China blocks Google searches

news24.com, 2010-03-24 -

Beijing - China’s internet authorities blocked many Google searches for terms and websites deemed politically sensitive on Wednesday, one day after the US internet giant diverted its main Chinese website to an uncensored one in Hong Kong.

Searches in Chinese on the www.google.com.hk website were blocked for terms such as the Charter ’08 for democratic reform and for the name of the charter’s main organizer, jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo.

Other blocked Chinese search terms included “Dalai”, for the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama, and the banned spiritual movements Zhong Gong and Falun Gong.

Amnesty International’s main website was the top result in an English search for “amnesty”, but China’s “Great Firewall” blocked the link to the website.

An English search returned 22 000 results for pictures of “tank man”, the lone protester who was photographed blocking the approach of a column of tanks into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square during China’s 1989 democracy protests……. (more details from News24.com)

China New Rules Hurt U.S. Companies: survey

March 22 (Bloomberg) — China’s new rules to encourage home-grown technology are eroding sales at U.S. companies and raising concern these losses may multiply, according to an American Chamber of Commerce survey released today in Beijing.

Twenty-eight percent of 203 members responding to the survey said they are losing business because of the policy. Among technology companies, 37 percent said they are already being hurt and 57 percent predicted they would be disadvantaged in the future.

Foreign companies with operations in China are concerned the rules are discriminatory and may extend beyond the 599 billion yuan ($87.8 billion) government-procurement market to orders from state-owned enterprises, which last year had combined revenue of 22.5 trillion yuan. The chamber represents companies including Microsoft Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and United Technologies Corp.

“Many foreign companies are starting to believe that the future China business opportunity is shrinking,” said James McGregor, a senior counselor in Beijing at APCO Worldwide, a public affairs company. “This indigenous innovation policy seems clearly aimed at forcing foreign technology here so that Chinese companies can tweak it and call it their own.”

The report comes as Mountain View, California-based Google Inc., the owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine, considers withdrawing from China because of censorship restrictions……. (more details from Bloomberg Via businessweek.com)

HRW calls on other companies to follow Google ending all their censorship in China

Human Rights Watch, March 22, 2010 -

(New York) – Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese search engine is a strong step in favor of freedom of expression and information, and an indictment of the Chinese government’s insistence on censorship of the internet, Human Rights Watch said today.  Google announced today that it would not censor searches and instead redirect searches to its uncensored Hong Kong-based site that would provide results in simplified Chinese.  The company also said it would monitor and publicize any attempts at censorship of the site by the Chinese government.

“China is one of the world’s largest economies, but hundreds of millions of Chinese internet users are denied the basic access to information that people around the world take for granted,” said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Google’s decision to offer an uncensored search engine is an important step to challenge the Chinese government’s use of censorship to maintain its control over its citizens.”

China’s estimated 338 million internet users remain subject to the arbitrary dictates of state censorship. More than a dozen government agencies are involved in implementing a host of laws, regulations, policy guidelines, and other legal tools to try to keep information and ideas from the Chinese people. Various companies, including Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft, have enabled this system by blocking terms they believe the Chinese government will want them to censor. Human Rights Watch documented this corporate complicity in internet censorship in China in “Race to the Bottom,” a 149-page report published in August 2006.

On January 12, 2010, Google announced that it was prepared to withdraw from China unless it could operate its Chinese search engine, Google.cn, free of censorship. This decision was made after the company disclosed “highly sophisticated and targeted attacks” on dozens of Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China. Google said some 20 other companies were also targets of cyber attacks from China. On February 18, 2010, the New York Times reported that these attacks had been traced to Shanghai’s Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School. The latter reportedly has close ties to the Chinese military.

In response to the prospect that Google might stop censoring its search engine, on March 12, Li Yizhong, China’s minister of industry and information technology, said, “If you want to do something that disobeys Chinese law and regulations, you are unfriendly, you are irresponsible and you will have to bear the consequences.”

On January 22, 2010, in a major speech on internet freedom, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the Chinese government to investigate those attacks. She also noted that the “private sector has a shared responsibility to help safeguard free expression. And when their business dealings threaten to undermine this freedom, they need to consider what’s right, not simply the prospect of quick profits.”

Human Rights Watch said that companies operating in China or other countries have an obligation to safeguard freedom of expression and privacy online. The Global Network Initiative (GNI), an international effort comprised of companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, academics, and socially responsible investors to protect freedom of expression and privacy online, recommends that companies: “challenge the government in domestic courts or seek the assistance of relevant government authorities, international human rights bodies or non-governmental organizations when faced with a government restriction that appears inconsistent with domestic law or procedures or international human rights laws and standards on freedom of expression.”

Human Rights Watch called on other companies to follow Google’s example and end all their censorship of politically sensitive information.

“This is a crucial moment for freedom of expression in China, and the onus is now on other major technology companies to take a firm stand against censorship,” said Ganesan. “But the Chinese government should also realize that its repression only isolates its internet users from the rest of the world – and the long-term harm of isolation far outweighs the short-term benefit of forcing companies to leave.”

- Human Rights Watch

CPJ welcomes Google stand on China censorship

CPJ, Mar. 22, 2010-

We issued the following statement today after Google announced it had stopped censoring its search engine in China:

“We welcome this stand against censorship and hope that all Internet companies operating in China take a similar principled position,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. “Many of the Web sites censored by the Chinese government are news and social networking Web sites, with a wide range of topics blocked from general discussion.  Google’s decision to stop censoring search results will put Google on the wrong side of the Great Firewall. In the long run, however, we hope that it ramps up pressure on the Chinese government to allow its citizens to access the news and information they need to be informed and engaged citizens.”

