Ethics probe urged over Canadian MP’s flirty emails

OTTAWA— Embattled Conservative MP Bob Dechert should ask the federal ethics commissioner to review his relationship with a Chinese journalist, New Democrats say.

If he doesn’t, they say they may appeal to Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson for an independent review of the controversy that has thrust the Mississauga-Erindale politician into the spotlight.

“There should be an inquiry because there are all these threads loosely hanging out there,” NDP Paul Dewar said Thursday.

“I think that would do him good stead . . . to ensure there are no question marks left on his reputation and his conduct,” Dewar said in an interview.

Dechert has gone quiet since admitting a week ago that he had sent “flirtatious” emails to Shi Rong, a Toronto-based reporter with the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The Xinhua News Agency Correspondent over Amorous Emails Leaves Canada On ‘scheduled vacation’

OTTAWA — The Chinese journalist at the centre of the furor over amorous emails from Conservative MP Bob Dechert has left Toronto and has returned to China, her supervisor says.

Xinhua News Agency correspondent Shi Rong went on a “scheduled vacation,” according to Zeng Hu, the state media agency’s North America bureau chief. Zeng said he didn’t know if Shi would be coming back to Toronto after her trip.

“She wanted to have a vacation for some time before,” Zeng said Thursday from the Xinhua bureau in New York City.

Zeng said he doesn’t know when Shi left but said he believes she went back to Beijing.

Emails allegedly hacked from Shi’s Gmail account revealed personal exchanges between her and Dechert, the MP for Mississauga-Erindale, Ont. The emails were forwarded to about 250 recipients on Shi’s contact list last week.

Chinese journalist wanted a divorce to continue relationship with Canadian MP, e-mail claims

A Chinese journalist wanted to get a divorce to pursue a relationship with Conservative MP Bob Dechert, an e-mail allegedly sent by the woman’s husband claims.

The person who hacked e-mails between the Mississauga MP and Xinhua News correspondent Shi Rong appended the note at the top of the package of e-mails, which were forwarded last week to 250 recipients on Shi’s contacts list.

“In order to love this MP, Shi Rong has not hesitated to ask to end her marriage while posted abroad,” the note said in Chinese. “This is the Shi Rong you should know about.“

Freed China dissident Yang Maodong was tortured in custody, say rights groups

A Chinese dissident writer who was freed this week after five years in jail for alleged illegal business activities has said he was wrongly imprisoned and subjected to treatment “beyond people’s imagination”.

Yang Maodong said the charges against him were trumped up and that during his time in custody his interrogators questioned him only about his pro-democracy activities, and not business matters.

“I am innocent,” he said. “It’s a political case and I was called a political prisoner in the places where I was detained. All of this is political persecution of me because I promoted democracy.”

Chinese security spies often placed in newsrooms around the world

BEIJING— China routinely places state security agents in Xinhua news bureaus around the world, according to a senior Chinese journalist.

Foreign correspondent jobs are appointed by the Ministry of State Security for set periods, and while they may write the occasional story, their job is intelligence gathering, he said on condition of anonymity.

The rare acknowledgement of the practice comes as debate continues in Ottawa about the relationship between Mississauga MP Bob Dechert and Xinhua News Agency’s Toronto bureau chief, Shi Rong.

Xinhua Reporter Shi Rong Wanted Divorce for Canadian MP, Email Alleges

A reporter with the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency wanted to divorce her husband to “continue her love affair” with Canadian member of Parliament Bob Dechert, says the email sent from her account to scores of government and media contacts last week.

The email says, in Chinese: “To continue her love affair with this member of Parliament, Shi Rong pitilessly asked to end her marriage while stationed overseas. This is the Shi Rong you should know about.”

The email sender leaves no name, but Shi has told the Globe and Mail that her account was hacked by her husband. Dechert himself said he believed the account had been hacked “as a part of an ongoing domestic dispute.”

Canadian MP’s ‘flirtatious’ e-mails to China’s state-controlled news reporter exposed

A senior Harper government MP with foreign affairs duties has apologized for sending “flirtatious” e-mails to a journalist with China’s state-controlled news agency, a revelation that’s embarrassed Canada’s ruling Conservatives.

Bob Dechert, Conservative MP for Missisauga-Erindale, scrambled Friday to explain amorous e-mails he’d sent in 2010 to Shi Rong, a Toronto correspondent with Xinhua News Agency.

Mr. Dechert is parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Henan Case Underscores Depth of China’s Slavery Problem

(WSJ)- Police in central China’s Henan province said they have rescued 30 mentally handicapped people who had been enslaved at illegal brick kilns, in the latest case of slavery in China, a problem that continues in the country despite government pledges to eradicate it.

