Collusion of officials and merchants to expropriate farmland in East China

Donna Ware & Han Fei, SOH Radio Network, Nov. 8, 2009-

Some farmers in Wuhu City released an online petition, accusing the local government of collusion with an influential merchant. The merchant is accused of selling over 6.6 acres of agricultural land at a low price, causing many farmers to lose their land and become unemployed. The sale was also made without proper approval to convert farmland into an entertainment venue.

On November 4th, two villagers in Shi Wei Township spoke with a reporter about the collusion between officials and developers who had seized their farmland.

One villager named Chan angrily told a reporter that he had been appealing for a solution from authorities over the years. The local Letters & Complaints Bureau not only ignored his appeal, but used threats to intimidate him so that he would not petition again.

(Recording) “I have been appealing to the authorities. In January 2009, I also applied to the Complaints Bureau in Wuhu City, without response. Without my consent, the local government sold my private land to Tengfei Jewelry Company. I had not received any kind of compensation for my private land, the ownership of which evidenced by relevant documents. It is a system to protect farmland and, apparently, our agricultural fields were expropriated. The field is established under our scientific research and was forcibly taken away, which is the collusion of official and merchant. I appealed to the Wuhu City Complaint Bureau that intimidated me, saying: “You would be arrested if you were in the Complaint Bureau”. The Deputy of Wuhu City Complaints Office also said threateningly, “You should be concerned about your petty life”. Because I was afraid, I dared not air the issue.”

Villager Chan also revealed that corruption of local authorities has become very serious since 2002 when a succession of large blocks of farmland was illegally occupied. Commoners appealed to higher authorities, but the government merely acts carries out its routines with little real interest……. (more details from SOH)

More Children Forecast to Die From China Disease

Jane Macartney in Beijing, Times Online, UK, May 7, 2008-

More cases of the hand, foot and mouth disease that has killed 28 children in China are expected in June and July as the Government has ordered better public education and mandated punishments for officials who fall short.

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that there was no special cause for alarm. The current outbreak of the disease, a common childhood intestinal illness, is no more virulent than usual but cases have been more concentrated in a single place resulting in an unusually high fatality rate.

Hans Troedsson, the WHO representative in China, said: “This is not a new virus, it is a virus we know, and there is no indication that it has changed so there is no need to worry.”

The number of cases across China has climbed to 15,799, up from 12,000 reported on Tuesday. Officials said that the rise was due to tighter rules on reporting and not because of the spread of the infection.

Hand, foot and mouth is a common childhood illness and is endemic in much of Asia, but the outbreak has been linked with enterovirus 71 (EV71), which can cause a severe form of the disease characterised by high fever, paralysis and meningitis. Mr Troedsson said: “There is no indication of a change or a more virulent virus.”

However, there were still questions about why there were so many cases in Fuyang, in the eastern province of Anhui where 22 children have died, and why they presented unusual symptoms that made it difficult to identify the virus. That delay may have cost lives. Mr Troedsson added: “We usually don’t see a cluster like this . . . so we have to investigate that further together with the Government.”

The outbreak has not been confined to China. Around Asia, cases of the disease, which mostly affects children under five, were at higher than usual levels. Singapore reported a 75 per cent surge to 10,490 so far this year compared with last year. Vietnam’s health ministry said it had about 3,000 cases in the first four months of the year, more than the total number for 2007. Ten children had died in Vietnam.

China reported 80,000 cases last year, and 17 fatalities. In the hardest hit province of Anhui, problems with improper treatment and unscrupulous doctors have occurred, state media said. A total of ten doctors there have been punished for malpractice relating to the outbreak.

- Original report from Times Online

Google Earth Pictures: Polluted Water in China Discharged into Rivers

Above: Ri Zhao City, Shandong Province, east China

Above: Suzhou City, Zhejiang Province, South East China

Above: Wu Xi City, Jiang Su province, south China

Above: Tian Jin City, east China

Above: Wu Fang City, Shandong Province, east China

Above: Xia Men City, Fu Jian Province, southeast China

Above: He Fei City, An hui province, east China

(All photos are from the Epochtimes’ website)

China Adviser Drops Bombshell In call for Reforms

REUTERS via Straits Times, Singapore, Nov 21, 2007-

BEIJING – A PROVINCIAL Chinese government adviser has urged Communist leaders to lift a ban on new political parties, halt suppression of a spiritual sect and let exiled dissidents return home in a rare and bold move by an establishment figure.

In an open letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Wang Zhaojun argued that dramatic political reforms were needed to deal with a plethora of problems – a roller-coaster stock market, inflationary pressures, rising real estate prices, regional imbalances and dire poverty.

‘Release all political prisoners and welcome home overseas pro-democracy figures to jointly establish a democratic China,’ wrote Mr Wang, 59, a Standing Committee member of an advisory body to the Anhui provincial legislature in eastern China.

Breaking sensitive taboos, he called for political rehabilitation of both the Falun Gong spiritual movement, banned as a cult in 1999, and reappraisal of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests crushed by the army in 1989.

‘At present, most urgent is: stop persecution of the Falun Gong!’ wrote Wang, a soldier-turned-businessman.

He also recommended depoliticising the People’s Liberation Army and allowing multi-party politics with parties ‘taking turns governing’ – also taboo topics for the Communist Party which has ruled the world’s most populous nation unchallenged since 1949.

‘Through votes, (let the people) choose a legitimate, competent and accountable government that is supported by a majority of people and recognised by all in society,’ according to the open letter.

Mr Wang, reached by telephone, confirmed he wrote the 60-page open letter on Oct 22.

Asked why he risked political repercussions, he said that he was frustrated with ‘bureaucracy’ when he paid a courtesy call on the cabinet’s State Environmental Protection Administration, apparently to do business.

Social and economic strains

The bombshell dropped by Mr Wang has been the talk of liberal intellectuals, many of whom have also called for political reforms, albeit much milder in nature.

At a recent forum, academics said China needed bolder moves to address social and economic strains.

Sun Liping, a sociology professor at Tsinghua University, said the government should adjust its policy of ‘maintaining stability (as) a top priority’ because it has hindered political reforms for the last two decades.

Mr Wang’s open letter came on the heels of the Communist Party’s 17th Congress last month when Hu emerged stronger by promoting allies to key posts and retiring rivals.

The letter said despite speculation that Mr Hu’s and Mr Wen’s powers were still limited, the pair should not drag their feet on political change.

Rapid growth was not sustainable with a yawning wealth gap, environmental degradation and waste of resources, Mr Wang wrote.

Mr Wang complained about social inequality with state workers laid off after state assets fell into private hands. But he wrote that privatising land may curb clashes over land grabs.

He pressed the leadership to free all political prisoners and respect free speech.

Turning to Taiwan, which China claims as its own, Mr Wang wrote that democracy on the island may be chaotic with fistfights erupting in parliament, but it is ‘out in the open and better than the scheming and intrigues of palace politics and the sound of sharpening knives’. — REUTERS

- News report on the Straits Times

Also see this topic on:

- The Ages, Australia: Bold adviser dares China to change

Entrepreneur’s Open Letter to China Leaders Requesting Political Reform

By Zheng Cunzhu, Special to The Epoch Times, Nov 07, 2007-

[Editor's Note: After the publication of the Open Letter of Standing Committee Member of the Anhui Political Consultative Conference Wang Zhaojun to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on October 22, The Epoch Times received a letter from jurist and board chairman Zheng Cunzhu of Jiahe Food Co. Ltd. in Anhui Province. With the author's permission, we publish these excerpts. We will keep the readers informed of any further developments.]

Immediately Start Political System Reform at City and County Levels

Dear President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao:

The 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has concluded. You were again elected to be the main leaders of the ruling party, and will serve for another five years. As a Chinese citizen, according to relevant regulations specified in the Constitution of People’s Republic of China, I am writing an open letter to you. As a person who experienced the 1989 “June 4th Incident” personally, as a juristic person and board chairman of a foreign-funded enterprise in China, and as a participant and insider of an overseas democratic movement organization, based on my own growth process and investment experience, and based upon my knowledge of the overseas democratic movement organizations, I would like to offer my personal opinions and suggestions to you, the main leaders of the CCP and Chinese authorities.

