao was detained again last year, his wife and children fled China and were granted asylum in the U.S.
Gao’s wife, Geng He, took their two children to see Shen Yun at Radio City in New York on Chinese New Year.
[Geng He, Wife of Detained Human Rights Lawyer]: (Chinese female)
“I am very thrilled to be able to see this show today. It is very exquisite, very magnificent. I could see that the performers have put in a lot of effort over a long time to put on such a show.”
The performance, Drummers of the Northwest, brought back memories for her eight-year-old son.
[Geng He, Wife of Detained Human Rights Lawyer]: (Chinese female)
“There was a program, a northwestern dance. When my son watched it, he said, ‘Mom, I heard this music before in daddy’s car.’ The backdrop showed a village that looked a lot like Gao Zhisheng’s village in Shanbei.”
Her husband Gao Zhisheng has been detained in China for more than a year. Chinese authorities have refused to disclose his condition or whereabouts.
[Geng He, Wife of Detained Human Rights Lawyer]: (Chinese female)
“I think everything was so beautiful except my husband was not by me. I still haven’t heard anything from him.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three dance companies and three orchestras. While one company performs in Los Angeles until Feb. 14, another Shen Yun company will be performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the weekends of Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21. The third company just finished its last performance in St. Louis on Feb. 13 and will be traveling to South Korea for opening night on Feb. 17.
LOS ANGELES— Mr. and Mrs. Rustam loved Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center on the evening of Feb. 13.
This was not the first time the Rustams had seen Shen Yun, so when they saw it advertised they bought tickets—not wanting to miss out—as they wanted to see it again.
Mr. Rustam said, “I love it. It’s like a dream. Really, it’s a beautiful dream. We both love it very much.”
“The acts are beautiful. The dancing and the scenery—it’s all put together very, very, nicely—excellent. Between 1 and 10, it’s a 10. It’s excellent and top notch. It’s very well done. I loved it,” he said.
Mr. Rustam has advanced degrees and is a producer, director, and founder of a well-known production company. He produced and directed more than 20 movies and TV productions in the U.S. and abroad. He also acted in three of his movies and has been honored with many awards. He is also the publisher and editor-in-chief one of the oldest newspapers in the San Fernando Valley. His wife is also a newspaper publisher.
Mr. Rustam gained inspiration from Shen Yun: “It just takes me away like I’m in a dream world. It takes us on a big ride—you are flying over this beautiful scenery. There’s nothing like it. I think everyone should see it. It gets you away from your daily troubles.”
Shen Yun has three dance companies and three orchestras. While one company performs in Los Angeles until Feb. 14, another Shen Yun company will be performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the weekends of Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21. The third company just finished its last performance in St. Louis on Feb. 13 and will be traveling to South Korea for opening night on Feb. 17.
By Heide B. Malhotra, Epoch Times Staff, Feb 14, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— The Shen Yun Performing Arts Company played to a full house at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Saturday evening, Feb. 13.
Mr. Mitzman, who is from Southern California, has attended Shen Yun shows since 2007 and has promoted the shows to clients of his travel company. In 2008 and this year, hundreds of people have attended the show because of Mr. Mitzman’s efforts.
He was pleased that the 2010 performance was to be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. He said he was impressed that the board of directors from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion saw the performance and invited Shen Yun to go there and perform.
He continued, “Of course that is a great honor to be asked. I brought in three, four, or five hundred people over the past few nights and days. I was here tonight, and I loved the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. I think it’s the best venue.”
About the venues, he said, “The Dorothy Chandler and the Kodak are the best for [this] type of staged performance in this area.”
After having seen the show this year he said: “I thought this particular show was by far the most exquisite that I have seen. … I thought the pageantry, the color, the costuming, the choreography; the whole ensemble was just electrifying. I spoke with my clients and they agreed with me.” He hopes the company will return to the same theater next year.
Mrs. Mitzman, an adult education teacher, was with him. She said, “Oh, it was beautiful.”
