|
August 12, 2007 (Sunday) － Issue No. 113 |
|
|
Senior Army Officials Suppress Voices for Army Nationalization |
|
|
Promises
Cynically Broken Over the 2008 Beijing Olympics |
|
|
|
|
|
Contaminated
Food Sold in Beijing—Interview with Former Food Wholesale Businessman |
| A
Mysterious Herbal Prescription Controls Fetus' Gender It is made from more than a dozen varieties of herbs. If a pregnant woman takes the formula during her second pregnancy, the newborn's sex will be the opposite of the firstborn child....…Full Article |
|
Chinese Justice in a Spanish Court? "When I was being tortured in labor camps in China, I told myself that one day I would make all of those perpetrators be responsible for what they were doing," says Zhao Ming, one of three victims who spoke. "Now I am doing what I intended."......…Full Article |
|
|
August 1 marks the 80th anniversary of China's Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing has announced changes to military uniforms and launched a series of public activities around this event. The CCP also stressed its opposition to the nationalization of the army. On the other hand, there are voices from inside the army that encourage Chinese soldiers to withdraw from the CCP and not to serve as the party's private militia. These same voices call for Chinese soldiers to put the fundamental interests of China before those of the CCP and to support nationalization of the army. The nationalization of the army has been discussed for a long time. Some generals have written articles in public journals in support of nationalization. On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the PLA, a statement by The Voices from the Army on the Future China Forum website was published to reflect voices from the army: "We are announcing our withdrawal from all CCP organizations. We are no longer willing to serve the CCP army. "We pledge to join the National Army of China in the near future. We are going to align our forces and transform the army of the CCP into the National Army of China." The Voices from the Army statement drew immediate response from mainland China. Yi Junshan, who used to serve for the No 12 Squad of No 94816 Troop, immediately published his intent to withdraw from the CCP. In the CCP journal Qiushi, a July 16 article written to mark the 80th anniversary of the PLA, Cao Gangchuan, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Minister of National Defense, said: "The enemy forces are positioning the PLA for westernization, spreading the concepts of a non-party army, non-political army or nationalization of the army. They are attempting to eliminate CCP control of the PLA." The CCP army newspaper PLA Daily also published a special article on July 3 to denounce nationalization of the army and to reemphasize the CCP's absolute control of the army. Zhao Keming, Dean of the National Defense University, published a supporting article in Qiushi. The CCP has tightened its control over the army. A recent report revealed a mental hospital in Guangxi Province where many young soldiers are being detained. Li Dayong, who initiated the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, thinks the CCP may no longer be able to control the PLA. "Some generals
are no longer willing to serve the CCP," said Li Dayong. "Many
have read the Nine Commentaries of the Communist Party. Many have
withdrawn from the CCP." Back Much remains to be done before tens of thousands of athletes, sports enthusiasts and journalists turn up in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games on August 8 next year. Despite clear promises China made before it was awarded the Games in 2001, it has done almost nothing to improve human rights. A Chinese official had told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that if it accepted China's candidacy, "you will be helping the expansion of human rights." But six years later, things are still very bleak. " At least 30 journalists and 50 Internet users are in prison in China, and some have been there since the 1980s. Many have been tortured. They are serving heavy jail sentences for "disclosing state secrets," "subversion" or supposed defamation – after just writing an article or sending an e-mail. The government blocks access to thousands of Internet news websites and broadcasts in Chinese, Tibetan, and Uighur by a dozen foreign radio stations are jammed. Rules for foreign journalists working in China have been eased but foreign media are still banned from hiring Chinese journalists or traveling freely to Tibet and Xinjiang. Everyone who loves sport will be shocked to see the Olympic Games and its athletes used by a government that refuses to free thousands of prisoners of conscience and stop the practice of torture and forced labor. The IOC is meanwhile risking its reputation by saying absolutely nothing about all this. Its charter says that sport must be "at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity." Nobody wants to spoil the big occasion or use the events for other ends. Except China and its ruling Communist Party, who are abusing the Games and the Olympic spirit. With just a year
to go, it is more urgent than ever to demand that China keep to its
pledges. The IOC must act and its president, Jacques Rogge, must speak
up. If he does not, the slogan of the 2008 Games, "One world,
One dream," will be worthless and be just a cynically broken
promise. Athletes, journalists, lovers of sport and everyone who supports
human rights must publicly express their concern about the countless
violations of freedom in China. So that when the Games open, there
will be celebrations all over China, not just in the stadiums. Back As the Beijing Olympic Games approaches, more people are demanding improvements in the human rights situation in China. Many international human rights organizations, including Reporters Without Boarders, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Human Rights Watch have issued reports or held activities in the last few days, urging Beijing to keep their promise to improve human rights. On August 7, a group of renowned Chinese intellectuals wrote an open letter to Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, the International Olympic Committee, the Human Rights Committee of United Nations, leaders of various democratic countries, international non-government human rights organizations, as well as people in sports, business, academia, and arts around the world who have shown concern for human rights and democracy. The letter urged them to take the opportunity of the Beijing Olympic Games to advocate progress in China's human rights. Analysts consider this open letter one of the more significant steps taken by Chinese intellectuals in recent years towards universal rights protection. On August 7, 2007, The Epoch Times interviewed one of the initiators of the open letter, Bao Tong. Bao was the secretary of Zhao Ziyang. Zhang was former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, a secretary of the Standing Committee of Political Bureau, a former member of CCP Central Committee, and the director of the Research Institute for CCP Political System Reform. After the Tiananmen Massacre of 1989, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Upon being released, he was put under long-term house-arrest with his communication to the outside world cut off. Supporting Human Rights Torch Relay The global human rights torch relay began in Athens, Greece on August 9 with the lighting of the torch. The relay will cover five continents, several dozen countries, and hundreds of cities. The organizations participating in the activity hope that the initiative will help put an end to the CCP's human rights abuses, and in particular, the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners. Bao gave high remarks for the relay, calling it a "sacred activity" and "very meaningful." He said that it is something worth celebration, and that it should catch everyone's attention. Bao also said,
"I thank all who are concerned with China's human rights situation.