The Tight Knots Obstructing Political Reform

1) June 4th Incident

Past leaders all emphasized that the CCP has already decided the nature of it, and that decision has remained unchanged. Although the term has evolved from “June 4th Riot” to “June 4th Turmoil” to “June 4th Incident”, the majority of the Chinese people have never been convinced of its nature by the CCP’s definition of what happened. [Editor's Note: The "June 4th Incident" is known by the rest of the world as "The Tiananmen Massacre."]

2) The Chinese Democratic Party

On June 25, 1998, while former U.S. President Clinton was visiting China, Wang Youcai and others in Zhejiang Province formally filed an application to the Zhejiang Department of Civil Affairs for establishing the “Chinese Democratic Party.” The aim of the Chinese Democratic Party is to implement democratic elections, to establish a constitutional democratic political system, and to establish a mechanism for division of political power.

The CCP’s General Secretary at the time decided to arrest these advocates and registrants of the Chinese Democratic Party. Not only were the local contact persons for the Chinese Democratic Party arrested and sentenced for “violating the law,” but even Wang Youcai and others in the preparatory committee, who had followed the legal procedure to apply for the registration of the Chinese Democratic Party, were arrested and sentenced.

3) Falun Gong

In 1999, the same CCP leader again unwisely staged anti-Falun Gong incidents, which created yet another unshakable heavy burden for the CCP.

Why was it unwise? Starting from July 1999, the CCP has used all political and economical national resources it can to carry out the large-scale and long-term persecution on Falun Gong. The CCP originally thought that it could quickly defeat or eliminate its self-designated “opponent” as in previous movements that were political.. However, Falun Gong not only did not give in to the high pressure, but spread across the world and blossomed in many countries. Inside China, Falun Gong members wrote various slogans on paper money and put up stickers upholding their beliefs inside residential buildings. To this “crusade” with such a great disparity in strength, the CCP has devoted eight years and yet still cannot win.

Many of my friends, though not Falun Gong practitioners, like me, draw the same conclusion: Falun Gong cannot but prove beneficial to the entire country in building a harmonious society. It was against the law to persecute Falun Gong and a wrong decision made by very few high-ranking officials in the CCP. The persecution against Falun Gong adherents, such as beating, arrest, brainwash, torture, are serious crimes committed by pubic securities and special officials completely ignoring basic human rights laws and regulations. Those criminal acts shall be prosecuted and punished in the future.

Feasibility Study on Reforms at County and City Levels

It is urgent and feasible to launch reforms of the political structure at the county and city level. Meanwhile the key benefit for the CCP is that its position as the ruling party, especially at levels above provincial, will not be threatened but only consolidated. The procedures are analyzed below:

1) Direct Election of County-Level Officials and People’s Representatives

Voting is a basic and effective democratic instrument. At present China has tried the democratic election of town and township leaders. For truly democratic elections, voters should be allowed to choose their candidates except for those candidates recommended by the CCP. Because elections need promotion, organization and planning, political organizations opposed to the Party should be allowed to exist and each candidate be permitted to set up his (her) own organization committee for lawful election.

2) Free Press and Supervision by Public Opinion

Censorship should be lifted for media at the level of county (city). Nongovernmental newspaper, radio and TV should be allowed. Thus the news media can play a positive role in exercising supervision, in addition to the supervisory function of civil representatives and opposition parties.

Radio and TV stations should arrange some regular political programs that aim to invite representatives of various political parties to make comments on the same social issues and also invite officials to announce administrative policies on people’s livelihoods and then stand for correction by the people.

With a free press, corruption scandals could not be concealed anymore; any social evils such as criminal syndicates and pornography could be revealed in time; any unjust cases could be exposed and judged by public opinion.

3) Laying Foundations for Provincial-Level Reform

Initial political reforms are only launched at county and city level. The CCP could appoint as people’s representatives, those winning the local elections and gaining support from the voters, for having both ability and political integrity, as provincial-level officials. Meanwhile, through implementing direct local elections, democratic reforms and gaining experience in how to put democracy into practice, people could be educated and trained in participating in and discussing state affairs and democratic supervision, and the overall quality of the people in China could be improved. That could lay a solid foundation for reform at the provincial level or even at the national level.
Zheng Cunzhu

Board Chairman and Juristic Person

Anhui Wuhu Jiahe Foodstuff Co., Ltd.

Wuhu Mechanical Industry Park, Anhui Province

(Nov. 1, 2007)

Click here to read the original article in Chinese

- Original report from the Epochtimes

Dissent in China Reaches New Level

By Wang Zhen and Li Jia, The Epoch Times Staff, Nov 05, 2007-

Wang Zhaojun, standing member of the Anhui Province Political Consultative Commission, has just published an extensive letter (in Chinese part 1, part 2) to Chinese leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. The letter calls for drastic changes to the repressive paradigm of China’s social, economic, and political environment.

(photo: Mr. Wang Zhaojun/ photo provided by Mr. Wang Zhaojun )

Wang pointed out in the letter that the most urgent issue facing the world’s largest nation is to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and provide state compensation for the victims.

This bold statement makes Wang the highest level Chinese official to publicly step forward in favor of Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a spiritual practice whose millions of adherents currently face imprisonment and torture in China, with many thousands reported as murdered.

In his 40,000-word treatise (in Chinese part 1, part 2), Wang talked about various “bombs” that exist in Chinese society. He lists religious persecutions, environmental exhaustion, an over-heating economy, and a real estate bubble ready to burst. His list continues with a lack of military oversight, judicial corruption, media suppression, the Taiwan issue, and the need for extensive political reform, among other items.

Since the publication of Wang’s letter in the Chinese editions of The Epoch Times and on numerous websites, he has found growing support inside and outside of China.

In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times he said, “All the ordinary citizens strongly support me, including many high-level officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP.) They actually understand very well in their hearts.”

“The support from all the people shows that we have common needs; it is only that I have spoken out,” said Wang.

Previous high profile critics such as Jia Jia, former General Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Association of Scientists and Technology Experts, have had to flee China to avoid persecution themselves. Others, such as the attorney Gao Zhisheng, have stayed and were arrested for their writings.

“I absolutely don’t care. I am not in fear either. Because what I say represents the voice of ordinary citizens. If the CCP persecutes me, then it is the same as persecuting the citizens of the entire country,” stated a defiant 59-year-old Wang.

“At my age, if I still can’t speak the words in my heart, I would feel so weak. The more the CCP wants to strike at or suppress me, the more I will struggle to the end. If the situation is truly as I say it is, then the CCP will expose itself because it is nothing but a gangsterdom.”

Wang Zhaojun thinks political reform is inevitable for China. In his letter he calls on Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to begin implementing real political reforms, allow freedom of speech, release all political prisoners, and open the door for overseas democracy activists living in exile to return.

In his open letter, published Oct. 26, 2007, Wang states, “Freedom of belief is a universal value and is regulated in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and China’s Constitution. However, after the Tiananmen Massacre, in order to continue the one-party dictatorship, Deng Xiaoping’s successors listed all non-communist organizations as ‘unstable elements’ that needed to be ‘eliminated before budding.’”

“They made an example of Falun Gong, a popular qigong practice at the time. Those [practitioners] who tried to explain themselves were regarded by the government as highly disrespectful of the authority and would be suppressed using all means. “The suppression of Falun Gong is in fact suppression of all people. It needs to be stopped immediately and victims should be given state compensation,” reads the letter. Wang suggests that the government “send out a representative to talk to Falun Gong and claim criminal liability against the decision makers in the persecution.”

The Chinese authorities are short of support and oversight from the people and lack a counterbalancing force from society. “The current system and regime do not represent the people. If the leaders who impose and exist under this system and regime cannot lead the country to reform, it will be the biggest misfortune,” said Wang.

“I hope there will be a Gorbachev or Yeltsin in China,” concluded Wang, asking for more reformers within the CCP to stand up.

