Radio Free China

Human Rights and Religious Freedom News

Archive for May, 2007

New blacklist for those entering China during olympics reported

Posted by radiofreechina on May 31, 2007

中国公安部发出限制奥运入境“黑名单” (RFA.org/cantonese) – translated by Google into English

An overseas website reported that the Chinese Public Security Bureau in April this year issued an internal document, the 2008 Beijing Olympics all participants, including members of the International Olympic athletes and should come under close scrutiny. Clearly set out 11 categories of people, including foreign hostile organization of the media, and the Communist Party and the government serious dissatisfaction dissidents, all denied.

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China’s Ministry of Public Security Issues Secret Directive to Investigate and Bar Thousands Worldwide from Olympics
Directive Targets Falun Gong, Dalai Lama, Counter-Revolutionaries, and the Handicapped

NEW YORK, NY – In what may be its most audacious Olympic act yet, China’s Ministry of Public Security has issued an incredible directive that lists 43 categories of unwanteds who are to be investigated and barred from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Falun Dafa Information Center has learned. Pariah groups include eerily vague “key individuals in ideological fields,” “overseas hostile forces,” “counter-revolutionary” figures, the Dalai Lama and all affiliates, members of “religious entities not sanctioned by the state” (e.g. Roman Catholics), “individuals who instigate discontentment toward the Chinese Communist Party through the Internet,” and even certain types of “handicapped” persons.

Members of the Falun Gong would be barred, as would “family members of deceased persons” killed in “riots” — a euphemism for events such as the Tiananmen Massacre — and Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province, which the regime brands “national separatists.” Only at the very bottom of the directive does it identify “violent terrorists” and members of “illegal organizations” as targets for investigation and possible barring.

To be investigated are participating athletes, members of the media, Olympic staff members, referees, sponsors, dignitaries, and the International Olympic Committee itself, among others, to determine whether they fall into any of the 43 categories. If carried out, the directive would amount to an espionage effort of astounding proportions, and would fly in the face of international law.

The Ministry’s directive, said to have been issued in April and titled “Notification on Strictly Carrying Out Background Investigations on Candidates for the Olympics and Performing a Pre-Selection Screening” has reportedly been circulated to each Chinese province and autonomous region as well as to all police stations and bureaus in municipalities directly under the Central Government. The Information Center is making available the relevant excerpt of the original document (Chinese) as well as a translation (English).

The directive also calls upon all levels of China’s regime to “cooperate,” but adds that it is “vital to keep this directive and all associated activities secret… it is of utmost importance to give the look of an easygoing environment to the outside, but in fact keep a firm handle on all activities.”

“To see China’s rulers abusing their Olympic privileges like this is simply unconscionable,” said Mr. Erping Zhang, Information Center spokesperson. “The regime appears to have gone so far beyond international norms as to risk absurdity, and is clearly bent on hiding this fact. This means that a shockingly large number of people could not participate in, work at, sponsor, or report on the Olympics. You might even have your phone tapped although you live in London, or you might be spied on in Florida, simply on account of your possible political or religious beliefs.”

“The CCP is making a mockery of the Olympic spirit,” Zhang said.

The directive is yet further evidence that China’s rulers are capitalizing on the Olympics to quash dissent, particularly the Falun Gong. A Feb. 21, 2001, Reuters report revealed that the campaign against Falun Gong had escalated as China entered the final stages of bidding for the 2008 Olympics. The report cited the state-run Xinhua propaganda outlet as saying the government had given “citations” to 110 organizations and 271 individuals “for anti-Falun Gong work” and to “wipe out” Falun Gong.

A July 17, 2001, report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, meanwhile, disclosed that after Beijing landed the 2008 Olympics, China’s then Vice Premier declared that winning the Olympics was “justification for the country’s crackdown on the Falun Gong.”

In 2005, an intelligence journal, Intelligence Online, revealed that China’s deputy public security minister, Liu Jing, had been assigned the responsibility of wiping out Falun Gong before the Games. A directive was issued “demanding that all of the country’s security services lend a hand” in the effort. Notably, investigators were to be appointed even to Chinese embassies around the world to “infiltrate” Falun Gong groups there. This would appear to anticipate the new, April directive dictating massive international espionage.

