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July 8, 2007 (Sunday) － Issue No. 109 |
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Hong Kong's Biggest Rights Violation Since 1997 |
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Historic
Hong Kong Lawsuit Filed Against CCP Officials |
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FBI
Tracks Chinese Student Agents |
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Are Those People That So Anxiously Demand Evidence for the 1,000 Spies? After Chen left, a few Chinese media outlets became suddenly interested in him, and some people, who hadn't even bothered to meet with him when he was there started attacking him.... Full Article |
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Olympic Risk to Refugee Safety Spokesperson for the Balmain Refugee Group, Francis Milne, said they had seen an increase in detention and interrogation of deported Chinese and they believed it would continue as it was linked with preparations for the Beijing Olympics ...... Full Article |
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Nearly 1,000 Falun Gong adherents were barred from entering Hong Kong last week, with many of them being dealt with violently. The incident is said to have been masterminded by Zeng Qinghong, China's vice president and rival of Chinese communist leader Hu Jintao, who this past weekend attended the city's 10-year anniversary of returning to Chinese sovereignty. According to Taiwan's Falun Dafa Association, between June 24 and July 1, at least 527 Falun Gong adherents traveling from Taiwan to Hong Kong were denied entry at the Hong Kong International Airport, 271 were refused visas, and more than 20 with valid visas were not allowed to board the plane by airline companies; there were others who sought entry to the city individually but failed. In addition, Falun Gong adherents in Macau, Japan, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States have also reported being denied entry, bringing the total estimated number of Falun Gong adherents rejected by Hong Kong to around 1,000. The purpose of the Falun Gong adherents going to Hong Kong was to take part in the annual July 1 pro-democracy march. One consequence of barring them from Hong Kong was to make the Falun Gong presence in the widely watched July 1 march less dramatic than it might otherwise have been. The former British colony was handed over to China on July 1, 1997, under the agreement of "one country, two systems." The tradition of the July 1 pro-democracy march began in 2003 as around 500,000 people took to the street protesting the Chinese regime's attempt to impose a set of national security laws in the Self Administrative Region that Hong Kongers believed would put in peril the individual rights protected by Hong Kong law. Blacklist Teresa Chu, a Falun Gong adherent from Taiwan, a lawyer in the state of New York, and executive director of the Asia branch of the Human Rights Law Foundation, was the first victim of Hong Kong's massive exclusion of Falun Gong. After being denied entry to Hong Kong on June 24, she obtained a leaked e-mail message from an airline company that confirms the existence of a blacklist. The airline company's name is being withheld in order to protect Ms. Chu's source. The message says
that Mr. Alan Chan Mang-lun, a land control officer at the Hong Kong
Immigration's airport division, convened a meeting with that airline
company at 5 p.m. on June 25 about "the matter of blocking Falun
Gong from entering Hong Kong" and demanding that the company
inform its partner companies in Taiwan over the issue. Falun Gong
adherents are classified as "unwelcome travelers to Hong Kong"
in the message. Back Hong Kong permanent residents Mr. Chu O Ming and Ms. Fu Xueying made history last Thursday when they filed a civil action in the High Court of Hong Kong SAR against three high-ranking Chinese communist officials for torture, illegal imprisonment, and persecuting Falun Gong. This is the first time that high officials of the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) have been sued in Hong Kong, the area outside Mainland China housing the largest Chinese population, and which is within the jurisdiction of the P.R.C. Theresa Chu, an international human rights attorney and Asia Director for Human Rights Law Foundation, believes this lawsuit is critical: "whether Hong Kong truly wants to uphold human rights and the rule of law and whether its courts truly want to maintain independence will be further tested and confirmed with this lawsuit against Jiang." Defendant Jiang Zemin is the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and initiated and directed the campaign to eradicate Falun Gong since 1999, using the resources of the Party. Defendant Li Lanqing is the former Premier of the P.R.C. who implemented and micromanaged the persecution. Defendant Luo Gan is a Standing Committee Member of the CCP Politburo and personally inspected the labor camps across China to ensure that all levels of government implemented Jiang's directive to destroy Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Chu, an entrepreneur from China now residing in Hong Kong, was arrested and imprisoned for five years after a secret trial in 2000 for filing a lawsuit with the Supreme People's Court against then head of state Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan. While in custody, Chu says he was shocked with an electric baton and tortured severely. His appeals to the prison chief and the P.R.C. went unanswered. In 2003, Ms. Fu was arrested without charge and sentenced secretly to three years in Shenzhen Detention Center and the Women's Prison of Guangdong Province for distributing VCDs exposing the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. While imprisoned, Fu says she was beaten, tortured, and forced to attend brainwashing sessions. To this day she suffers from a skin disease and cannot sit for extended periods of time. Mr. Chu and Ms. Fu have applied for a writ and leave. The court issued the writ of summons on June 28, which allows the plaintiffs to directly serve process on the three defendants should they travel to Hong Kong. Should the court issue the leave, it would allow the Hong Kong court to send legal documents to Chinese courts to deliver to the three defendants outside of Hong Kong by means of international judicial assistance. Since 2002, 18