Wang Zhaojun’s Background

Wang Zhaojun, now 59 years old, was born in Beijing. He was a factory worker, soldier in the People’s Liberation Army, and middle-school teacher.

In 1982, he graduated from the former Beijing Electric Power Institute, and went on to establish his own company, Zhaojun Light Industry Research Institute to produce yogurt and Zhaojun Cola. The company also made the first ever “all purpose blown plastic molding machine” in China, which was exported to over 30 countries.

In 1988, Zhaojun Cola won the gold medal at the first Chinese Food Expo. Later the Zhaojun Light Industrial Institute was developed into Anhui Guobao (meaning national treasure) Ltd. Wang, as the company board director, was elected as the member of Anhui Provincial Standing Committee of People’s Political Consultative Conference.

In 2002, Wang was selected as the most outstanding private technology entrepreneur in China by the National Industrial and Commercial Federation.

His long standing membership of the Communist Party and high standing in both business and political circles has made his case very complicated for higher officials to handle. At the time of printing, he has still not faced any danger as other outspoken lesser officials have.

- Original report from the Epochtimes

China: Wang Zhaojun Receives Wide Support, Says More People Will Step Out Soon

By Li Zhen, Epoch Times Staff, Nov 02, 2007-

After publishing his open letter to the leader of the Chinese communist regime calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, Wang Zhaojun, a provincial level cadre from Anhui province, received wide support both within China and abroad. In an Epoch Times interview, Wang said he is confident that he will be safe, “because I have said what every Chinese people wanted to say.” Wang also said the topic would get “hotter and hotter” in the near future, and more people will step out.

(photo: Mr. Wang Zhaojun/ photo provided by Wang Zhaojun/from the Epochtimes)

Wang Zhaojun is a standing member of the Anhui Province Political Consultative Commission. Since his open letter was published, to his surprise, he received an enormous amount of phone calls from within China and abroad in support of his letter. The strong support from mainland China was out of his expectations. “Some people even posted my open letter on websites and BBS. I am really gratified to see that. In the end, the change has to come from inside of China not overseas.”

Wang said that people showed support with no reservations, including high ranking officials from the central, provincial and municipal level. “Some even frankly told me their official position.”

Because he received enormous calls supporting his letter as well as inquiries of his safety, Wang had to publish another open letter and a declaration on the Chinese Epoch Times on October 29 and 30 respectively to inform the world that he was safe and to express his gratitude.

Wang believes that his open letter will reach every corner of China in a very short period of time, “Because people from many provinces and cities have called to show their support, or said they would help to spread the message.”

Over 90 Percent Party Members Support Him

Since the publishing of his open letter, Wang did not receive any threatening phone calls or heard opposing voices. Wang explains this unusual phenomena, “I believe what I said represented the majority inside the Communist Party, including some senior members, even some high ranking officials, basically, I have said what they wanted to say.”

Based on his experience working in the army, the people’s congress and political consultative commission, Wang is quite certain that over 90 percent of party members share the same thoughts as him.

More People will Step Out Soon

Wang believes his open letter is just a beginning, “One month, two months, three months, this topic will be hotter and hotter, when that comes I will retreat I suppose, to focus on my business.”

Although Wang admitted that his open letter was triggered by the bureaucratic style of the State Environmental Protection Administration, he has planned this letter in his mind for a long time. He spent nearly three months writing it and felt very relieved after finishing it.

Open Letter Is the Only Choice

Wang said open letters are the only way to let your voice to be heard in current China. If you try to deliver directly to the offices of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, you won’t even get close to their doors. Open letter is a kind of pressure to the authorities.

Wang said that his original letter has already reached the Anhui Provincial Political Consultative Commission, and he said, “According to my experience working in the Political Consultative Commission, they will definitely hand in the letter to upper authorities, at least hand it to Jia Qinglin (Standing Member of the Central Political Bureau, Party Chief and Chairman of 10th National Political Consultative Commission), and Jia will also take it seriously.”

Good Opportunity for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao

Wang also explained why he chose to publish the letter after the 17th National Party Congress, he believes now is the best time for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to start the process to establish a democratic and constitutional government, ” For the 17th Party Congress, no matter how good your propaganda is, they all know that people are not happy. If you are willing to reform, even slowly one step by one step, people will support you, and the support is very strong.”

Wang said that he had an in depth understanding about the persecution of Falun Gong through human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s letter. He said, “This persecution should not continue anymore. Many Falun Gong practitioners want their voices to be heard, if they are suppressed, others will be too. It means everyone is suppressed. The suppression to this group of people is the same as suppression to everyone.”

Most Sensitive Topic

In his nearly 40,000 words open letter, Wang thinks the most sensitive topic is “People Create Yeltsin,” he calls upon the Chinese public to spread this message by mobile text messages.

He said, “A democratic environment is what all of us long for. If you persist and spread the message continuously everyone will support you. It does not contradict with the law in China.”

- Original report from the Epochtimes: Wang Zhaojun: I Have Said What People Wanted to Say

Related:
- China High Level Official Openly Advocates Cessation of Falun Gong Persecution

Editorial: Commending Mr. Wang Zhaojun for His Open Letter to China Leaders

The Epoch Times, Oct 31, 2007-

On Oct. 22, 2007, Mr. Wang Zhaojun, a standing member of the Anhui Province Political Consultative Commission, published an open letter to Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. In the open letter (Chinese part 1, part 2), Wang described many crises and instances of corruption faced by Chinese society and suggested having constitutional and political reforms, allowing the freedoms of religion and speech, permitting overseas democratic activists to return to China safely, and nationalizing the Chinese army, among other proposals.

Particularly commendable was Mr. Wang’s direct suggestion that the CCP must end the persecution of Falun Gong immediately, bring to justice those officials who decided to suppress Falun Gong, and compensate all the victimized Falun Gong practitioners financially. Mr. Wang Zhaojun’s valor, conscience, and insight are worthy of applause.

Scared and Silent for Too Long

The persecution of Falun Gong poses the biggest problem for human rights in China. Since Jiang Zemin began to suppress Falun Gong in July 1999, the CCP has been pouring a lot of state resources into the suppression of Falun Gong. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been unlawfully arrested, incarcerated, and put into forced labor camps or prisons. They face long-term psychological torments, sexual abuse, and torture. They are even killed for their internal organs, which are traded for high profits, before their bodies are cremated to eliminate the evidence.

Large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners are forced by the Chinese authorities to divorce their spouses and forced to flee from their homes to avoid further persecution. Sustaining the suppression of Falun Gong costs an astronomical level of funding, promotes the degeneration of the Chinese government, damages normal life in Chinese society, and destroys the most basic morals of the Chinese people. The persecution of Falun Gong, judging from every possible perspective, has become an unprecedented disaster for Chinese society. As Mr. Wang Zhaojun has pointed out, the persecution does not only target Falun Gong practitioners, but all Chinese.

Jiang Zemin and his political gang are not only sustaining the persecution of Falun Gong stubbornly, but will stop at nothing to goad or entice government officials and civilians to participate in the persecution. Although a lot of Chinese people know Falun Gong is good and all the charges are false, although a lot of Chinese people know the disaster brought upon China by the persecution, and although a lot of Chinese people are secretly opposed to the persecution, they choose to remain silent because of the CCP’s high pressure tactics and terror.

But silence has fueled the persecution and, as a result, the Chinese society has paid an even greater price for it. The persecution of Falun Gong has lasted eight years since July 1999. It’s time to face the large catalog of negative outcomes brought by this persecution.

Mr. Wang Zhaojun is the first Chinese regime official inside China, and one at a provincial level too, who has openly called upon the CCP to end the persecution of Falun Gong, to bring the head culprits of the persecution to justice, and to compensate the victims for their losses. This is a very encouraging development. Some businessmen turn a blind eye to the persecution. In contrast to them, Mr. Wang Zhaojun has shown his valor by calling for an end to the persecution and has given his fellow businessmen an excellent example.

He should be revered, encouraged, supported, and seconded for his courageous act. When the truth is spread and the voice of justice echoes among the people, the atmosphere of wickedness will melt. Because of the many decades of repeated persecution launched by the CCP, the Chinese people have been afraid and silent for too long. It’s high time for the Chinese people to stand up and say “no” to the persecutor. It’s high time to end all the tragedies brought upon China by the CCP.