- CPJ

Google stops censoring in China a bold move that other Internet companies must follow

Reporters Without Borders, Mar. 22, 2010-

US Internet giant Google announced today that it has stopped censoring its search engine’s Chinese version, Google.cn, and is redirecting its mainland China users to its Hong Kong-based search engine Google.com.hk, where uncensored search results are available in simplified Chinese characters.

“The Chinese authorities have chosen to censor rather than open up their Internet,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We can only deplore the fact that the world’s biggest search engine has been forced to close its Chinese version under pressure from the censors. We pay tribute to Google because, by taking this courageous stance, it is creating a real debate on the issue of censorship in China and is betting on a free Internet accessible to all in the mid or long term.

“Above and beyond the case of China, it is the World Wide Web’s integrity that is at stake. The emergence in recent years of national Intranets controlled by repressive governments has in practice turned many Internet users into victims of a digital divide.

“Google is offering an interesting alternative to its Chinese users by redirecting them to its Hong Kong-based servers. It remains to be seen whether the Chinese authorities will now block its search engine and whether Google will be allowed to maintain its sales presence and research and development work in China. Google.cn’s closure nonetheless clearly sends a bad signal to investors.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “We now appeal to other Internet companies based in China to take the same road and to refuse to censor their own activities. If a common front is established on this issue, the Chinese government will have no choice but to allow access to a freer Internet.”

Google announced on 12 January that it wanted to stop censoring Google.cn after discovering that cyber attacks had been launched from China against the Gmail accounts of several dozen human rights activists. A score of companies in media, technology and other sectors were also reportedly affected by these hacker attacks and by the theft of intellectual property…….(more from Reporters Without Borders)

China’s increased military power causes south-east Asian countries to step up defence purchases

By Kathrin Hille in Beijing and Tim Johnston in Bangkok, The Financial Times-

Military analysts are warning that China’s increased regional power has caused its south-east Asian neighbours to step up their own defence purchases, raising the prospect that territorial disputes in the South China Sea could turn violent.

Siemon Wezeman, a senior fellow at the arms transfers programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), said that several south-east Asian countries had “dramatically” stepped up their purchases of submarines, fighter aircraft, and long-range missiles in recent years.

“While south-east Asian governments . . . still don’t openly voice concerns over China, they think about it, and they are making a statement with what they are buying,” he said. “Fifteen years ago, there were the same conflicting claims in the South China Sea but the countries didn’t have the means to enforce their claims. Now, the moment somebody hits oil there, things might look very dangerous.”

Many of south-east Asia’s militaries are trying to catch up on purchases they deferred several years earlier as their countries were reeling from the Asian financial crisis.

They are driven by a mix of domestic, subregional and larger strategic considerations, and most governments have yet directly to name China as a concern.

However, the Chinese navy has recently built a submarine base on Hainan Island, at the top of the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where it has a territorial dispute with the surrounding littoral states – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – over the potentially resource-rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.

According to data to be released by Sipri today, Indonesia’s arms imports between 2005 and 2009 grew 84 per cent compared with the preceding five years, Singapore’s increased by 146 per cent, and Malaysia’s rocketed by 722 per cent.

Singapore added six frigates and 32 fighter aircraft over the past five years and ordered two submarines and 12 more fighters. Malaysia took delivery of two submarines, six frigates and 26 fighter aircraft. Indonesia imported four frigates and four fighter aircraft and ordered three more.

“Vietnam and Thailand are lagging behind, but both have placed orders recently to be delivered in the coming years,” Mr Wezeman said. This includes six fighter aircraft and one early-warning aircraft for Thailand and six submarines, two frigates and eight fighter aircraft for Vietnam.

Singapore’s concern is over the impact of the shift in the balance of power in the region, said Tim Huxley of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. “The real problem is the huge discrepancy in power between China and the south-east Asian nations.” (by The Financial Times)

Google Shuts China Site, because “self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement” by China

Radio Free Asia,  2010-03-22 -

HONG KONG— Google is redirecting China-based traffic to its uncensored Hong Kong Web site, according to a message posted on the company’s official blog, two months the Internet giant threatened to leave the country because of censorship and Chinese hacker attacks.

Google had been negotiating with Beijing about the right to continue hosting a search service in China without filtering results according to Chinese law.

“Earlier today we stopped censoring our search services” for China’s 400 million Internet users, the company blog said.

“Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong,” chief legal officer David Drummond wrote.

China requires Internet service providers to censor words and images that the ruling Communist Party says are illegal or unacceptable.

Google said it plans to maintain its engineering and sales offices in China to keep a technological foothold there and continue to sell ads for the Chinese-language version of its search engine in the United States.

The Google blog entry said the Chinese government had been “crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement” for continuing its business in China.

“We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services,” Drummond wrote, adding that the company would continue monitoring accessibility in China and posting the results daily.

The decision comes after more than two months of negotiations after Google announced that it, along with more than 20 other companies, had been the victim of cyberattacks originating from China.

Google said its ensuing investigation into the attacks uncovered evidence that the Gmail accounts of “dozens” of human rights activists connected with China were being accessed by third parties through phishing scams and malware installed on their computers.