Overseas activities [like this] can improve the situation in China
since we all live in the same world. Globalization is something irreversible.
During this process, people will feel that all of us are getting closer
and closer." Back NEW YORK—A recent report about buns with cardboard filling has created quite a stir. We interviewed Mr. Li Jianwei from Beijing, who owned his own food business for 8 years. Mr. Li Jianwei owned his food wholesale business in China from 1992 to 2000. He even supplied the factory where the cardboard buns are made. When interviewed, he said he was not surprised to hear about the fake filling, because it is very common to buy food with inferior ingredients in China. This surprised Li, who said, "As far as I can remember, the media in China has never admitted to fabricating the news. I have never heard of such a thing and the journalist [involved] continues to report news about inferior food. I see no reason why he/she would make up such news..." What's more unbelievable to Li was that after the news was released, authorities said that they had completed a quality spot-check of 50 breakfast stalls and all of them had passed the test. Li said, "Such places lack sanitary equipment, the staff has not passed health exams, and so they do not have a permit to run a business. How could they possibly pass a quality check? In addition, authorities have issued a publication ban preventing other reporters from further reporting on the issue. This way whatever the authorities say is final." Now living in New York, Li is especially vigilant about food imported from China in supermarkets. Not only are there harmful chemicals in the food but there is also an issue with the expiration dates being tampered with. The expiration date has already passed but the date is changed before the food is shipped to the supermarket. The owners of the supermarkets don't even know the truth. Li has a friend who works for a wholesale company as a deliveryman. He said he does illegal things for his boss everyday. When he is not delivering, the owner asks him to smudge the old date on the food wrapper and put a new date on the cardboard cases. He strongly suggests
inspection of any food imported from China so that it can be eaten
without fear. In China, any brand name food can be contaminated. Chinese
outside of China should be vigilant. They should pressure the government
and Chinese food stores. They need to stress food safety because it
is related to everybody's health and lives. Back
The report indicates that the mysterious herbal prescription's use had been widespread for generations in Zhanling Village in southeastern Guizhou. It is made from more than a dozen varieties of herbs. If a pregnant woman takes the formula during her second pregnancy, the newborn's sex will be opposite of the firstborn child. The gender of each family in the village is therefore very balanced. Each family has a boy and a girl. According to the local Family Planning Bureau, a statistical analysis covering 25 years from 1980 to 2005 shows the average birth statistic of 94 boys and 93 girls in Zhanling Village. Although this mysterious herbal prescription has drawn the attention of many domestic and international institutions and experts, the formula remains a mystery. The masters that inherited the recipe will not reveal its secret ingredients. They believe that the recipe will lose its magic if known to the public. The ancient recipe has been passed down through many generations with strict rules, "to females only, within the family," meaning among their group. There are also many what's considered as magic happenings in this mysterious area. The Tong race, for example, has a local "witch doctor" that treats bone fractures with a glass of clean water and a magic incantation. After covering the wound with some plants for a few days, the fracture is healed. The locals say, "It seems unbelievable, but this indeed happens here." The birth control news was also published at News.163.com. There were hundreds of messages posted by Internet users. One user responded, "I saw a similar thing when I was in Guizhou. In April of 2004, a guy fell at a construction site and his arm had a 10-centimeter cut. You could see the bone and there was very severe bleeding. I told him to go to the clinic right away, but he just went home. The next day when I saw him, his wound had already healed. He mentioned he just used some local herbal medicine." Today, however, these Internet messages have been removed. Back Chinese
Justice in a Spanish Court? Back In a groundbreaking case, Chinese victims of rights violations moved a step closer to seeing their abusers held to account when a judge in Madrid listened to their testimony Monday. "When I was being tortured in labor camps in China, I told myself that one day I would make all of those perpetrators be responsible for what they were doing," says Zhao Ming, one of three victims who spoke. "Now I am doing what I intended." Zhao spent 22 months in Beijing labor camps because he practices Falun Gong, a popular spiritual discipline that was banned in China in 1999. Since then, practitioners have received brutal treatment from the Chinese regime. Zhao himself tells of one occasion when he was shocked simultaneously with six electric batons. The three victims' testimony before a judge and prosecutor of Spain's Audencia Nationale was the latest step in an ongoing investigation into allegations of torture and genocide. According to Carlos Iglesias Jimenez, a local lawyer representing the victims, it was also the first time a Spanish judge heard official declarations in a genocide case whose victims were solely non-Spanish citizens. Thus, besides Zhao, also testifying were an Australian whose husband was tortured to death and a woman who spent a year in a labor camp after being abducted from her home. The defendants in the case are two top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials known for their active role in persecuting Falun Gong—Jia Qinglin from Beijing and Wu Guanzheng from Shandong Province. According to Iglesias, the focus on Monday was on Jia's actions because the victims' experiences were centered on Beijing, where Jia was the top official from 1999-2002. Now ranked fourth in the CCP hierarchy, he reportedly gave speeches urging lower officials to persecute Falun Gong and commended security units for their "success" in the "fight" against the spiritual practice. Iglesias also says that although torture, genocide, and deprivation of religious freedom are illegal under Chinese law, to date no official has been investigated or punished for persecuting Falun Gong. On the contrary, they have been promoted. "What's most important about this case is the opportunity to seek justice for Falun Gong," he says. "They can't get justice in China, so this is the possibility to find justice for victims before a Spanish court." Back |
|