A growing body of voices has been calling for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in light of the regime’s human rights abuses. Many point in particular to the regime’s complicity in Sudan, where it has blocked U.N. and other efforts to stem the tide of genocide, with the regime itself being known to supply arms to the Sudanese government. Some China watchers have likened Beijing’s Olympic efforts to those of Nazi Germany in connection with the 1936 Berlin Olympics — referred to by many as the Nazi Olympics. Historians have said of the ’36 Games that “the regime exploited the Games to bedazzle many foreign spectators and journalists with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.” (link)

“China’s regime is using the Olympics to legitimize its oppression,” said Zhang. “Is China’s communist dictatorship to decide who gets a share of human rights come Olympics time? Or are the games to just be one big propaganda stunt?”

The Falun Dafa Information Center is calling upon the International Olympic Committee to vigorously investigate the above, and take firm, principled action to uphold the Olympic Charter and the human rights it enshrines.

SOURCE: http://www.faluninfo.net/

 

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Chinese site for Reporters Without Borders shut down by censors in China

Posted by radiofreechina on May 31, 2007

China shuts down media freedom site ‘within hours’ (Sydney Morning Herald)

China’s Internet police took between five and eight hours to track down the new location of Reporters Without Borders’ Chinese language website and block it, the media freedom group said Wednesday.

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Also see:
Article from Reporters Without Borders

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Reuters reports on growth of Christians among the Lisu people in Yunnan province

Posted by radiofreechina on May 31, 2007

Christians in China border valley keep sweet faith (Reuters via WashingtonPost.com)

GONGSHAN, China (Reuters) – When China’s communist army razed his church, Jesse’s grandfather climbed into the forests stacked up above his valley and carved a hole in the trunk of a tree to hide his bible.

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CNET reporter tests internet censorship while in China

Posted by radiofreechina on May 30, 2007

How good are the censors in China? (NewsCom.com)

To test censorship in China, I did a search for “Tiananmen” in English in my hotel room; in English on a computer in an Internet cafe; and on Google’s Chinese site, as well as Chinese search portal Baidu, using Chinese characters….

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More riots in China over one child policy

Posted by radiofreechina on May 30, 2007

Rural Chinese riot over one-child policy (AP via Yahoo News)

BEIJING – Protesters broke into government offices, destroying furniture and setting vehicles ablaze in the second known outbreak of violence this month over China’s strict family planning policies, local officials and state media said Wednesday

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Beijing Lawyers to Defend Detainees in Guangxi Protest on One Child Policy

Posted by radiofreechina on May 29, 2007

京律师为广西村民辩护 [mingpaonews.com] Google translated to English

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Guo Feixiong Tortured While Under Detention in February, Asks Lawyer to Report Incident to Beijing

Posted by radiofreechina on May 29, 2007

郭飞雄见律师诉遭酷刑逼供 要求紧急向中央举报 [rfa.org] (Google translated to English)

Guo Feixiong

Guo Fei-hung’s wife Xiao Qing Zhang quoted Hu lawyers May 28 meeting, Guo Fei-hung has said the situation. 她说:“2月12日那天,他坐了老虎凳四个小时,把手反在后面,几乎把人吊起来差不多三百六十度的那种角度。他们就用高压电棍击打他的手和脸,都肿了。还用电棍击打男性生殖器,没脱衣服,还打耳光,几十次。She said : “February 12 that day, he was sitting on the Laohudeng four hours behind the anti-handle, almost to the man hanging from almost 360 degrees up the kind of perspective. They used high-pressure electric batons to hit his hands and face. all swollen. also beaten with electric batons male genitalia, not undress, slapping, scores.

在遭受这样残酷刑讯逼供的羞辱之后,他2月13日自杀未遂。The confession was subjected to cruel humiliation after his February 13th suicide attempt.

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28 arrested in Bobai after one child policy riots

Posted by radiofreechina on May 24, 2007

28 arrested in China for birth quota riots (IHT.com)

BEIJING: The police in southwestern China arrested 28 people for instigating riots over family planning controls last weekend, but officials were dispatched to affected regions to “deal with complaints” about the area’s strict measures to enforce birth control measures, state media said on Wednesday.