It said the attacks and surveillance that the investigation uncovered—combined with government efforts to further limit free speech on the Internet through the blocking of Web sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube—led the company to conclude that “we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn.”…… (more details from Radio Free Asia)

Related:
- Google stops censoring in China- redirects traffic to uncensored Hong Kong Web site

Google stops censoring in China- redirects traffic to uncensored Hong Kong Web site

By Juan Carlos Perez, Computer World, March 22, 2010-

IDG News Service – Google has stopped censoring results in China, acting on a decision it made in January.

On Monday, Google stopped censoring Google Search, Google News and Google Images on Google.cn, according to a blog post from Chief Legal Officer David Drummond.

“Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong,” he wrote.

As expected, the Chinese government didn’t entertain allowing Google to continue operating an uncensored Google.cn. The Hong Kong work-around is “entirely legal,” he said.

“We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services,” Drummond wrote.

Google has set up a Web page where people can monitor the status of its services in China……. (more details from The Computer World)

Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (4)- China’s Ministry of State Security

He Qinglian, Chinese author and economist, via SecretChina.com, Mar. 17, 2010- (cont’d)

<< previous

4. China’s Ministry of State Security: A Hybrid of KGB and the Secret Police System during the Ming Dynasty

The existing system of reporting can be tracked to the KGB from the former Soviet Union. It also has some traces from China’s own heritage. For example the Secret Police System in the Ming Dynasty was used to monitor its subjects. Another twin brother of such a system was Stasi, the former East Germany’s well-known secret police system.

The Ming Dynasty had a secret agency system that included both the Jinyiwei (Court Secret Agent) and East and West Espionage Agency. These were special agencies of oppression backed by the state. Their role was similar to today’s Ministry of State Security. The agent of this system had the power to monitor, arrest, and torture anyone at any time under the name of the state. People were often executed for saying something against the ruling emperor or for their personal grudge with the agents themselves. A lot more went missing.  It can be said that the Court Secret System was actually a ruthless killing machine of state terror.  People were more afraid of the agents from that system than they were of criminals.

The KGB of the Soviet Union was also a killing machine backed by state power during the reign of the Soviet Communist Party. It is well known for calling white black, fabricating false cases, interrogating people through torture, and killing innocent people. At the KGB’s peak everyone in the Soviet Union, from common people to officials, felt ill at ease. Even high rank State and Party leaders led lives full of anxiety.  Molotov, the second leading figure of the former Soviet Union, could only watch as his wife was arrested and dared not save her.

The Stasi of East Germany used “Shield and Sword of the Party” as its motto, adopting the role of secret police, intelligence agency, and detective agency, even taking on the power of prosecution and trial. The Stasi was everywhere in the life of East Germany. As a result, from January 1992 to 2008, there were some six million visits to BStU, the federal government agency that investigates the past crimes of the former Stasi, to apply to see their files. Unfortunately, those who read their files found out that the informers were not only made up of the secret police, but also their best friends, neighbors, relatives, as well as renowned politicians, professors, and religious people. There were so many cases of people turning on each other. With this revelation of the truth, a painful sensation of suspicion, disappointment, hatred and disillusion spread in the society. The Germans find themselves again and again in a dilemma of moral challenges. Everywhere, couples split, people abandon their families, get divorced or commit suicide.

I cannot imagine the impact the Chinese Communist Party will have on the Chinese peoples’ already broken and shabby moral standards due to the evil conduct of procuring informers on such a large scale in order to protect their regime. I only know that once it becomes such a pervasive practice for people to monitor and hurt each other, the members of society will not be able to save themselves from the mud of this immorality.  (END)

- From Secret China , Original Chinese article from Author’s website

Related:
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (1) – Informer Is Everywhere in China
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (2)- Schools Have Become Sites of the Spies
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (3)- What Kind of Job is “Security Information Personnel” at China School?

Worst-ever dust storm from China hits Taiwan

Taiwan News, Staff Writer, Mar. 22, 2010-

The worst-ever dust storms from China forced air quality in Northern Taiwan sharply down yesterday, the Environmental Protection Administration said.

A total of 24 observation stations across the island recorded more than 1,000 micrograms of dust per cubic meter and a further ten showed values at damaging levels, according to the EPA. Skies turned a yellowish grey as there was no rain to wash away the dust, the Central Weather Bureau said.

The worst levels of pollution were recorded on the island of Matsu close to the coast of China’s Fujian Province, in Keelung on the North Coast and in several Taipei City districts, EPA official Chu Yu-chi said. Matsu airport was closed all day due to poor visibility, reports said.

Doctors advised people to limit outside activities to the barest minimum, and to wear masks or even goggles when riding a motorcycle. Patients suffering from breathing problems even before the storm should wait a few days until after it had left before resuming normal outside activities, reports said.

The number of patients recording breathing problems increased by 20 percent to 30 percent because of irritation by the dust, reports said. People wearing contact lenses felt irritation of the eyes, according to media reports quoting physicians…….(more details from Taiwan News)

Korean Peninsula Blanketed by Worst Yellow Dust from China

By Bae Ji-sook, The Korea Times, Staff Reporter, Mar. 21, 2010-

The Korean Peninsula experienced its worst case of yellow dust ever recorded Saturday and Sunday, leading the weather administration to advise people to take extra care as more is expected this month.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) posted a special yellow dust warning for most parts of the country Saturday.