Speaking for the Conscience of the Chinese People

For several thousand years China’s spiritual heritage required standing up against tyranny, speaking the truth, persevering in one’s righteous faith, safeguarding one’s morality, and being selfless towards the nation and one’s fellow countrymen. However, the CCP’s propaganda and many political movements have inflicted severe damage on and suppressed this heritage. Nevertheless, many people still retain it, and are becoming the backbone and conscience of the Chinese people. Mr. Wang’s open appeal has proven that the Chinese spiritual heritage has survived.

Mr. Wang Zhaojun is not alone. Attorneys, including Guo Guoding, Zhang Jiankang and Li Hepping, have openly represented Falun Gong practitioners. CCP officials, including Chen Yonglin, Han Guangsheng, and Hao Fengjun, and the high-ranking Chinese regime official Jia Jia have severed ties with the CCP. The human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng and the college professor Sun Wenguang have published open letters to call for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong. These open actions have shown that the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is not welcome and that more and more people are openly opposed to it.

There is an ancient Chinese saying, “A man with morality will be supported while a man without morality will not.” There is a lot of truth in this saying. Those who uphold justice with valor will be widely supported and revered.

Everyone Is a Victim

That Mr. Wang Zhaojun published his open letter to Hu and Wen implies that the CCP officials opposing the persecution of Falun Gong are reaching the CCP’s top level. This is an inevitable trend. In fact, this is an opportune time for the rulers of China and a vast number of the CCP officials to wash their hands of the persecution of Falun Gong by openly calling for its end.

Whether they like it or not, the rulers of China and the CCP officials have become part of the mechanism for sustaining the persecution. Because of their silence and their compromise of morality, they have made the persecution happen. For a man with foresight and ambition, tribulations will temper his mind and create opportunities for great accomplishments.

While we are praising Mr. Wang Zhaojun, we must not forget we also have a responsibility to help end the persecution. Each minute or second can feel like an eternity for those victims of this cruel persecution. The persecution of Falun Gong does not only happen to Falun Gong practitioners, but also their friends and families who have been enduring anxiety, powerlessness, separation, and heartache. For those who choose to be silent and even for the lackeys who assist the persecution, isn’t the twisting of their minds and the tormenting of their consciences also a form of persecution?

For those who are actually running the persecution, their sins and crimes continue to accumulate each day before the persecution ends. When justice is served, the continuation of the persecution will only increase the punishment and pain they will face. With that in mind, aren’t they persecuting themselves when they execute the order to torture Falun Gong practitioners? Apparently no one wins from this persecution. In that case, why not end the persecution of Falun Gong right away?

The many years of the persecution of Falun Gong have caused severe damage to the morality and dignity of all mankind and brought great humiliation to every man and woman from China. Let’s all speak against the persecution of Falun Gong, end the persecution, and restore hope to the Chinese people.

- Original article from the Epochtimes: Epoch Times Editorial: Commending Mr. Wang Zhaojun for His Open Letter to China’s Paramount Leader and Premier

Related:

- China High Level Official Openly Advocates Cessation of Falun Gong Persecution

Outspoken Official: Persecution of Falun Gong Designed to Silence Entire China

By Li Jia, Epoch Times Staff, Nov 01, 2007-

Wang Zhaojun (photo at right), standing committee member of the Auhui Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference accepted an interview with The Epoch Times after his open letter to Chinese leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao was published on Oct. 26. In this letter, which was widely published by media outside China, Wang, a current prefecture-level official, as well as a businessman, openly criticized the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), urging the two leaders to implement political reform and demanding an immediate end to the persecution of Falun Gong.

“Are All Chinese People Wimpy?”

While living in mainland China, Wang dared to openly express his dissatisfaction and his criticism of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. Meanwhile, he urged political reform and nationalizing of the military, which would remove the military from CCP control. He also spoke out on other issues deemed sensitive by the communist regime. His action has attracted attention both inside and outside of China.

“Are all Chinese people wimpy? Is the root of the Chinese nation so inferior?” said Wang, who later said emphatically to a reporter from The Epoch Times, “At my age, if I still can’t speak the words within my heart, then I too would be wimpy. The more the CCP wants to strike at me or suppress me, the more I will struggle to the end. If the situation is truly so, then the CCP exposes itself as nothing more than a dictatorship.”

In the face of the regime’s tyranny, Wang didn’t feel terrified about writing the open letter. He said, “I absolutely don’t care. I am not in fear either, because what I have to say represents the voice of ordinary citizens. If the CCP persecutes me, then it is the same as persecuting the citizens of the entire country.”

Silencing the Nation

Wang said that, “When the regime doesn’t think one group should exist under its system, it will start to strike at and try to dissolve it. Then the group will certainly explain the facts about itself, and, in turn, the CCP will suppress it more. The more you appeal, the more the CCP suppresses. This method is designed to create terror.”

He continued, “It is very simple: If Falun Gong were not good, then their own people would stand up to disclose that. Not only has this not been the case, but instead Falun Gong practitioners try to explain the true facts about Falun Gong everywhere. The CCP then suppresses this group more.

“In fact, the persecution of Falun Gong is the same as trying to cover the mouths of the citizens of the entire nation. If this group of people is not being recognized as part of society, then can other people speak out?” Wang thought, “This is not a simple issue of opposing Falun Gong. According to the Constitution, everyone in the whole country should have freedom of speech, freedom of belief, and freedom of association. When the CCP deprives some people of freedom, then it deprives the entire nation of freedom.”

“Allow Only One Color?”

“Isn’t Falun Gong a cultivation group, believing in ‘truthfulness, compassion and tolerance’ and meaning no harm at all? China survived the Cultural Revolution, but people lost a lot of their spiritual beliefs.”

He continued, “Therefore, isn’t believing in ‘truthfulness, compassion and tolerance’ beneficial to Chinese society?”

Wang said, “Although I am an atheist, we can all live together. Why would a society allow for only one color, for people to speak in only one tone? This is not right. If you deprive people of their rights, then freedom of speech as guaranteed by the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as by China’s Constitution, is not there at all. This is fundamental common sense.”

Through Gao Zhisheng’s open letters to Hu and Wen, Wang started to know more about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. He said, “This persecution should not continue.”

Widespread Support— Including CCP Officials

Since Wang’s open letter has been published overseas, he has received many letters of support from friends in the U.S., Hong Kong, and many provinces in mainland China. He said, “All ordinary citizens strongly support me, including many high-ranking officials of the CCP. They actually understand very well in their hearts.”

Wang said, “The support from all the people shows that we have a common need. It is only that I have spoken out.”

Background of Wang Zhaojun

Wang Zhaojun, now 59 years old, was born in Beijing. He has been a factory worker, a soldier of the People’s Liberation Army and a middle-school teacher. In 1982, he graduated from Beijing Electric Power College (currently the North China Electric Power University). He invented the first all purpose blown plastic molding machine, which was widely sold to over 30 counties and regions.

In 1988, the Zhaojun Cola he produced won the gold medal from the first Chinese Food Expo. Later, Zhaojun Light Industry Research Institute was developed into Auhui Guobao Ltd. Wang, the director of the board, was elected as a standing committee member of the Auhui Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference. The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce also rated him in 2002 as the outstanding Private Scientific and Technological Entrepreneur.

In his over-40,000 word open letter, Wang Zhaojun elaborated on the social crises in various aspects of Chinese society, including real estate, the stock market, rising prices, and widespread corruption. He proposed an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and called for freedom of belief and allowing democracy activists living in exile to return to China to build democracy through their joint efforts.

- Original article from the Epochtimes: Persecution of Falun Gong Designed to Silence Entire Nation

China High Level Official Openly Advocates Cessation of Falun Gong Persecution

By Wang Zhen, The Epoch Times, Oct 30, 2007-

Wang Zhaojun, standing member of the Anhui Province Political Consultative Commission, recently wrote an open letter to Chinese leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao stating that (persecution of) Falun Gong is the most urgent issue for China.