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“Tense but quiet” in Bobai after revolt against one child policy

Posted by radiofreechina on May 24, 2007

Revolts in Guangxi against forced sterilisation (AsiaNews.it)

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Official sources described the situation in the town of Bobai (Yulin prefecture) as “tense but quiet” after thousands of rural residents angered by rigid enforcement of the one-child policy attacked a local government office over the weekend. Hundreds of armed police, officials and law enforcement units are now patrolling the …

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New York Times coverage is here

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Thousands of Chinese Peasants Riot over Brutal Birth Control Campaign

Posted by radiofreechina on May 22, 2007

“The one child policy will have to end sooner or later because it has been a disaster for China,” says Mosher

By Peter J. Smith

HONG KONG, May 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Villagers in southwest China erupted into violence after enduring two intense months of ruinous fines, mandated health checks for women followed by coerced abortions and sterilisations, confiscation of property and destruction of their homes for violating the one-child policy.

The past four days have seen massive unrest in the autonomous Guangxi region, the New York Times reports, where native villagers and visitors say thousands of rioters enraged over the stepped-up population control measures have destroyed government offices, overturned vehicles, and clashed with police forces.

In Bobai County, witnesses described one assault launched by thousands of peasants upon the government offices of Shapi Township. Villagers smashed through the wall surrounding the government complex, and then sacked the offices, smashing computers and destroying documents, before setting the building afire.

Accounts give conflicting reports of deaths and injuries in the battle and ensuing clash with riot police, but some assert as many as five people have been killed, including three officials responsible for enforcing the harsh measures.

Officials had imposed an unbearable “social child-raising fee” that retroactively punished any one-child policy violators since 1980 starting at 500 yuan ($65 US) to as ruinously high as 70,000 yuan ($9000 US). Witnesses said officials sent out “family planning work squads” to collect the tax even from violators who had paid previous punishing fines and that officials in Bobai County claim to have collected 7.8 million yuan in “social child-raising fees” from February through the end of April.

Families who refused or could not pay the fines were forced to have their homes searched and belongings confiscated.

“Worst of all, the gangsters used hammers and iron rods to destroy people’s homes, while threatening that the next time it would be with bulldozers,” a local peasant calling himself Nong Sheng told the Times.

A Chinese student named Zhou told the UK-based Guardian that his family received a fine of 2,000 yuan for having three sons in the 1980s, but his uncle, who has five children, must pay an impossible 20,000 yuan. “He only earns 1,200 yuan per month … But if you cannot pay, the officials come to your home and confiscate the contents. If you refuse, then smash, smash, smash.”

“Taking to the streets in protest is the only way the Chinese have of expressing their opinion,” Steven Mosher, President of Population Research Institute, commented to LifeSiteNews.com. Mosher was one of the first social scientists to have access to China’s rural population in the early 1980s and exposed China’s brutal abortion and sterilisation campaign as part of its one-child policy. Mosher added that he had seen entire “prefectures and counties” rise up against the one-child policy followed by the predictable heavy-handed government response.

“China is developing economically and there is a growing desire on the part of Chinese for more freedom and part of the freedom they would like to enjoy is the freedom to decide for themselves the number and spacing of their children,” Mosher said.

However, the Chinese government responds to more to the influence of the United Nations and International Planned Parenthood, which praise the one-child policy, which has led to more than 40 million men in China unable to find wives, and tens of millions of women and their unborn children harmed by forced abortions each year.

“The one child policy will have to end sooner or later because it has been a disaster for China,” said Mosher. “So far 28 years into the policy [the government] show no signs of recognising the obvious.”

Reports of the riots have reached western journalists at the same time as the United States begins to hold high-level trade talks today with China over its $232.5 billion trade deficit, which accounts for one-third of the US total record deficit of $765.3 billion. The trade gap has angered a number of US lawmakers although it is uncertain whether President Bush will address China’s human rights abuses as China has warned the US not to “politicise” their economic relationship.

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