The dust in the air marked 2,684 micrograms per cubic meter in Daegu; 2,408 micrograms in Jindo, South Jeolla Province; and 1,048 micrograms in Sokcho, Gangwon Province. These are the worst figures since the KMA started taking dust density measurements in 2005.

According to the agency, the special warning is posted only when the density is over 800 micrograms per cubic meter. The KMA posted its first such warning in 2007.

Drivers and pedestrians said the thick dust clouded their visibility.

The particles also kept many people from going outdoors for fear of respiratory problems.

A KMA spokesman said the dust storm was initiated in the Gobi. “Dust from Neimenggu (Inner Mongolia) and the yellow soil of the Hwangho River valley (China) have also contributed to the record amount of pollutants in the air.

Another dust storm is heading here from the inner part of China, likely causing more dust across the nation by Monday,” he said.

Air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide blowing in from China have long been a headache here……. (more details from The Korea Times)

Renowned Professor From China Says Would Like to See Shen Yun Hundred Times

TAIPEI, Taiwan— March 20 was the second day of Shen Yen Performing Arts’ show appearing in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. Shen Yen’s reputation attracted viewers from all over northern Taiwan to Taipei over the weekend so that all seats in the auditorium of National Dr. Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall were occupied.

Professor Xiao, a renowned figure in China, was among those attending. In an interview, he said he loved the entire set of programs. “You see, my hands got swollen because I kept clapping during the show!” he exclaimed.

Professor Xiao said he was very fortunate to catch Shen Yen when he traveled to Taipei this time. His first time to see the show, he said, “It is really good. The show is so exquisite that you can’t see anything like it elsewhere.”

Shen Yun performance blends the cultural characteristic and connotations of various Chinese ethnicities. Of the dances, Professor Xiao was particularly impressed by “Mongolian Hospitality” and In a Miao Village. He added that all the dancing performances were very unique—no matter whether they were depicting Mongolian or Miao, the dance illustrated the ethnic characteristics very well.

After seeing that Shen Yen vividly exhibits the quintessence of traditional Chinese culture on stage, Professor Xiao shared his thoughts about his beloved Chinese traditions: “Chinese culture is very broad and Shen Yen show tries to pass it down to future generations. The programs in the show, such as Imperial Archers and Wu Song Battles the Tiger, truthfully reflect the history after careful investigation. We have all read the story in the novel Water Margin before. However, we have to resort to our imagination to recreate the past, and now the scenes of the drama illustrate the story right in front of our eyes. This is not easy to achieve.”

Xiao wondered “Who first wrote the script of the drama?” When he was told that most artists associated with the Shen Yen Performing Arts group are overseas Chinese, whose mission was to pass down the finest part of Chinese traditional culture, he praised this effort, saying, “It is really great!” He felt Shen Yen‘s passing down ancient tradition by performing dramatic dances on the stage was an excellent idea.

Recalling the superb dramatic dances and the dynamic backdrop he saw in the performance, Xiao kept nodding his head and said in an admiring tone, “It is extraordinary. The color is very bright and attractive. The design is perfect.”

At this point, he showed his hands to the interviewer, joking “You see, my hands get swollen because I kept clapping in the show!” Xiao’s friends, who accompanied him to the show, affirmed that.

Referring to the fact that Shen Yen’s public performance is still prohibited in China and how lucky Taiwan is to have the opportunity, Professor Xiao said, “I definitely would like to see the show again. The show is organized so well that it will never lose its appeal. I guess I could watch it more than a hundred times.”

- The Epochtimes

Shen Yun “perfect”, “The dances are especially spectacular”, says well-known Taiwan photographer

TAIPEI, Taiwan— Mr. Zhou Zhigang, a well-known photographer, who has spent more than 50 years refining the art of photography, attended the Shen Yen Performing Arts‘ show in Taipei on Saturday evening, March 20, with his wife. In an interview following the show he commented, “I have seen many dramas and performances in various countries around the world, yet I feel Shen Yen is better than any other show.”

Mr. Zhou is best known for his endeavors in promoting Chinese photography by integrating the concept of poetry into the image. He used to assist photography maestro Lang Jingshan in re-establishing the China Photography Association in Taiwan. Mr. Zhou is also the primary initiator for the Asian Film & Art Federation and the Chinese Artists and Photographers Association. His name is well known in the photography communities across the Taiwan Strait. He has received many domestic and international honorable awards and has been listed in the Who’s Who of UK, USA, China and Taiwan.

With delight, Mr. Zhou praised Shen Yen, “The performance is perfect no matter whether it is about the backdrop design or the music. The dances are especially spectacular.”

Explaining how the music of the Shen Yen orchestra fascinated him, Mr. Zhou said, “An ancient poem reads, ‘Only in the divine world, and seldom in the earthly world can this song be heard.’ I would like to say such good music can only be heard at a Shen Yen performance and seldom in Taiwan.”

As a well-known artist, Mr. Zhou highly praised Shen Yen’s artistic achievements. He said, “From the viewpoint of arts, of most importance are the aesthetics. The scene settings of Shen Yen’s dances, and the variations associated with the dances, are all very beautiful.”

Mr. Zhou added, “I have seen a lot of dances. I think choreography is very important. The choreography of Shen Yen’s dances is just outstanding. A simple story like Wu Song Battles the Tiger is choreographed to include a variety of dancing movements such that the story can be interpreted so vividly. I think this is truly amazing.”