lawsuits have been initiated against these three defendants in 17
countries and territories, making this, as Teresa Chu puts it, "arguably
the largest series of international human rights cases in the 21st
century." Back The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) recently granted famous Chinese human rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, the Courageous Advocacy Award and invited him to attend an award ceremony in California on June 30 this year. Notice of the award was delivered to Gao in May. Gao cherished the forthcoming opportunity to exchange ideas with overseas judicial peers. He hoped to discuss issues of constitutional government and rule of law with lawyers and judicial officials in the U.S. to promote similar goals in mainland China. To this end, Gao and various overseas organizations have been trying their best to break through illegal restrictions imposed by China's department of politics and law. ABOTA wrote to President Hu Jintao directly expressing their sincere wish that he could play a pivotal role in the issue of Gao's American trip, as he did previously, in allowing Dr. Gao Yaojie, a Chinese gynecologist to visit the U.S. on another occasion. The National Safety and Security Bureau (NSNB) is the most formal underworld organization in mainland China. While safeguarding the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) interests, it is infringing upon the nation's interests and people's safety. Its nature is similar to that of the secret police of the "Schutzstaffel" (SS) and the "Gestapo" under the rule of German Nazis in the 1930's and 1940's. The NSNB is granted the greatest privileges in the Public Security organ, and has the most abundant human and material resources. In certain cases, NSNB can even give orders to the procuratorate and courts. Since 2005, Gao has naturally become a thorn in the side of the NSNB. As a human rights attorney, Gao has come to understand the persecution inflicted on Falun Gong practitioners in China and the true extent of the Chinese communist regime's unspeakable cruelty, violence and brutality. Large-scale crackdowns like these, targeting law abiding citizens have continued from the end of last century to the beginning of this one. The NSNB continues to intimidate and threaten Gao because they fear he will expose the extent of the Falun Gong persecution as well as other cases of blatant human rights abuses to the international community. They also fear that Gao will become more confident and quicker to take action, or more influential once he makes connections within the international community. More and more of China's civil rights defenders are participating in exposing the crimes of totalitarian dictators. Through their struggle for a rule of law, freedom and democracy, these civil rights defenders are naturally becoming more adept at their game. Much like athletes training for the upcoming Olympic Games, these champions of human rights are working toward vanquishing their opponents, and as they overcome every obstacle they reach one step closer to achieving their ultimate goal. Still 404 days
to go by the arrival of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Back Many former heads of Chinese university student associations have recently recounted their experiences of how they had become the target of the FBI because of their status in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) student espionage organizations. Since the New York University Chinese Culture Club (NYUCCC) published its statement smearing the International Chinese Classical Dance Competition sponsored by the New Tang Dynasty Television Station (NTDTV), Chinese students who at one time served as presidents of Chinese student associations at various U.S. universities have continued stepping forward. They are revealing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls and manipulates overseas Chinese student associations, transforming them into spy agencies. Regarding this development, The Epoch Times interviewed news commentator Caoan Jushi, who is also a vice chairman and CEO of Pan-America Capital, Inc. Caoan Jushi believes that it was inevitable that these students would be watched by the FBI, as they worked for the CCP on U.S. soil. Their lives in the future in the United States will also be affected. Reporter: What is the American government's position on people who work as CCP spies in the United States? Caoan Jushi: In his recent speech at the dedication ceremony for the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C., President Bush said that like terrorism, communism is an evil to humanity. I think that Mr. Bush accurately stated the American government's position. Every nation is concerned about its own security. These students help a dictatorship, so they will definitely be watched by the American government. The United States is a democracy. Communism is known for its pursuit of terror, violence, and tyranny. When these characteristics of communism appear in the United States, how could the American government turn a blind eye to them? They will definitely become the FBI's targets. If these Chinese students who are studying in the United States choose to stay, their lives in the future will be affected. Reporter: In what way will their lives be affected? Caoan Jushi: There was a Chinese professor who taught at a university in Los Angeles. He kept close contact with CCP officials. Once he went to China, and when he wanted to reenter the United States, the U.S. authorities ran a check on him, which took more than a year. His wife and children were all in the United States without any income. So when he finally returned, they had to sell their house. So the inconvenience