The ambience helped her calm down. “Really, just sitting in the show relaxed me and made me feel so calm. I just felt tranquility throughout the show.”
Having seen the show with her husband in prior years, she is looking forward to the 2011 show. “This is my fourth time coming, and every year I look forward to coming and seeing the show.”
Every year she is as delighted to have seen the show as she was the year before. She said, “Each year I am just impressed. Each year, something different.”
Sitting in the show, she waits for the next scene, “I wait for the drums—when they do the drums. I wait for the girls with the long scarves. And the only surprise is that we never know what’s going to happen in the show.”
Her husband has brought many people to the show over the years, but to be able to promote the show they want to see the show first. “We always have to go to see it, so we can let them know what’s happening.”
She continued, “And each year it’s different. Each year it’s just so exciting.”…… (more details from The Epochtimes)
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese embassy in Washington has said the country’s best known activist lawyer, missing for a year after being taken from his home, is working in the western city of Urumqi, a U.S.-based rights group said late on Saturday.
Gao, a Christian lawyer who helped defend members of China’s banned Falun Gong spiritual group, was abducted from his relative’s home in Shanxi province on Feb 4, 2009. Chinese authorities have not provided consistent information on his fate.
“On Feb 12, the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC informed John Kamm, executive director of The Dui Hua Foundation, that Mr. Gao Zhisheng is working in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and that he has been in contact with his wife and relatives in China,” said the foundation, which campaigns for the rights of prisoners.
At the time of Gao’s disappearance, his wife and children had already escaped from their home, ultimately arriving in Bangkok where they applied for asylum to the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu in January told reporters Gao was “where he is supposed to be,” but the following week said he did not know Gao’s whereabouts.
Gao’s family had feared he was dead, after a cryptic comment from police that he had “lost his way and gone missing” in September.
“This really is a case that calls for ‘habeas corpus’,” said Jerome Cohen, an expert on Chinese legal issues who is active in pressing Gao’s case.
Gao was sentenced to four years in jail for subversion in 2006 but won a good behavior reprieve. He has, however, since been under constant police watch and periods of secretive detention, his wife, Geng He, told Reuters after her escape.
Dui Hua said it was trying confirm the information on Gao’s whereabouts, adding that Gao’s wife had had no contact from him.
Gao had previously published instances when he was tortured while in detention. Self-educated, he had grown disenchanted with the Chinese system while representing other activist lawyers, Falun Gong practitioners and underground Christians.
In 2005, he wrote an open letter to China’s president and premier, calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, which China regards as a dangerous cult.
NEW YORK— Seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at Radio City Music Hall in New York was an uplifting experience for multimedia artist, Ms. Stern.
“Heaven, heaven—just gorgeous. Very inspiring for my art,” said Ms. Stern.
“Especially as an artist, I find it extremely uplifting and inspiring. It’s full of joy of life and movement, and the color is divine,” she said.
She commented too that she deeply connected with the Shen Yun performance on many levels.
“I’m a very spiritually-oriented person who loves to see stage spectacles. And my art is very eclectic. I love to put different things together, like fabric and things that are luminous and sparkly,” she said.
“So this resonated with me so powerfully on so many different levels. It was exquisite in some parts, absolutely exquisite. The dancing was magnificent. The color was thrilling and inspiring,” she added.
“I mean, I love spectacles like this which combine movement and people dancing and fabric and paintings. I love multimedia,” said Ms. Stern. “Between that and the spiritual energy that it has, it’s very, very marvelous. I really enjoyed it very much.”
China was once known as the Middle Kingdom, and ancients believed that China’s 5,000 years of culture was passed down by the heavens. This spiritual essence of Chinese culture is celebrated throughout Shen Yun’s performance.
“The message was very uplifting. So, I’m just thrilled to see it. It was very, very special and moving,” commented Ms. Stern.
Shen Yun also brings forth the present day story of the Falun Dafa practitioners who are still being persecuted in China for believing in the tenants of the practice: Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.