The dynamic backdrop of the stage also caught Mr. Zhou’s attention. Among the programs in the first half of the show, “Hesitate No Longer” by soprano Huang Pi-ju and “A Message to the World” by Baritone Qu Yue, stood out for him.

Mr. Zhou is best known for his endeavors in promoting Chinese photography by integrating the concept of poetry into the image. He used to assist photography maestro Lang Jingshan in re-establishing the China Photography Association in Taiwan. Mr. Zhou is also the primary initiator for the Asian Film & Art Federation and the Chinese Artists and Photographers Association. His name is well known in the photography communities across the Taiwan Strait. He has received many domestic and international honorable awards and has been listed in the Who’s Who of UK, USA, China and Taiwan.

- The Epochtimes

Shen Yun ‘the beauty of the world expressed through dances, songs, colors’, Says Swiss MP

LAUSANNE, Switzerland— Oscar Freysinger, a Swiss Member of Parliament (“Conseil National”) and vice-president of the Tibet group, came out of the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne on March 18 after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts show as if coming out of a dream. “That is simply life flowering, flowers dancing,” he said.

“This is the beauty of the world expressed through dances, songs, colors. This is happiness; we are taken away like in a dream. How would I say? This is another, enchanting, world. We leave with the mind filled with dreams and colors.”

Mr. Freysinger said he had great respect and appreciation for the message conveyed by Shen Yun, which he found to be deep and beautiful. “That is a symphony of colors, songs, movements. The women dancers are like petals forming, opening and closing. There is this link with nature, and as a local of the Alps, I can feel it deeply. We have to protect our roots, and what I have seen tonight are exiled people longing for their country.

“I am convinced that a strength exists above us,” explained the lawmaker, “even if we cannot define it precisely. In the show, you can find this belief expressed, a belief that is threatened and destroyed by fierce materialisms of the 20th century, among which were Nazism and communism.”

Shen Yun will tour Europe until the end of April, visiting Stockholm, Oslo, Vienna, Paris, Dublin, Dresde and Aarhus. The next stop is Lyon, in France, where two shows will be performed in Cité Internationale on March 20-21.

- The Epochtimes

Taiwan Interior Minister Says The Shen Yun Show Is Remarkable

TAIPEI, Taiwan— On the evening of March 19, Interior Minister Jiang Yi Hua attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company’s 2010 premiere in Taiwan, together with his wife Mrs. Li Shu-Zhe. As they happily walked out of the performing hall, Dr. Jiang said, “The entire show was wonderful.”

Dr. Jiang, who is known as the most handsome and gentle minister in the cabinet, and his wife were noticed by many other audience members as they entered the hall. Legislator Luo Shu-lei was among the celebrities who greeted them at the entrance.

Minister Jiang looked quite serious when he arrived due to his tight schedule during the daytime, however, he felt very pleasant after viewing the spiritual enjoyment of the artistic performance with 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. He commended happily, “This is indeed a very superb performance.”

As to the content of the program, Mr. Jiang added: “The themes are very positive and it [Shen Yun] is especially suitable for the young generation nowadays to watch.” He also emphasized that it was great to get so many outstanding overseas Chinese artists together to perform on stage. “In the past, I had no idea about their background. After knowing that all of them are Chinese who have grown up overseas, I think they are really remarkable,” he said.

When learning that there would be 43 Shen Yun shows performed in nine major cities in Taiwan, the Minister immediately expressed that it should be recommended to more people in Taiwan, so that they would be able to appreciate this artistic feast. He continued, “This is a promotional show for arts and culture. Welcome the general public to see the show.”

As the Ministry of the Interior is in charge of many important government functions, including police, household affairs, social welfare, fire-fighting services, etc., it has long been dubbed as the most important ministry in Taiwan. Dr. Jiang was recruited into the cabinet as Interior Minister from academic circles in the wake of a major flooding disaster last year. Since then, he has been in the media spotlight in Taiwan.

- The Epochtimes

China’s Missing Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng

By JEROME A. COHEN and BETH SCHWANKE, Via New York Times, March 18, 2010 -

Peter Gao is six and wants to be an astronaut. If you ask him why, he’ll explain that he wanted to be a lawyer, but the Chinese government “really hates lawyers.” He’s pretty sure that it likes astronauts.

The Chinese government “disappeared” Peter’s father, Gao Zhisheng, on Feb. 4, 2009. According to various Chinese officials over the past year, Mr. Gao is, “in Beijing,” “gone missing,” “where he should be,” “working in Urumqi,” the capital of China’s northwestern Xinjiang Province, and now “sentenced for subversion.”

We call on the Chinese government to stop stalling and produce Gao Zhisheng: a literal case of habeas corpus.

Mr. Gao’s efforts as one of China’s leading human rights lawyers made his latest detention inevitable. In 2006, after representing individuals persecuted by the government for their religious beliefs, Mr. Gao was convicted of “inciting subversion” and began serving a suspended sentence under 24-hour police surveillance — and harassment.

In 2007, after he wrote an open letter to the U.S. Congress detailing human rights violations in China, authorities again detained and tortured him.

Mr. Gao’s publicly released account of this torture, which included toothpicks in his genitals and electric shocks, ends with the admonition of authorities not to tell anyone of his torture — or be killed.

Mr. Gao’s extraordinary journey to become “China’s conscience” and a recurring nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize began in his family’s traditional home. After time as a coal miner and in the People’s Liberation Army, Mr. Gao took his legal exams without the benefit of university. The government later named him one of China’s 10 best lawyers. And, despite the risks, he began defending those people the government persecutes.