can be immense. We know that the United States is a democratic country
and it doesn't want to see people who embrace dictatorship here. Back A few weeks ago, while Mr. Chen Yonglin was on a short visit to Canada, he drew attention from the press. But what he didn't expect was that his journey would be a hot topic on the news only weeks after he finished the trip. When Chen was in Canada he visited Chinese communities. Ironically, members of the Western media queued up to interview him, while most Chinese news agencies were unusually quiet about his visit. But after Chen left, a few Chinese media outlets became suddenly interested in him, and some people, who hadn't even bother to meet with him when he was there started attacking Chen, demanding he produce evidence that there are indeed 1,000 Chinese communist spies in Canada. There are certain things I don't understand: Why did these news groups miss the opportunity on reporting about Chen's visit while he was there? Why are they trying so hard to make up for it afterwards? Why didn't those who paid so much attention to what Chen said ask him face-to-face? And why did they choose to wait until after he had left to ask him to present his evidence? Understandably, those Chinese groups and organizations that Chen had singled out as pawns of the Chinese communist regime wanted evidence. After all, their names had been linked to a public accusation, and if they didn't make some noise in response, that would mean they had acquiesced. So they had to deny it but did so in typical Chinese communist style through a statement at the instigation of the Chinese embassy. As a matter of fact, Chen did present evidence when he was in Canada, so the denial issued one week later only proves the guilt those parties did not want to admit. The Chinese communist regime and its pawns knew that the denials were weak, so they had to mobilize overseas Chinese press that they had nurtured to build up their case in an attempt to confuse the public. Thus, to everyone's surprise, the height of the news only came a week after the event had happened. Some of the voices used by the communist regime pretended to be quite patriotic, alleging that the 1,000 spies implicated all overseas Chinese, insisting that Chen show proof, as if they were defending the interests of overseas Chinese. Actually, Chen's story about communist spies is not something new; everyone knows it. The number of communist spies is very small compared to the number of overseas Chinese, and most people have nothing to do with spying and would not even think about asking Chen to show evidence. The Chinese communist regime has made a fool of itself by mobilizing a media build-up and demanding proof for the existence of 1,000 spies. If it were clean, why did it bother to demand evidence? The attackers may feel upbeat in the attacks, but they have inadvertently revealed their true status. They may have even helped Mr. Chen, because the boisterous way in which they asked for evidence only served as a new piece of evidence. Back Olympic
Risk to Refugee Safety Back Chinese asylum seekers deported from Australia are at increased risk of brutal detention because of the 2008 Beijing Olympics say refugee advocates. Spokesperson for the Balmain Refugee Group, Francis Milne, said they had seen an increase in detention and interrogation of deported Chinese and they believed it would continue as it was linked with preparations for the Beijing Olympics. "Our information is that the situation has worsened," Ms Milne told The Epoch Times. "The Chinese Government is far more paranoid about anyone who can potentially shame them during the Olympics." Ms Milne said because Australia has to ask for travel documents for the deportees, "family registrations" had to be sought and this involved the Public Security Bureau (PSB). "Anyone who has a profile already in China of being a dissident, or some group that China does not allow, then there is a real problem," she said. "They [the Chinese authorities] are simply not taking a chance with anybody." "In the run up to the Olympics there is a much fiercer and more brutal treatment of people returning." Chinese asylum seekers presently constitute an overwhelming majority in Australia's detention centres with official figures indicating around 80 per cent of those detained as Chinese. Ms Milne, who is also on the National Refugee Task Force for the Uniting Church in Australia, said from the three main groups of Chinese asylum seekers, that is "Falun Gong practitioners, underground Christians and pro-democracy activists or political dissidents" there are about a dozen individuals whose claims have presently been rejected and that was a concern. "I am terribly worried by all the ones I am dealing with," she said. "We have a vested interest knowing because we work very hard for these people...and now we fear they will come to harm in China," she said. "We need to know these things. We need to keep the Australian Government informed and it certainly doesn't hurt for the Chinese Government to know that we want to keep track of what happens." Back |
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