(photo: Wang Zhaojun)

Wang pointed out in the letter that the most urgent issue is to stop the persecution against Falun Gong and provide state compensation for the victims. After Jia Jia, a Shanxi provincial technology official, Wang is the second high level CCP official to call for the stop of the persecution against Falun Gong.

In his 400,000 word open letter, Wang talked about various “bombs” that exist in Chinese society— the damage to the environment and natural resources behind the over-heating economy; the bubble in the real estate market, reform of state enterprises and social injustice; governmental media suppression and the media’s breach of duty; the Taiwan issue and China’s political reform; policies of political reforms, etc.

Wang thinks political reform is inevitable. He calls on Hu and Wen to implement political reform, allow freedom of speech, free all political prisoners, open the gate to the return of overseas democratic activists to build a democratic China together, “I hope there will be a Gorbachev or Yeltsin in China!”

Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong Immediately

In his open letter, Wang says, “Freedom of belief is a universal value and is regulated in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and China’s Constitution. However, after the Tiananmen Massacre, in order to continue the one party dictatorship, Deng Xiaoping’s successors listed all non-communist organizations as ‘unstable elements’ that needed to be ‘eliminated before budding.’

“They made an example of Falun Gong, a popular qigong practice at the time. Those [practitioners] who tried to explain themselves were regarded by the government as highly disrespectful of the authority and would be suppressed using all means.” “The suppression against Falun Gong is in fact suppression against all people. It needs to be stopped immediately and victims should be given state compensation,” said Wang. Wang suggested that the authority “send out a representative to talk to Falun Gong and claim criminal liability against the decision maker of the suppression.

“I am only suggesting, and the purpose of my suggestion is to end the persecution against Falun Gong as quickly as possible, so China’s progression in democracy can move forward quickly.”

Emergence of a Chinese Gorbachev or Yeltsin

Wang points out in his letter that China’s society blocks human rights and the ideas of human rights. This is why things like child slave workers in brick factories can happen.

The Chinese government is short of support and supervision from the people and a counteracting force from society. “The current system and regime do not represent the people. If the leader who imposes and exists under this system and regime cannot lead his people to reform, it will be the biggest misfortune of the country,” said Wang.

In the end, Wang said that this is a historical time to create great people, “I hope there will be a Gorbachev or Yeltsin in China!”

Wang Zhaojun’s Background

According to Xinhua News, Wang graduated from the Beijing Electric Power College (currently the North China Electric Power University) in 1982. In 1983, he founded the Zhaojun Food Company that made bread in Anhui Province.

Later he founded Zhaojun Light Industry Research Institute to produce yogurt and Zhaojun Cola. The company also made the first ever “all purpose blown plastic molding machine” in China, which was exported to over thirty countries in the world.

In 1988, Zhaojun Cola won the gold medal at the first China Food Expo. The Zhaojun Light Industry Research Institute later became the Anhui Guobao Group Co. Wang, chairman of the company, was elected the standing member of the Anhui Province Political Consultative Commission.

In 2002, Wang was chosen the outstanding private technology entrepreneur in China by the National Industrial and Commercial Federation.

- Original report from The Epoch Times: Communist Official Advocates Cessation of Falun Gong Persecution

China Official Document Leaked: 9 Christian Church Leaders Thrown Into Labor Camp for Using “Evil Cult”…

An Chinese authority’s official document exposed today by China Christian rights group shows that 9 Christian church leaders were thrown into China labor camp in August for using “evil cult organization to undermine the enforcement of State laws”.

The document, titled “A Decision of Reeducation through Labor”, dated August 6, 2007, was issued by “the Administrative Committee for Reeducation through Labor of Enshizhou City”. Enshizhou City is located in Hubei Province, central China. A photo of the original document and English translation were posted on China Aid Association’s website.

The 9 Christian church leaders, including 4 male and 5 female, in which 5 of them come from East China (Anhui Province) , 4 from central China (Henan and Shanxi Province), are all currently detained in Enshizhou city’s “Reeducation through Labor” center.

Here’ a part of the authority’s investigation shown on the official documenet:

“ On July 14, Yang Situan, Qin Daomin and the other eight went to the Nursing Home of Guandian town, where they gathered more than 60 people from the Nursing Home to listen to their hymns, and watch their magical performance between man and God. They also played the Jesus movie, led the people to pray together, prayed for the disabled elderly men for healing from God, and asked the senior citizens to believe in Jesus.”

“Evil cult” and None Evil cult in China

The name of “evil cult” is widely used by Chinese government to suppress religion freedom. Any groups who has independent belief other than communism are called as “evil cult”.

In today’s China, all religion activities are supposed to be managed by China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs (SARA) under the guidance of Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), which was founded in 1954.

The TSPM decides ( from China Aid):

- what buildings can be used for church services
- which pastors can preach and what areas can be traveled to spread religion
- Church activities are restricted to Sunday services.
- No mid-week meetings.
- No Bible studies.
- No gatherings in private homes.
- Religious activities are outlawed outside of church buildings.
- No one under 18 may be evangelized or baptized.
- Members are allowed no contact with overseas church groups and forbidden to read foreign Christian literature, listen to foreign Christian tapes or tune in to gospel radio broadcasts.
In one word, the the Chinese government is the head of the Church, Christians and the belief.

True Evil Cult

House church Christians recognize only one head of the Church, that is, Jesus Christ. The TSPM must recognize two, both Christ and the Communist Party.

So in China, the name of “cult” is a political definition: if not accept the control of the communist, then it’s a “cult”.

That means in the eye of Chinese government, the name of “cult” has nothing to do with the teaching of the religion itself, even if the religion teach people to do good, but because it does not accept the control of the communist, it is still a “cult”.

The fact of ongoing persecution of house church Christians and Falun Gong adherents has fully proved this.

Conclusion: The true evil cult is the Chinese Communist Party.

To know more details, please read this article: How the Chinese Communist Party Is an Evil Cult

Youtube Video: First half, second half (on How the Chinese Communist Party Is an Evil Cult)

China: Name List of 11 Corrupt Officials At Provincial Level Since 2002

Chinascope Magazine, USA, 09/06/2007-

On September 1, the website of Procuratorial Daily (检察日报) published a short list of officials at the provincial level who have been found to be corrupt since the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held in 2002. [1]

1. Liu Fangren, former Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee, former Chair of the Standing Committee of the Guizhou People’s Congress,

Alleged Crimes: Individually or collectively accepting 6,770,000 Yuan
of illegal money Sentence or Decision: life imprisonment, forfeiture of ill-gotten money, confiscation of all personal property

2. Gao Yan, former General Manager of the State Power Corp. Of China

Alleged Crimes: economic crime
Sentence or Decision: Expelled from the CCP and official duties

3. Wang Huaizhong, former Vice Governor of Anhui Province

Alleged Crimes: Accepting a bribe of 5,170,000 Yuan; no legitimate sources for personal assets of 4,800,000 Yuan
Sentence or Decision: Death penalty with deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property

4. Han Guizhi, former Chair of the Political Consultative Conference of Heilongjiang Province

Alleged Crimes: Accepting 7,020,000 Yuan in illegal money Sentence or Decision: Death penalty with a two-year reprieve, deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property

5. Wang Zhaoyao, former Chair of the Political Consultative Conference of Anhui Province

Alleged Crimes: Accepting illegal money and items with a total value of 7,040,000 Yuan; no legitimate sources for personal assets of 6,500,000 Yuan
Sentence or Decision: Death penalty with a two-year reprieve, deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property

6. Wang Youjie, former Vice Chair of Political Consultative Conference of Henan Province

Alleged Crimes: Accepting illegal money and items with a total value of 6,340,000 Yuan; no legitimate sources for personal assets of 8,900,000 Yuan
Sentence or Decision: Death penalty with a two-year reprieve, deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property

7. Jing Fusheng, former member of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, former Director of the Provincial Propaganda Department

Alleged Crimes: Accepting multi-millions of Yuan in illegal money; a corrupt life style
Sentence or Decision: Expelled from the CCP and official duties, transferred to the judicial authority for investigation into the alleged crimes