One dance piece that depicts the persecution, highlights out the ancient belief that ‘doing good is always rewarded with good, and that doing evil reaps bad returns.’ This piece also offers a message of hope and the belief that one’s spirit lives on. Ms. Stern was profoundly moved by this presentation and afterward felt optimistic about life.
“And the scene of the persecution was profoundly moving and very, very beautiful and very uplifting,” said Ms. Stern. For her, it as about “being more hopeful in a dark world.”
“Just the energy, the vibration was so beautiful … that it inspires one to feel more optimistic about everything,” she said.
Ms. Stern concluded, “It was very, very special. It was wonderful.”
By Genevieve Long, Epoch Times Staff, updated Feb. 13, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— Los Angeles audiences continued to be drawn to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, to watch the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company. Shen Yun provides a refreshing window into ancient Chinese culture.
Mr. Rios, who owns a financial services agency, found the show to be “unbelievable.”
“I was very impressed,” said Mr. Rios about the show. “It’s an opportunity for the world to see the rich Chinese culture; it’s an opportunity for them to showcase to the world how great a culture it is.”
He added that the richness of the Chinese culture goes beyond the beauty of the costumes and music.
Mr. Rios said he feels a special connection to Shen Yun because when he was in high school, he wrote a paper on Buddhism, studying the traditions of Buddhist monks. That experience contributed to him being “very impressed” with Shen Yun and its inner messages.
“[Chinese culture is] rich in its values and heritage, so I’m very, very impressed,” said Mr. Rios, who plans to come back again with his girlfriend.
He thought it was well worth attending.
“It’s amazing—it’s just uplifting,” he added, mentioning what a refreshing experience it was to see the performance at the end of a work week. “Coming in from a hard day’s work—the day can be tough, and coming in here, coming out [of the show], you feel uplifted, very spiritually enlightened.”
“The truth will set you free,” said Mr. Rios. “I highly recommend this event to everybody.”
Mr. Rios found out about the show from friends who attended the show in San Francisco. He, in turn, posted a message to his entire community of friends and associates about the show before attending.
With reporting by NTDTV.
Shen Yun has three dance companies and three orchestras. While one company performs in Los Angeles until February 14, the other Shen Yun companies will be performing in St. Louis, and New York.
By Madeline Earp/Asia Research Associate, CPJ.org, Feb. 12, 2010-
Journalists, friends, and supporters of Feng Zhenghu, who I interviewed in Tokyo on Monday as he was about to end his involuntary exile in Japan, have been making full use of the Internet to document his arrival home in Shanghai’s Pudong Airport this afternoon.
Twitter users have been sharing updates using the tag #fzhenghu.
Chinese blogger Isaac Mao has posted photos to his Flickr page that capture the mood at the airport.
Feng is a pro-democracy activist who every month prints and distributes a bulletin on local rights abuses called Ducha Jianbao (“Supervision Report”). His muckraking didn’t please Chinese authorities, it would seem: Eight times since June Feng has tried to fly home to China, but was denied entry each time.
Radio Free Asia reporter Yushin Chen posted audio of an interview with Feng after he safely today landed and made his first stop—a visit to his sick mother. Perhaps it was the crowds, but everything went smoothly, Feng said in the clip. Chinese security officials, instead of throwing him out of the country, invited him to sit down for a bite to eat.
By Heide B. Malhotra, Epoch Times Staff, updated Feb. 12, 2010-
LOS ANGELES— Thursday evening in Los Angeles drew another crowd of theatergoers to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center to see the world-renowned Shen Yun Performing Arts Company.
Golden Globe winner Ms. Fassaert was in the audience. She is a famous Dutch actress who trained in the prestigious Dutch Theatre School in Maastricht, and has won other awards and prizes, despite her youth.
“I really loved the show. It took me into the world of China, and it taught me a lot. It gave me also an insight into the present situation there,” she said after the show.