Perhaps even more extraordinary is the Chinese government’s failure to officially acknowledge Mr. Gao’s detention. It’s unmistakable that Beijing is increasing its crackdown on political dissidents; however, the Chinese government’s complete abandonment of even the pretext of the rule of law with regards to Mr. Gao’s detention is unprecedented.

Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (3)- What Kind of Job is “Security Information Personnel” at China School?

He Qinglian, Chinese author and economist, via SecretChina.com, Mar. 17, 2010- (cont’d)

<< previous

3. What Kind of Job is “Security Information Personnel” at School?

Here is a rough description of the system.

a. The school selects some “politically reliable” students who, once they hear some “politically incorrect” comments from teachers or students, will report them to the related office in school administration.  For example, the “Security Information Team” established by Economy and Trade College in Qingdao Technological University has “two students in each class, one male one female. “ They must be student Party members or student cadre. Their prime responsibility is to report the “insecure elements” in their classes and dormitories, including the behavior of some “special students” and the content of some teachers’ lectures.

b. The Information Personnel job is a paid position. The amount they are paid varies in different schools. It could be very low. For example, at Jilin University each informer, if he or she makes twenty reports, he or she can get a 120 Chinese yen reimbursement for his or her books. So each report is worth six yen, which is less than one US dollar. Students from poor families still want to take the job. For instance, Dezhou Institute in Shandong Province has offered their students extracurricular job opportunities to have them work as “Security Information Personnel.”

c. A Security Personnel who does a good job can secure favorable consideration from the school in terms of grading and political advancement. One striking characteristic of such rules of terror is that the Security Personnel are allowed to report incidents based merely on rumor. They are not asked to authenticate the information. This, along with the number of reports affecting the rate of pay, makes many of the personnel create “information” out of nowhere in exchange for the reward, risking the well-being of their teachers and classmates.

In some schools, the “Security Personnel” team is incredibly large. Take for example, the Xi’an Technology University, which received the title of “Peaceful University of Shanxi Province”, jointly given by the Comprehensive Administration Office of Shanxi Province, the Department of Education, and the Department of Public Security. There are 2,627 Security Personnel among the students. In addition, among the staff and faculty members, 65 have been ascribed to be Special Information Personnel. The total number of undergraduates, graduates and three-year college students is 23,404; the number of staff and faculty is 2,326. Consequently, there is one Security Personnel in every ten students or fewer. For every 35 staff and faculty, there is one informer.

Perhaps in no other country in the entire the world can you find universities or colleges like China’s, which turns college, a place for imparting knowledge and nurturing intellectuals, into sites of spies, eroding the soul of the youngsters by encouraging the shameless behavior of “reporting”. (to be cont’d)

- From Secret China , Original Chinese article from Author’s website

Related:
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (1) – Informer Is Everywhere in China
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (2)- Schools Have Become Sites of the Spies

Lawyer Nominated for Nobel Over His Work On China Organ Harvesting

By Geoff Kirbyson, The Lawyers Weekly, Canada, March 19 2010 issue -

David Matas might be the only lawyer in Canada trying to follow in the footsteps of Barack Obama.

While the Winnipeg-based human rights crusader and immigration and refugee lawyer has run for political office in the past, it’s his nomination for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize that has drawn a link with the most powerful man in the world.

Matas and his research partner, David Kilgour, a federal Alberta MP between 1976 and 2006, have been nominated for their investigation into allegations that Falun Gong followers in China are being murdered for their hearts, kidneys, corneas, livers and other organs.

Matas, 66, says he’s honoured by the nomination but not because of the man who precedes them.

‘If you look at the history of the Nobel Peace Prize award, there’s a wide variety of nominees and backgrounds,’ he says. ‘(The nomination) helps highlight the work that David and I have been doing. It becomes another means of advocacy and promotion to bring attention to the problem and to end the abuse.’

The award’s winner will be announced in October and the presentation ceremony will be held in December.

Matas says he estimates China does about 10,000 organ transplants annually, with roughly one-quarter of the organs coming from prisoners on death row and the balance coming from Falun Gong followers. Initially, virtually all of the organ recipients were foreigners, primarily people from Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia, but China subsequently began giving its own people preferential treatment for the procedures.

Falun Gong is a religious movement based on the teachings of its founder, Li Hongzhi, which uses aspects of Buddhism, Taoism and modern science. The movement, which began in 1992, became immensely popular in China but the Chinese government considered it a cult and cracked down on it more than a decade ago, persecuting, jailing and executing its followers.

Matas says the Chinese government uses the organ transplants to generate revenue. At one point, prices were listed on an official government website while Chinese hospitals promoted the ‘business’ on their own websites. A kidney, for example, will set somebody back $62,000 while a liver ranges from $98,000 to $130,000, a heart will run you $130,000 to $160,000 and a lung can cost anywhere from $150,000 to $170,000. If you’re into volume discounts, a liver-kidney combination can be had for between $160,000 and $180,000.

‘(The discount) is an indication that people are being killed for their organs rather than everywhere else in the world where people wait for somebody else to die. Why would you get a discount for a combination transplant except that the organs are coming from the same donor?’ he says.

Matas says the most common transplanted organ around the world is the kidney because a donor can donate one and still survive. Except in China, it seems.