Zhang Xiaolei, director of the province’s propaganda office, said three people were in police custody in connection with the operation of the brick kilns, while several others remained at large. He said authorities learned of the brick kilns through recent local media reports.

Mr. Zhang and state-run media said the workers had severe mental illnesses and had been unable to provide police with their identities or where they were from. The state-run China Daily newspaper reported some of the victims had been enslaved for more than seven years.

Chinese Lawyers Teng Biao, Jiang Tianyong Named Democracy Prize Recipients

Two Chinese rights lawyers are being recognized for their work, but they’re not expected to travel overseas to receive their award. Lawyers Jiang Tianyong and Tengbiao are winners of this year’s Prize for Outstanding Democracy Activist, given by the U.S.-based China Democracy Education Foundation, or CDEF.

The award, which dates back to 1986, was announced at the beginning of this month. It recognizes individuals who have contributed towards democracy and human rights in China. CDEF President Lin Muchen says both lawyers have demonstrated this through their careers, despite tough conditions.

[Lin Muchen, President of China Democracy Education Foundation]:
“Although the communist regime suppresses them, they have not given up and have persisted in doing their work. As scholars, this kind of courageous spirit is precious. So I really feel they fully deserve the award.”

Activist: Child of Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng denied education

BEIJING — A rights activist says the 6-year-old daughter of a blind Chinese dissident has been barred from leaving her house and is unable to attend school.

He Peirong says the daughter of Chen Guangcheng and his wife has not been allowed to leave their house since Feb. 24 and her books have been taken away.

He said Tuesday that Chen’s daughter has not been allowed to attend school since it began last week.

Hong Kong TV news chief quits over Jiang Zemin death report

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong television station news chief and his deputy have resigned over an erroneous report that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin had died, the broadcaster said Tuesday.

Asia Television Ltd (ATV), one of two free-to-view broadcasters in the self-governed Chinese city, had cited unspecified sources on July 6 to report that the 85-year-old grandee had died.

It apologised for the error the following day, after China state media called the report “pure rumour”. Jiang reportedly still wields significant power in the Communist Party’s inner sanctum.

Group Says It Has New Evidence of Cisco’s Human Rights Abuse in China

SAN FRANCISCO — An advocacy group that accuses Cisco Systems of aiding the Chinese government in monitoring and apprehending members of the banned Falun Gong organization said Friday that it had new evidence to suggest that Cisco specifically tailored its technology for that purpose.

The Human Rights Law Foundation, based in Washington, sued Cisco, a California-based manufacturer of networking equipment, last May in the Federal District Court in San Jose, under a statute that allows American companies to be sued for violations of human rights abroad. The suit accused Cisco of having helped China build a firewall, known widely as the Golden Shield, to censor the Internet and keep tabs on dissidents. Cisco at the time said it had made nothing special for China.

On Friday afternoon, the group amended its original complaint, saying it had evidence showing that Cisco customized its products specifically to help Beijing go after members of the religious group Falun Gong.

Internet can destroy Communist control over China, party supporters fear

BEIJING: China’s Communist thinkers are warning the government to nail down the runaway growth of Internet as it could destroy the party’s control over the giant nation. This reveals rising fears about the possible impact of people’s rebellion seen in some Arab countries, where Twitter and Facebook played key roles.

“Internet opinion is spontaneous, but increasingly shows signs of becoming organized,” a group of Communist writers said in an article by a group of writers in the Communist Party of China’s theoretical journal, “Qiushi,” which means “Seeking Truth.”

It is clear the article was vetted by high officials in the CPC before it was published.

Tens of thousands Chinese bloggers question official’s “suicide”- 11 stab marks to his body

BEIJING — Tens of thousands of Internet users have gone online to question reports in China’s state-run media saying an anti-corruption official found dead with 11 stab marks to his body had taken his own life.

The body of Xie Yexin, who worked as an anti-corruption official in the central Chinese province of Hubei, was discovered in his office on Tuesday next to a knife wrapped in a paper napkin with a knife, press reports said.

By Friday, Xie’s death was the third most talked-about subject on the popular news site Sina.com, while the same company’s Weibo — China’s answer to Twitter — had more than 130,000 comments on the subject.

China censors Ai Weiwei’s Newsweek essay

BEIJING(AFP) — Chinese censors have removed an essay by Ai Weiwei in which the dissident artist strongly criticises the country’s government and justice system from the latest issue of Newsweek magazine.

The article, Ai’s first for a foreign publication since he was released from detention earlier this year, had been ripped from copies of the September 5 issue seen by AFP on a newsstand in Beijing.

In the essay Ai, 54, whose artworks have been displayed around the world, said his ordeal in police custody made him realise he was only a number in an anonymous system where “they deny us basic rights”.