Ms. Fassaert also has a dance background, having started dancing at the age of two, so she was able to view the dancers with an expert eye.
She admired “the discipline of the dancers.”
“Unbelievable, beautiful—the costumes, the choreography-everything came amazingly together. I really enjoyed the show and embraced and experienced it. It was gorgeous.”
Summing up, she said that she loved “the colorfulness of the costumes, … the culture of China,” and seeing something from a different part of the world where she has never been before…….. (More details from The Epochtimes)
LOS ANGELES— The presentation of classical Chinese dance by Shen Yun performing arts was both enjoyable and enlightening for Ms. Shelton, but also a first!
“I found the show to be very enjoyable, but also enlightening and to Chinese classical dance and Chinese culture, and it’s the first time I’ve really ever seen anything like that. And it was a beautiful presentation, all the costumes, and I’m a dancer myself—classical ballet dancer; so I really enjoyed seeing this and found the dancers to be just excellent in their performance,” said Ms. Shelton after the Shen Yun performance.
Ms. Shelton, beautifully dressed for the occasion is a distinguished artist and former ballet dancer. After receiving a MA in Art History from California State Long Beach, she went on to receive her MFA in dance from the University of Cincinnati. Ms. Shelton is currently a research assistant for the International Bibliography of Art Getty Center.
One could sense that Ms. Shelton’s background in art and ballet dance enhanced her appreciation of Shen Yun performer’s level and ability to dance and depict stories.
“I found them to be very high level performers in terms of the dance aspect, but also the performing and the acting aspect,” said Ms. Shelton.
Several performances of Shen Yun transport the audience to experience and feel different dynastic times and ethnic periods of ancient China. This is unique to classical Chinese dance and stems from the dancers connection to traditional culture according to Shen Yun’s website.
“It is the deeper resonances of traditional Chinese culture, however, that imbue a dancer’s movements with such rich expressive power. The dancer is thus capable of not only portraying a given figure’s disposition or mood, but even the vivid expressions unique to a certain age, whatever the land or time.”
Ms. Shelton explained the dancing as, ‘absolute togetherness,’ stating, “the athleticism, the grace and the absolute togetherness of all the performers … they were very much in-sync not only in their movement, but in their style, presentation.
“And the musicians and the singers were also fantastic.” …… (more details from The Epochtimes)
By Martin Tampier, via The Canada Free Press, Friday, February 12, 2010 -
Canada will open its arms to athletes from over 80 nations. As Olympic hosts, we do not discriminate between countries whose governments do or do not share our values. And rightly so, many will say, for the Olympics are about sports and not about politics. Yet, this is only part of the truth. The Olympic Games always contain a strong political element. The decision of the IOC to hold the Games in Beijing in 2008 was clearly a political one. Holding the Games always includes the desire to bring different cultures and political convictions together, overcome diplomatic obstacles, and promote international harmony, peace, and human dignity.
But in China, no positive effect along those lines has been observed. On the contrary, the Chinese government has intensified the persecution of its own very best citizens since about the year before the Summer Olympics, and this persecution is continuing and increasing today, unabatedly. It is well known that corruption is a major hindrance on the nation’s way towards greater prosperity. The basic tenets of Christianity, such as not to lie or steal and to love your neighbour, make this religion a strong opponent of corruption and social injustice. Yet, it is especially this group that continues to be ostracized and brutally persecuted by China’s communist government.
The persecution not only includes church members and pastors – including men, women, the old, and the young – but also those who defend them. As Canadians, we find it hard to imagine that a government could completely ignore the rule of law and arrest, incarcerate, and torture lawyers that stand up for human rights supposedly guaranteed by the Chinese state. This cruel irony meant the withdrawal of their licences to 22 human rights lawyers in 2009. Others found themselves fired because their superiors had been put under pressure and threatened by government officials to let them go.