‘Our conclusion is multiple organs are being harvested (per donor). We’ve never met or heard of a surviving kidney donor. If there were survivors, you’d think you’d hear about them,’ he says.

US House presses China on Falun Gong

AFP, Mar. 17, 2010 -

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives on Tuesday urged China to end its “persecution” of the Falungong and rejected Beijing’s charge that the banned spiritual movement is an “evil cult.”

In a nearly unanimous vote, the House called on China to free thousands of practitioners who are said to be imprisoned and to abolish an office tasked with fighting the Falungong.

The House expressed “sympathy to Falungong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs.”

The resolution asked China to “immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison and torture Falungong practitioners.”

China “is a bubble waiting to burst”, Rickards Says

By Bei Hu, Bloomberg via Business Week, Mar. 17, 2010-

March 17 (Bloomberg) – China is in the midst of “the greatest bubble in history,” said James Rickards, former general counsel of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management LP.

The Chinese central bank’s balance sheet resembles that of a hedge fund buying dollars and short-selling the yuan, said Rickards, now the senior managing director for market intelligence at McLean, Virginia-based consulting firm Omnis Inc.

“As I see it, it is the greatest bubble in history with the most massive misallocation of wealth,” Rickards said at the Asset Allocation Summit Asia 2010 organized by Terrapinn Pte in Hong Kong yesterday. China “is a bubble waiting to burst.”

Rickards joins hedge fund manager Jim Chanos, Gloom, Boom & Doom publisher Marc Faber and Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff in warning of a potential crash in China’s economy. The government has raised banks’ reserve requirements twice this year after economic growth accelerated and property prices rallied.

China has pegged the yuan to the dollar since July 2008 to help exporters weather the global recession. The central bank buys dollars and sells its own currency to prevent the yuan strengthening, driving foreign-exchange reserves to a world- record $2.4 trillion as of December.

The Shanghai Composite Index of stocks jumped 80 percent last year and property prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years in February, helped by a record 9.59 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) of new loans in 2009.

‘Massive Stimulus’

The World Bank indicated today that China should raise interest rates to help contain the risk of a property bubble and allow a stronger yuan to help damp inflation expectations. The nation’s “massive monetary stimulus” risks triggering large asset-price increases, a housing bubble, and bad debts from the financing of local-government projects, Washington-based World Bank said in a quarterly report on China released in Beijing……. (more from BusinessWeek)

The complete text of U.S. House resolution 605: calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners in China

Via The Epochtimes, Mar 16, 2010 -

HRES 605 IH

111th CONGRESS 1st Session

H. RES. 605

Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 11th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual movement and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. MINNICK, and Ms. WATERS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 11th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spiritual movement and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.

Whereas Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, which consists of spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life, meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance;

Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “tens of millions of Chinese citizens practiced Falun Gong in the 1990s and adherents to the spiritual movement inside of China are estimated to still number in the hundreds of thousands despite the government’s ongoing crackdown,” and other estimates published in Western press place the number of Falun Gong adherents currently in China at the tens of millions;

Whereas in 1996, Falun Gong books were banned in China and state media began a campaign criticizing Falun Gong;

Whereas in 1999, Chinese police began disrupting Falun Gong morning exercises in public parks and began searching the homes of Falun Gong practitioners;

Whereas on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council Office of Petitions in Beijing, next to the Communist Party leadership compound, to request that arrested Falun Gong practitioners be released, the ban on publication of Falun Gong books be lifted, and that Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to resume their activities without government interference;

Whereas on the same day, immediately after then-Premier Zhu Rongji met with Falun Gong representatives in his office and agreed to the release of arrested practitioners, Communist Party Chairman Jiang Zemin criticized Zhu’s actions and ordered a crackdown on Falun Gong;

Whereas in June 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered the creation of the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus, given the mandate to ‘‘eradicate’’ Falun Gong;

Whereas in July 1999, Chinese police began arresting leading Falun Gong practitioners;

Whereas on July 22, 1999, Chinese state media began a major propaganda campaign to ban Falun Gong for ‘‘disturbing social order’’ and warning Chinese citizens that the practice of Falun Gong was forbidden;

Whereas in October 1999, Party Chairman Jiang Zemin, according to western press articles, ‘‘ordered that Falun Gong be branded as a ‘cult’, and then demanded that a law be passed banning cults’’;

Whereas Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is a suicidal and militant ‘‘evil cult’’ rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation
and exercise;

Whereas on October 10, 2004, the House of Representatives adopted by voice vote House Concurrent Resolution 304, which had 75 bipartisan co-sponsors, titled ‘‘Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China,’’ and that the text of this resolution noted that ‘‘the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States’’;

Whereas, on October 18, 2005, highly respected human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng wrote a letter to Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and Chinese authorities, in response, closed his law office and took away his law license, with Chinese security forces suspected of being directly involved in Mr. Gao’s disappearance on February 4, 2009;

Whereas Gao Zhisheng’s family has subsequently been granted political asylum in the United States; Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture in its fourth periodic report of China, issued on December 12, 2008, stated that ‘‘The State party should immediately conduct or commission an independent investigation of the claims that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished.’’;

Whereas the Amnesty International 2008 annual report states that ‘‘Falun Gong practitioners were at particularly high risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention . . . during the year 2007 over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have died in detention or shortly after release as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment, and other forms of ill-treatment.’’;

Whereas according to the 2008 Department of State’s Human Rights Report on China, ‘‘Some foreign observers estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in re-education through labor (RTL) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher.’’;

Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, ‘‘The (Chinese) central government intensified its nine-year campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in
the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.’’;

Whereas Falun Gong-related websites remain among the most systematically and hermetically blocked by China’s Internet firewall; and

Whereas, according to an April 2009 New York Times report, ‘‘In the past year, as many as 8,000 (Falun Gong) practitioners have been detained, according to experts on human rights, and at least 100 have died in custody’’:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs;

(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to ‘‘eradicate’’ Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents; and

(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government.