8. Du Shicheng, former Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee, former Secretary of the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee

Alleged Crimes: Individually or collectively, along with his mistress, accepting illegal money and items with a value of 1,000,000 Yuan; a corrupt life style
Sentence or Decision: Expelled from the CCP and official duties, transferred to the judicial authority for investigation to the alleged crimes

9. Liu Zhihua, former Vice Mayor of Beijing

Alleged Crimes: Accepting multi-millions of Yuan in bribes; having a mistress and using his power to contract construction projects for his mistress as a way to reap huge illegal profits
Sentence or Decision: Expelled from the CCP and official duties, transferred to the judicial authority for investigation into the alleged crimes

10. Qiu Xiaohua, former Director of the National Bureau of Statistics

Alleged Crimes: Accepting cash gifts from illegal business owners, a corrupt life style, and bigamy
Sentence or Decision: Expelled from the CCP and official duties, transferred to the judicial authority for investigation to the alleged crimes

11. Zheng Xiaoyu, former Director of the State Food and Drug Administration

Alleged Crimes: Accepting illegal money and items with a total value of 6,490,000 Yuan; negligence at work
Sentence or Decision: Death penalty with deprivation of political rights for life and confiscation of all personal property

- Original report from ChinaScope.org : Officials at the Provincial Level Found To Be Corrupt Since the 16th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party

55 Kinds of Famous Toxic Food in China

ChinaScope, 08/25/2007-

It was reported and widely reprinted in Chinese official websites and Blogs that there are 55 kinds of toxic food in China, ranging from daily rice, flour, vegetables, meat and eggs, fruits to famous seasonings and gradients, formulations, etc. [1, 2] Vegetables with very toxic residual pesticide were labeled as “harmless” vegetables and widely sold.

A. Rice, Flour and manufactured food (4)

1. Highly Carcinogen rice (old rice, rice for peasant workers) and manufactured food made of such rice. Eating this kind of rice will lead to nausea, vomiting, and cancer in the long-run.
2. Bleached flour: contains excessive amount of oxidized benzoformyl, causing fatigue, dizzy, amenesia, more dreams and neuroasthenia
3. Black-hearted moon cake – moon cakes with fertilizers
4. Dumplings made with unwanted meat and unwashed cabbages in Xinda Food Factory, Town of Panzhuang, Ninghe County, Tianjin City[3]

B. Meat and eggs (9)

1. Taicang Meat Floss made of meat from dead pig and mother pig, mixed with large amount of pea powder and bleached with hydrogen peroxide, and added with additives, food colors to make the meat floss looking good
2. Chicken/duck meat, pork and milk with large amount of chloramphenicol, oxytetracycline
3. Muscle-type pork feed with Clenbuterol
4. Convenience food with brine or smoked meat from sick-dead animals;
5. Mule meat posing as Pingyao Beef
6. Jinhua Ham submerged in Dichlorvos
7. Toxic sausage in Taixin city, Jiangsu province
8. Toxic “peasants” food in Wenzhou, Fujian province
9. Red yold eggs from hens feed with CAROPHYLL®Red

C. Vegetables and fruits (10)

1. Vegetables with excessive residual pesticide- “harmless” vegetables in Zhangbei county, Hebei province with highly-toxic residual pesticide, such as omethoate and methamidophos. These vegetables were labeled “harmless” and claimed to have never been sprayed with pesticides. These pesticides were used because they are cheap and strong, making good-looking vegetables that sales very well. The peasants told the journalists that they never eat these vegetables. [4]
2. Potatoes smoked by sulfur
3. Sichuan kimchi preserved by prohibited industry salt
4. Toxic leeks sprayed by “3911″ pesticide, these leeks are thicker, wider, longer and with deeper color
5. “Fresh” shoot preserved by sulfur and industry salt
6. Sinister bean sprouts that were raised using growth hormone, rootless agent, bleached by Na2S2O4 [5]
7. Toxic longans bleached and smoked with sulfur
8. Strawberry and monkey hunting peach (Actinidia) that are fast-matured by growth hormone
9. Dried fruits with large amount of bacteria (100 times higher than national standard)
10. Preserved red dates with formaldehyde

D. Non-staple food, waterishlogged food, seasonings and gradients, formulations (24)

1. Toxic seeds (watermelon, pumpkin, sunflower) processed with mineral oils
2. Smelly Tofu processed by pig excrement
3. Yuba processed by chemical and carcinogens, such as industry gelatin, basic orange (chrysoidine), Rongalite (Sodium Formaldehyde Sulfoxylate)
4. Sweet potato starch noodles processed by rongalite and food colors
5. Longkou vermicelli contains rongalite;
6. Degenerated soy milk
7. Toxic milk powder in Anhui province
8. Rice noodles contains carbolic acid
9. Sanyuan “Quanjia (all good)” Lactobacillus in Shanghai with numerous streptomyces
10. Tremella, red peppers and Pericarpium Zanthoxyli
11. Black fungus (Auricularia auricular) stained with black ink
12. Green teas stained with green color
14. Various waterishlogged foods contains formaldehyde
15. Liquor mixed with industry alcohol
16. “Wine” made of Saccharin and food color
17. Hogwash fat took out from drainages
18. The famous chongqing Hot-pot Seasoning using paraffin as the coagulant
19. Red chili oil soup stock that that are leftovers from thousands of people
20. Toxic lard in Hunan province
21. Extra low price chicken extract
22. Toxic soy sauce processed with hair water
23. Shanxi “Very Old Vinegar” added with industry acetic acid
24. Fruit juice made nearby bathrooms with sorbic acid, potassium sorbate

E. Others (4)

1. “health chopsticks” submerged in sulfur
2. Low quality drinking fountains
3. Unqualified disposable medical devices
4. Numerous counterfeit and fake medicines

Notes:
[1]-[5] please check the original report from ChinaScope.org

China, a Haven for Fake Goods

By Kim Ki-cheon, in-house columnist of Chosun Ilbo, South Korea, Aug.1,2007-

“You’ll see everything here in Shenyang is fake, except for Shenyang itself,” a South Korean executive told a Chosun Ilbo news team in Shenyang, China some time ago. He was only half joking. He showed us a designer watch that would cost millions of won in South Korea. It was a fake, of course, bought for 20 yuan (US$1=CNY7.57). So was his wallet, his belt, his shoes — all fakes. There’s no reason to pay for genuine brand name goods in China, the executive said, because even if you buy the real thing, people just assume it’s fake.

▶In China, “there is nothing that cannot be made, with the exception of man.” Fakes are overflowing the Chinese market, and many of them look fantastic.

Fake eggs recently caused a stir in Guangzhou. The white of the egg was made from industrial powder and alum, the yolk was calcium chloride. The eggshell was made from paraffin wax. If you broke the shell you could easily see that it’s fake because the white and yolk mixed together, but an unbroken one was very difficult to distinguish from a genuine egg. It was almost a work of art. But it was a little puzzling why they put so much effort into it, considering that real eggs don’t cost much.

▶In the province of Anhui in 2004, 13 babies died after they were fed with fake infant formula. Surviving babies had long lasting abnormalities, including skinny bodies and large heads, due to serious malnourishment and side effects.

Last year, nine people died at the hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou after being given intravenous injections laced with diethylene glycol, used in car anti-freeze.

▶Whang Joung-il, minister for political affairs at the Korean Embassy in China, died while being treated at a clinic in downtown Beijing on Sunday.

On Saturday evening Whang ate a sandwich from a nearby shop while working in his office at the embassy. He later experienced diarrhea and severe abdominal pain. The next morning Whang rushed to the clinic, where he suffered shortness of breath and died after receiving an injection of Ringer’s solution.

Chinese police and health authorities are reportedly investigating the solution to see if it was fake.

▶He Qinglian, a Chinese university professor, was forced into exile in the U.S. after she blew the whistle on problems with the Chinese government’s opening and reform policies. China, she once said, is a “republic of con-artists.” She lamented that in her country everybody, including public servants, corporate executives, and merchants, is bent on trying to make money at any cost. She criticized the Chinese people for their materialism. “They believe that if only they can earn enough money — at the risk of their own lives — then their family can live in affluence for generations.”