One particular case illustrates the disdain the Chinese government has for its own laws, and how it feels threatened by the few who are trying to hold the government accountable for its decisions, and make China a better country. This case is about human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. Gao was detained one year ago, on February 4, 2009. His crime? He defended persecuted Christians and others who have been abused by the Chinese government for their beliefs. Gao had been arrested before, tortured, and released under threats not to talk about his treatment. Courageously, he nevertheless revealed details about his case, which can easily be found on the Internet. Whereas his close family was able to take refuge in the United States last year, grave concerns about Gao’s health and possible further torture remain until today. Incredibly, the Chinese government refused to reveal any information whatsoever for more than a year now about where Gao is being held and what his current status is. He has simply disappeared in Chinese custody, without access to the outside world, a defence lawyer, or his own family, and without any legal proceedings, never mind a set date for a trial. But despite a petition signed by 100,000 people presented to the Chinese embassy in the United States and continued pressure about Gao’s case on the Chinese government, the latter is still stonewalling. With impertinence, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu publicly acknowledged Gao’s case to the media in January: “The relevant judicial authorities have decided this case, and we should say this person, according to Chinese law, is where he should be.”…… (More details from The Canada Free Fress)
OTTAWA — Canada said Thursday it was “extremely disappointed” that a Chinese court had decided to uphold an 11-year jail sentence against leading dissident Liu Xiaobo.
“Canada is extremely disappointed that China is upholding Liu Xiaobo’s sentence on the charge of inciting subversion of state power,” Canada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said in a statement.
“We are concerned that Chinese individuals are being punished for exercising their fundamentals rights, including the right to peaceful and non-violent freedom of expression,” he added.
A Beijing court Thursday rejected an appeal by Liu, a writer and one-time professor who was arrested after co-authoring a manifesto calling for political reform in China, against his prison sentence.
Cannon said his country would continue to follow the case and reiterated a call for China to “immediately release Mr Liu without condition.”
As Vancouver prepares to inaugurate the 2010 Winter Olympics tomorrow, China continues to detain human rights activists, journalists and bloggers who were arrested for speaking out before, during and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“Dozens of Chinese families continue to suffer the awful effects of the last Olympics because a loved-one is still in jail for using the fundamental right to free expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, are doing nothing to obtain the release of these innocent people, whose ordeal is a stain on the Olympic movement’s reputation.”
Reporters Without Borders has sent a petition to Rogge asking him to intercede with the Chinese authorities and seek the release of the “Olympic prisoners” during the Vancouver Games. Signed by more than 1,600 Internet users, the petition urges Rogge “to speak up and to act in defence of free expression.”
Reporters Without Borders will hand in copies of the petition at the Chinese embassies in Paris and Berlin tomorrow. The petition also urges Chinese President Hu Jintao to ask the competent authorities in China to release the “Olympic prisoners.”
RICHARD BAKER AND PHILIP DORLING, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, February 11, 2010 -
THE Chinese-born benefactor of the former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon is being pursued by a state-owned enterprise in Beijing that accuses her of a multimillion-dollar fraud involving the illegal transfer of funds to Australia.
Correspondence from the Chinese enterprise names Helen Liu and her Diamond Hill International company as those responsible for the alleged misappropriation of up to 30 million yuan – nearly $6 million – that was originally lent for an apartment complex development in the Chinese port city of Qingdao.
The Fitzgibbon family has had a long involvement in Ms Liu’s Qingdao Bihai Garden apartment complex. Mr Fitz- gibbon and his father, Eric, are believed to have visited the site on a trip to China in 1993.
The former Labor MP Eric Fitzgibbon last week contradicted his previous denials of commercial ties to Ms Liu by admitting his role in helping sell her Qingdao apartments.
There is no suggestion any member of the Fitzgibbon family is involved in the alleged fraud.
A 1997 letter from the Beijing investment house to Ms Liu states: ”Our investigation shows that your company did not use our funds on this real estate project in Qingdao. Instead the funds were used for other purposes and have mostly been transferred to Australia. Under relevant law of the People’s Republic of China, this constitutes fraud.”