- Via the Epochtimes

Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (2)- Schools Have Become Sites of the Spies

He Qinglian, Chinese author and economist, via SecretChina.com, Mar. 17, 2010- (cont’d)

<< previous

2. The Schools Have Become Sites of the Spies

Unfortunately, such a system does not only exist in Inner Mongolia as it did in years past, rather it is all around the country. There is a “System of Security Information Personnel” established in the colleges. What is a “System of Security Information Personnel”? That is the part-time spy network responsible for monitoring and reporting, a.k.a., the informers.

Under the reign of the Chinese Communist Party, there have always been informers. However, now they appear as “Security Information Personnel”. According to the files I found, the first college they tested this new system on was at Shanghai Normal University. On May 21, 2002, the university released a job description for Information Personnel in Shanghai Normal University. They fully employed the system in the second half of 2005. Many universities and colleges openly posted vacancies on their websites for Security Information Personnel, as well as for Student Information Staff. It is the same job with a slightly different name. For example, in Nanchang University of Jiangxi Province, the job is called Regulations of Information Personnel for Students Teaching and Supervision. In Zengcheng College of South China Normal University, it is called Regulations of Student Information Personnel for Teaching and Management. In North East Electric Power University, it is called Organization and Management of Student Information Personnel. (to be cont’d)

- From Secret China , Original Chinese article from Author’s website

Related:
- Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (1) – Informer Is Everywhere in China

Are You Being Followed by “the Man” ? (1) – Informer Is Everywhere in China

He Qinglian, Chinese author and economist, via SecretChina.com, Mar. 17, 2010-

While I was reading through information about the Chinese government hiring informers, my fingers automatically typed this topic on the keyboard, “Are You Being Followed by the Man?” It is indeed a question that any Chinese who cares about public affairs and who likes to express himself on the Internet cannot ignore.

1. “The Man” Is Everywhere in the Country

Let’s talk about the possibilities of being noticed and followed by “the Man”. Recently, in an interview posted on Xinhua Net, Liu Xingchen, Assistant to the County Mayor of Kailu County (in Inner Mongolia), who is also the Chinese Communist Party Secretary and the Chief Commander of the Public Security Bureau, boasted to the reporter that he “has a huge network of informers” that helps him stay “highly alert” to any dissidents and acts of defiance.

How big is this network? Let’s look at the figures Liu Xingchen gave out. The number of informers under the control of the Public Security Bureau in Kailu County alone is 12093. The whole population of that county is 400,000. Disregarding a quarter of the population who are under the age of 18, there is one informer for every 25 adults. According to the Olympic Security Format by Meng Jianzhu, Secretary of Ministry of Public Security, which centered around the “Six Networks”, i.e., Street Level Prevention and Control, Community Level Prevention and Control, Inside Workplace Prevention and Control, Video Monitoring Networks, Regional Police Co-operation Network, and Virtual Social Prevention and Control, the proportion of informers in Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities, is much higher than a remote area like Kailu County.

The lowest level of informers is the “50 Cent Party”. They are active on the Internet, and earn 50 Chinese cents per comment they post that favors the government. Considering the difficulty of getting a job these days, the demand for this soul selling “employment” exceeds the supply. Thus, the pay was reduced. Recently, the government of Hengyang City, Hunan Province announced that each posted comment would only earn 10 Chinese cents, and the monthly salary for each person cannot exceed 100 Chinese yen, which is slightly over 10 US dollars.

I didn’t know which dynasty in Chinese history had ever gotten such a complete, widely spread, self-contained system of informers, apart from the Mao Period, which had a mechanism of using “active individuals”, people mobilized from the public to inform. Yet even during Mao’s time, since the information was limited, and their policy to fool the people was quite successful, Mao felt quite secure with his subjects when compared with the rulers today. Only during the Yuan Dynasty were the rulers as anxious and insecure about their subjects.

A minority in China, who invaded the middle land, established the Yuan Dynasty. Of course they would worry about the Han people who made up the majority of people at the time. Hence, they divided people into four classes. Among them, the Han were divided into Han and Southerners, which resembles what Mao did with the exploiting class, by having “landlord” and “urban business owners”. The latter has a better status than the former. Such a division creates barriers among people and makes it hard for them to stay united. The Han people were especially regulated. They could not have any organizations, were not allowed to worship in groups, nor could they have weapons. For example, ten households had to share one kitchen knife. The Mongolians were sent to reside in the Han peoples’ communities to manage them.

It is safe to say the Chinese government still uses those means to control their population today, only modified and more advanced. For example, guns used for game hunting replaced kitchen knives. Compared with the rulers during the Yuan Dynasty, their counterparts today have more effective monitoring methods thanks to technological advances accompanied by a system of informers, which forges a “Golden Shield” that is going to protect the “Chinese Communist Party’s reign for tens of thousands of years.” (to be cont’d)

- From Secret China , Original Chinese article from Author’s website