China has failed to establish a code of business ethics, including personal responsibility and corporate accountability, even though it has been years since it embraced the market economy.

China has the world’s fourth largest economy, but it also carries a heavy burden of shame.

This column was contributed by Chosun Ilbo in-house columnist Kim Ki-cheon.

- Original report from Chosun Ilbo

China Arrested 15 House Church Leaders in Less Than A Week

Press release, China Aid Association, Jul 19 2007-

Midland, Texas (CAA)- China Aid Association (CAA) learned that from July 10-14, a total of 15 house church leaders were detained in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu and Anhui province. A Vacation Bible School (VBS) for 150 children was attacked and 2 teachers were beaten and hospitalized.

4 House church Leaders in Inner Mongolia Detained

According to eyewitness reports, on July 14, four leaders were taken away and detained from the home of Pastor FU Pengtu at Wuda District, Wuhai city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

At 11:30 am, 4 military police from PSB of Wuhai City rushed to Pastor FU’s house without providing any legal papers and arrested Pastor FU’s wife GAO Chinxia (31-year-old), sister XIE Yanan, Pastor LIU Yukang, and sister CHEN Binghui. Among them, sister XIE and CHEN are house church missionaries from Pingdingshan city, Henan province.

Vacation Bible School for 150 Children Attacked in Jiangsu Province, 10 Detained

A House Church Leader in Anhui Detained

Meanwhile, on July 10, the PSB of Mingguang county, Anhui province, detained a local house church leader. Pastor LU Jingxiang was taken away from his house at Qiaotou town, Mingguang county. The PSB didn’t provide any legal paper for the arrest and claimed that pastor LU was involved “illegal religious activities.”

“We urge President Bush and other administration officials to speak more forcefully on the deteriorating situation of religious persecution in China.” CAA also urges the Chinese government to immediately release these arrested pastors.

Communicate your concern to the Chinese authorities at the following addresses:

Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong,
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008

http://www.china-embassy.org/

TEL: 202-7456743
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512

Premier Wen Jiabao, PRC
PO Box 1741, The State Council, Beijing, PRC (zip code 100017)
Contact Phone: +86-10-66012399

Ms. Wu Aiying, minister of Ministry of Justice of PRC
Tel: +86-10-65205114
Fax: +86-10-64729863
Address: No. 10, Nan Da Jie, Chaoyangmen, Beijing City (Zip Code: 100020)

- original report by China Aid Association: 15 House Church Leaders Arrested in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu and Anhui; a VBS for 150 Children Attacked with 2 Teachers Seriously Wounded by Police Violence

China Leader Admitted for First Time Regime is Facing Crisis

By Luo Bing, Chengming Monthly Magazine (Chinese), Hongkong, Jan. 1, 2007-

Chinese President Hu Jingtao admitted recently that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime is facing three unprecedented crises: A political crisis, a crisis revolving around social infrastructure, and a crisis concerning overall governance within the regime. Among them, the crisis of governance is the most threatening.

CCP is Faced With Three Unprecedented Crises

It was at the Annual Conference of the 12th Central Committee Political Bureau of 2006 that Hu admitted to the enormous pressure that the ruling party is facing. This pressure comes in the form of three unprecedented crises. These are: a political crisis, a social infrastructure crisis, and a crisis concerning governance. All three of these crises are triggered by and amplified by one another, creating a very difficult situation.

Among the three crises, the one revolving around governance of the regime is most serious. Hu wasted no time in pointing out that the most serious and urgent issue the CCP is facing is the implementation of the party’s principles and policies to the entire country. This is critical in that it is needed to check, reverse, and ultimately solve the crisis. It is directly related to the country’s fate, the interests of 1.3 billion people, and the vitality of the party as a ruling party.

Vice Premier Wu Banguo said at the meeting that the escalation of the governance crisis at the local level had all but destroyed the stability of society, economic development, financial order, and any potential for a harmonious relationship between the people and the government.

Disclosures: 200 to 250 reports regarding political issues, social stability, or accidents submitted by local governments account for half of the various reports every day.

A new trend has appeared recently, which is, more reports are about superstructure, democratic parties, and appealing events in religious circles. For example, legal proceedings against various party committees and government departments are used to put the heads of the respective government departments and legal departments into a passive state.

Premier Wen Jiabao said, “Lawsuits against the party or its government organs from all circles reflect not only the progress in the legal system and its law-making procedures, but also the administrative gap between the party, government organizations, and the law, which serves to worsen the crisis in governance.”

Summary of the 31-Province Questionnaire on CCP and its Organizations

The assessment questionnaire of CCP and its organizations of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and the municipalities directly under the central government are summarized below:

(1) None of them are listed as Category 1 (good, very good, very satisfied), or Category 2 (good, satisfactory).

(2) Category 3 (normal) consists of: Beijing City, Tianjin City, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region. Ningxia Muslim Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Hainan Province.

(3) Category 4 (unsatisfactory, bad) consists of: Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Shanghai City, Shandong Province, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Gansu Province and other provinces.

(4) Category 5 (very dissatisfied, poor) consists of: Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Heilongjiang Province, Anhui Province, Jiangxi Province, Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Chongqing City, Shaanxi Province, Yunnan Province and Qinghai Province. Among them, Henan, Anhui, Shanxi, Hunan received very low points. In the provinces (autonomous regions) which are classified as Category 5 (very dissatisfied, poor), city government, police officers, and the legal system are going through judicial darkness and collusion with the business sector. The society is chaotic and wide gaps have developed between the rich and the poor, resulting in fierce, often violent protests.

The Central Committee of the CCP dispatched teams to 19 provinces (autonomous regions) in light of the current situation.

Central Authorities Have Introduced New Plan For Dealing with Social Gatherings

The Central Committee and State Council of the CCP recently promulgated a number of regulations detailing ways to strictly deal with group activities.

It includes five topics in total. It stresses that the accidents resulting from local governments’ violation of regulations and policies made by the Central Committee of the CCP would be investigated for dereliction of duty. If large-scale protests occur and cause casualties and economic losses, the corresponding people in the local government must be held responsible for serious misconduct and receive criminal prosecution.

The so-called “scale” criterion means above 5000 people in the provincial cities and above 2,000 people in other cities are involved in an accident, or above 20 people wounded, including five or more death in an accident, or with economic losses( direct and indirect) of more than 20 million yuan (about U.S. $ 2.5 million).

———————
- Chengming Monthly Magazine (Chinese) is the most widely read political magazine published in Hong Kong.
- This Article translated from Chinese by the Epochtimes

Photo: China Modern Torture Methods (4)- Psychiatric & Drug Abuse

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group -

Evidence has surfaced of over 100 torture methods being employed against Falun Gong practitioners in China’s labour camps, detention centers, and mental hospitals.

Torture Methods (3) – Psychiatric and Drug Abuse

Judicial psychiatry against religious or political dissidents is emphatically prohibited by internationally agreed-upon standards of legal and medical ethics.

The exposure of political and abusive psychiatry in the former Soviet Union was once a major human rights concern. It eventually forced the withdrawal of the Soviet All-Union Society of Psychiatrists and Neuropathologists from the World Psychiatric Association. ( Picture right: painting: drug injection abuse )

Since July 1999, however, many Falun Gong practitioners have, at great risks to their own lives, been sending into psychiatric hospitals by the Chinese government.

In addition to turning mental hospitals into veritable brainwashing institutions and torture camps, the Chinese government also seeks to incriminate Falun Gong for the tragedies that the Chinese government itself has caused. There have been more than a few reports on how the heartless police and “doctors” shouted at practitioners: “We are going to make you lose you mind, make you commit suicide, and publicize your cases as examples of ‘Falun Gong’ insanity.”

Daniel B. Borenstein, President of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote a letter to the New York Times entitled “Jailed in China: Confront the Abuse” published March 27, 2001, in which he stated: “The WPA [World Psychiatric Association] Committee on the Use and Abuse of Psychiatry has moved too slowly in the face of serious accusations about psychiatric imprisonment of Falun Gong members, union and student leaders, and others who are diagnosed as “political maniacs” and subjected to shock therapy and psycho-tropic medications.”