A separate document from December 2005 shows the Beijing company was still pursuing Ms Liu for the money, and had engaged the help of another Chinese firm to help track the missing millions allegedly ”obtained by fraud”.
The Beijing company is understood still to be pursuing the money and the matter has been investigated by police.
Ms Liu has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Mr Fitzgibbon and the NSW ALP through Diamond Hill International and other companies.
She is well known to senior figures in the NSW party, including Mr Fitzgibbon and the former premier Bob Carr, who have praised her as an outstanding businesswoman.
Mr Fitzgibbon was named on a list last week among 135 pages of Ms Liu’s private financial papers with the figure of 850,000 yuan ($142,000) next to his name.
Mr Fitzgibbon has emphatically denied receiving any money from Ms Liu other than two donations totalling $40,000 declared by the NSW ALP, and has threatened legal action.
Included among the 21 other individuals named on the list under the heading ”money paid including expenses and gifts” are senior Chinese officials.
It is understood some of Ms Liu’s financial dealings with those on the list were in part carried out by her sister and business partner, Queena Liu, a Chinese-Australian citizen well known to Mr Fitz- gibbon and other Labor figures.
Ms Liu’s papers record her contribution of $3 million to establish a joint venture company with ”Joel’s family”, with Eric appointed as an agent who would visit Qingdao regularly.
They also refer to a private meeting with Joel Fitzgibbon and the provision of $20,000 for ”family expenses support”.
A letter by Ms Liu to the Bank of China’s former Australian general manager, Wang Hang Bang, refers to financial dealings with Mr Fitzgibbon. ”The money we pay him is worthwhile,” she wrote. ”The cash is withdrawn on my credit card. There won’t be any problem.”
Mr Fitzgibbon told Parliament last week that reports claiming large undisclosed payments by Ms Liu were ”outrageous”.
Jian Xubang is the director of Qiaoer Center of Taiwan, stationed in El Monte, Los Angeles. This was the second time he has seen a Shen Yun performance.
[Jian Xubang, Qiaoer Center]:
“Regardless if it’s the stage, music, costume and even the fundamental skills of Shen Yun, it is all top quality. There is nothing to be picky about. Introducing the culture through the dancing movements is cut into rather easily. The whole program gives people a fresh, clean and very healthy feeling.”
Liao Congming from mainland China enjoyed Shen Yun quite a bit.
[Liao Congming, Audience Member]:
“I was here yesterday and came today as well. I felt this program is very good, very brilliant and rich, that’s why we are not getting tired of it. I was here last year and also this year, the performance is getting better. Not only had I come to see it, but I also brought my friends. It is a very rare opportunity, especially here overseas, to be able to see the traditional Chinese arts unfold overseas, I feel proud for Chinese people.”
Mrs. Liao also wanted to praise Shen Yun’s performance.
[Mrs. Liao, Audience Member]:
“Being personally on the scene, it is so beautiful, so beautiful, indescribable, and so beautiful. Especially the orchestra’s part, it is too good.”
Xu Pengzhe is a permanent member of U.S.-China Federal Association of Business Councils. He hopes that Shen Yun’s global tour will continue to extend to more destinations.
[Xu Pengzhe, Business Council Member]:
“It is really very outstanding, very extraordinary. I deeply feel honor for (Shenyun), and also really admire (Shenyun).
LOS ANGELES— Mr. Kirk, an independent theme park designer, who previously worked for the Walt Disney Company for 22 years, attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center on Sunday, Feb. 7.
Mr. Kirk was the overall senior designer for many of the Disney theme parks and attractions. He found the New York-based Shen Yun an amazing production with a depth of meaning. He really enjoyed the spectacle of the whole show.
“I think this is a beautiful show with a very profound message.”
As an artist and an imaginer [designer], Mr. Kirk had a great depth of appreciation for Shen Yun’s depiction of China’s millennia-old culture through music and dance.