Cases

1. Ma Yanfang Died from Psychiatric Torture

Ma Yanfang (photo left) , female, 33, from Xingshigou Village of the Darenhe Region of Zhucheng Town, Weifang City, Shandong Province ( in East China).

In May 2000, Ms. Ma Yanfang was detained in Beijing for appealing to the government to stop its the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

When she went on a hunger strike to protest her illegal detention, the authorities took her to the Zhucheng Mental Hospital in Zhucheng Town. Though she was a healthy person, she was treated like a mental patient.

Under direct orders from the Weifang City Government Officials, the staff in the hospital forced her to take drugs intended for the mentally ill. Soon, her health deteriorated.

After being kept drugged for two months, in September 2000, Ms. Ma died in the hospital.

The officials from her factory threatened her parents, advising them not to inquire any further into the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death.

2. Shi Bei Tortured to Death in the Mental Hospital

Shi Bei ( photo left) , female, 49, lived and worked in Fuyang City, Zhejiang Province

Location: The Seventh Hospital of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province (in South China)

In May 2000, because Ms. Shi Bei practiced Falun Gong, the Police Department of Fuyang City sent her to the Seventh Hospital of Hangzhou City (a mental hospital).

Although Ms. Shi was healthy both mentally and physically, she was treated like a mental patient.

In the hospital, the basic necessities for living and sanitation were neglected. The ward was no different from a jail cell. The “bed” was just planks laid flat, and covered with straw.

The hospital staff, under pressure from the police, gave Ms. Shi injections of large doses of sedatives, causing her health to deteriorate. To force her to renounce Falun Gong, she was not given any food for a whole week.

On September 10, 2000, Ms. Shi died from the torture and psychiatric abuse.

3. School Vice Principal Died from Overdose of Psychotropic Drugs

Lu Hongfeng (photo left ), female, 37, vice principal of the No. 1 Elementary School, Lingwu City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ( in Northwest China)

Location: The Lingwu Mental Hospital, Lingwu City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

In March 2000, the Education Bureau of Lingwu City suspended Ms. Lu Hongfeng because she signed a letter of appeal requesting an end to the the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. On June 7, 2000, the authorities and her husband took her to the mental hospital.

In the hospital, she was tied to the bed and forcibly injected with large quantities of drugs. In order to make her renounce Falun Gong, she was given eight times the normal dosage.

After fifty days of torture in the hospital she had became very weak, as the drugs destroyed her central nervous system.

In July 2000, she was sent home, but her husband continued to give her large doses of drugs to further damage her nervous system.

On September 6, 2000, she died from the psychiatric abuse.

4. Associate Professor Tortured Twice at the Mental Hospital

Wu Xiaohua (photo left) , female, 47, an associate professor of the Environment Art Department at Anhui Civil Construction Engineering College, Hefei City, Anhui Province ( in East China)

Location: The No.4 People’s Hospital, Yellow Mountain Road No. 316, Hefei City, Anhui Province.

In July 2001, Professor Wu Xiaohua was arrested for practicing Falun Gong and secretly detained at the No. 4 People’s Hospital of Hefei City in Anhui Province (a mental hospital) without her family or her university being informed. Her illegal detention there was disclosed only after the hospital asked her family to pay the patient care fee.

At the hospital, she was given injections and was force-fed drugs. She was not released until March 2001.

At the end of April, Prof. Wu was again arrested while working at the university.

She went on a hunger strike to protest her illegal arrest. As a punishment, her hands and feet were tied down and she was brutally force-fed. Her college also terminated her teaching appointment.

In October 2001, during the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting held in Shanghai, Prof. Wu was placed under house arrest. She was arrested again and sent first to a labor camp, and then sent to the No. 4 People’s Hospital again.

The police from the labor camp affirmed that Prof. Wu could be discharged as soon as she renounces Falun Gong. Currently she is still detained in the hospital and forced to receive infusions of drugs every day.

5. Six Army Falun Gong Practitioners Drugged in the No. 261 Mental Hospital of the Liberation Army

Location: The No. 261 Hospital of the Liberation Army, Beijing

(1). Zhao Xinli (photo left) , male, 37, an in-service military officer, Lieutenant rank, the 89605 Army Equipment Headquarters

In February 2000, Lieutenant Zhao Xinli was arrested and detained at the No. 261 Hospital of the Liberation Army, a mental hospital.

Lieutenant Zhao was injected daily with drugs that harmed his nervous system, leaving him weak and confused. The doctor also beat him and verbally abused him.

Lieutenant Zhao was given excruciatingly painful shocks with an electric probe.

(2). Li Qiuxia, female, 52, an in-service military officer, and a pharmacist at the Navy Headquarters Hospi-tal.

On June 2, 2000, the authorities sent Ms. Li Qiuxia to the No. 261 Hospital of the Liberation Army. She refused to take the drugs, so the nurses tried to pry her mouth open and insert a tube into her stomach.

Once, the nurses tied her to a post and inserted two electric needles in her temples. As the needles penetrated her flesh, her muscles twitched. The painwas excruciating.

She was also forced to take drugs that affected her central nervous system.

Nobody was allowed to visit her.

(3). Wang Ning, female, 46, an employee of the Navy Headquarters Hospital

On May 30, 2000, Ms. Wang Ning was also committed to No. 261 Hospital of the Liberation Army in Beijing. Three other Falun Gong practitioners from the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) were also incarcerated in the hospital during this period.

None of them had any history of mental illness.

6. Wang Jiqin, 29, killed by a lethal drug

The Chongqing City Police arrested Ms. Wang Jiqin ( photo at left) because she refused to renounce Falun Gong.

On July 29, 2000, she was unlawfully taken to the Chongqing City Maojiashan Female Forced Labor Camp and sentenced to two years of hard labor.

There, she was subjected to the cruelest mental and physical tortures. As a result, her health deteriorated daily, her weight dropped, and she could no longer look after herself.

In the name of treating her “illnesses,” the camp police ordered seven or eight inmates who were drug addicts to force-feed her with an unknown drug, causing her to lapse into a coma.

Seeing that Ms. Wang was near death, the labor camp sent her home in order to avoid responsibility.

After returning home, Ms. Wang remained in critical condition, spitting up blood and passing blood in her stool. Her limbs became extremely weak. She also had difficulty breathing, coughed, vomited, and had diarrhea. She felt sharp pains in her abdomen due to ascites [accumulation of serous fluid in the abdomen], and she could not sleep at night.

She died on September 23, 2002.

——-

Learn more about Psychiatric and Drug torture to Falun Gong practitioners from The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group’s report at here and here

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Related:
- China: 2508 Family Members’ Open Letter Expose Torture, the Epoch Times, Dec 11, 2006
- Lawyer’s 3rd open letter urge China to stop the Brutality(1), December 12, 2005, Gao Zhisheng

Airports closed, thousands stranded by China fog

Reuters, Dec. 26, 2006-

BEIJING, Dec 26 (Reuters) – Thousands of passengers across eastern, northern and central China have been stranded after heavy fog closed airports and hundreds of flights were cancelled, state media said on Tuesday.

Highways were also closed and in some cities, such as Lanzhou in the northwest, authorities issued pollution alerts and warned people not to go outside as smog had worsened the situation, Xinhua said.

“In some provinces, people are advised to wear masks as the heavy smog contains pollutants like carbon monoxide,” Xinhua said.

Airports in Nanjing, Hangzhou and Hefei in China’s east and Jinan in the north either closed completely or cancelled most flights, it said, stranding around 20,000 people.

“No flights have taken off since this morning,” an official at Nanjing airport said by telephone, adding he not know when the situation would return to normal.

The fog is expected to dissipate as freezing air from Siberia moves across China, Xinhua said, though temperatures would fall by up to 10 degrees Celcius (50 degrees Fahrenheit)

Two people died in road accidents caused by the poor weather, the official Xinhua news agency said.

- original report here