He explained, “Good staging, amazing choreography, so I’m enjoying it very much. Seeing so many people choreographed in such a sophisticated way, I’m really enjoying it quite a bit. I appreciate those aspects of it also—the art direction.”
“The costumes, [are] very beautiful. Very bright and primary, but it’s hard to look away, they’re so captivating,” he continued.
Mr. Kirk was particularly appreciative of the state-of-the-art digital backdrops, which add an extra dimension to Shen Yun’s performance. “I especially enjoyed the animated backdrops with some animation in them. It’s very effective.”
“We purposely chose a seat high up in the balcony, so we could look down on the stage and see how everything works together.”
Shen Yun is renowned for its depiction of ancient legends and tales before the formation of modern China. Mr. Kirk enjoyed the tales, “The mythology, I don’t know a lot about it, but I know a little and it’s fascinating. I was fascinated.”
Shen Yun will perform in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center through Sunday, Feb. 14.
By Bill Gertz, via Washington Times, Feb. 10, 2010-
China’s military stepped up pressure on the United States on Monday by calling for a government sell-off of U.S. debt securities in retaliation for recent arms sales to Taiwan.
A group of senior Chinese military officers also said in state-controlled media interviews that Beijing’s leaders should boost defense spending and expand force deployments in the wake of the Pentagon’s announcement last month of a new $6.4 million arms package for the island state claimed by Beijing.
Senior officers from the Chinese National Defense University and Academy of Military Sciences made what some view as an economic warfare threat, something outlined in past military writings.
The comments by Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu and Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan and Senior Col. Ke Chunqiao appeared in the state-run Outlook Weekly magazine, part of the Xinhua News Agency, published in Beijing on Monday.
Gen. Luo warned that China could attack the U.S. “by oblique means and stealthy feints,” and he called for retaliation for the arms sale.
“For example, we could sanction them using economic means, such as dumping some U.S. government bonds,” Gen. Luo said.
“Our retaliation should not be restricted to merely military matters, and we should adopt a strategic package of counterpunches covering politics, military affairs, diplomacy and economics to treat both the symptoms and root cause of this disease,” said Gen. Luo, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences.
China holds nearly $800 billion worth of Treasury debt securities. It is not clear what impact selling off some of the securities would have on the struggling U.S. economy. However, analysts say that selling off some bonds could drive up interest rates and disrupt U.S. economic recovery efforts.
At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley dismissed the economic threat as potentially self-defeating. “That would be biting the nose to spite the face,” Mr. Crowley said. “The economies of the United States and China are intertwined.”
The Chinese military comments, however, reflect the contents of a 1999 book by two Chinese colonels called “Unrestricted Warfare,” which called on the Chinese military to adopt unconventional methods and strategy in waging war, specifically both “financial” and “trade” war along with other forms of warfare.
The second officer, Gen. Zhu, said Monday that proposed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan threatens Chinese military bases along the southern coast across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait. “This gives us no choice but to increase defense spending and adjust [military] deployments,” said Gen. Zhu, who is with the National Defense University in Beijing.
Gen. Zhu made headlines in 2005 when he told reporters that China would use nuclear weapons to attack U.S. cities if the United States struck China with precision-guided conventional missiles.
The statement raised questions at the time among Pentagon officials over whether China had abandoned its stated policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
After the remarks, China’s government sought to play down the incident by quietly putting out word to Western journalists that Gen. Zhu had been demoted, a claim accepted by many U.S. China hands but one that was called into question by his comments in the magazine this week.
The military leaders’ comments are unusual because tightly controlled state-run media in China normally do not permit such provocative comments directly criticizing the United States to be published……. (more details from the Washington Times)
2. Large wave of resignation from the Chinese Communist Party is happening
More than 100 million Chinese have quit the CCP till Oct. 2011, people are continue quitting at a rate of 50,000 to 70,000 per day.
- The Tuidang Movement Milestone: 100 Million Chinese Hearts Changed
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
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.”
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