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August 19, 2007 (Sunday) － Issue No. 114 |
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Dissenting Voices within Communist Party before 17th National
Congress |
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China
Bans Overseas Satellite Programs |
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Olympic
Spotlight Ignites Hope for Change in China |
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Parents Wary After China Product Recall The recall of millions of Chinese-made toys by U.S. toy company Mattel Inc. will make Americans more cautious about buying toys made in China but will not deter them, parents said....…Full Article |
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Ancient Chinese Yin-Yang Fish Bowl Remains a Mystery For instance, the yin-yang fish bowl that is part of the collection of the Hangzhou Museum in China's Zhejiang Province cannot be explained by modern science nor replicated by modern technology. It remains a mystery to the world......…Full Article |
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Before the start of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 17th National Congress, members have been airing their views by publishing articles or submitting letters to China's top leaders. Opinions at the
Meetings Fifteen Children
of Veteran Members Cosigned a Letter to Hu Jintao In the letter the group demanded that the CCP organizations, cadres, and the socialist legal system be constructed well as the party's first priority. They also said that the slogan "the party works for the good of the public and serves the people" should be matched with deeds and should bring tangible benefits to the people; and that all rules and regulations that are not in line with socialism should be changed. It stated that descendants of older-generation communists should not be privileged and should take the lead in working in the neediest places in China. Seventeen Former
Ministers and Generals Send a Letter to Hu Jintao The over seven thousand character letter attacked the ills that have appeared since the reform started, detailing an array of cover-ups, complaints, and anger evident in society. It warned that if no decisive measures were taken to redress the situation, people like Boris Yeltsin would emerge within the party and the deaths of the party and the state would follow. In mid-July 2007, 45 former senior party, government, and military leaders addressed two letters to Hu Jintao and politburo members, calling their attention to the present political crisis, and demanding a house-cleaning and a return to the former socialist path to prevent people like Boris Yeltsin from gaining leadership. Twenty-eight Retired
Senior Officials Cosigned a Letter to Hu Jintao In the end, the
letter contained an appeal for the 17th National Congress to put an
end to the chaos; otherwise, escalated unrest could happen at any
time. The letter concluded with a warning: people like Gorbachev and
Yeltsin are within the CCP and waiting for the chance to rise to power
or to stage a coup. Back The Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued an order last month to all local governments to ban "illegal" foreign satellite programs. According to mainland Chinese residents, even the pro-Communist Hong Kong based Phoenix Satellite TV is listed as "illegal," and banned in many areas. When The Epoch Times phoned the Beijing office of Phoenix Satellite TV inquiring about the matter, an employee said that the impact is small and limited to certain local areas. However, the Southern China Morning Post in Hong Kong quoted the station's management saying, "The Phoenix Satellite TV has become the major victim of this regulation. So far, it has lost at least 4 million customers in mainland." Phoenix Satellite TV is a company listed in Hong Kong stock market and the only overseas Chinese television media in the mainland TV market. Experts believe that the fact that even the pro-Communist Phoenix Satellite TV is targeted shows that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is losing its sense of security. It does not even trust its own people. Not Trusting Their Own People According to Zhao Dagong, a freelance writer from Shenzhen, it's understandable that Phoenix is affected. "Even though Phoenix Satellite TV is subordinate to the CCP, some of its programs are made to suit the taste and market of Hong Kong viewers. If all programs are made just like the China Central Television (CCTV), no one is going to watch the shows and no one would advertise in the program," said Zhao. Jin Zhong, editor of Hong Kong Open Magazine said that "Under normal circumstances, sometimes when Phoenix Satellite makes decisions without consulting the CCP, the government would open one eye and close one eye. However, with the upcoming Olympics and the 17th CPC (Communist Party of China) National Congress, the CCP is losing its sense of security. It does not even trust its own people. That's why the Phoenix Satellite TV is also affected." Sticking to its Autocratic Nature will only Provoke More Conflict Jin also said that the CCP is facing a very awkward situation. On one hand, they want to please the western world and prepare to host the upcoming Olympics. China has spent a lot of money and put in a lot of effort to build the image of a "civilized, open and free" country. However, its autocratic nature has caused endless domestic conflicts. There are many so-called "unstable factors" and uncontrollable situations. Grievances are building up everywhere from Beijing to rural areas. It is very incompatible with the image they try to build. The international community is seeing more and more of the true China. Its human rights situation is also drawing more and more attention, Jin said. Zhao Dagong said
that "The increasingly strict control in China is due to the
forthcoming Olympics and strong concern for its human rights violations
from the international community. The government will only even more
severely suppress the media and control dissidents. However, the control
will also expose more of the true ugly side of the regime and lead
to more conflicts, more social issues, and more anti-government activities.
Thus, it is expected that there will be more news exposing the news
blockade and suppression of human rights by the regime." Back Recent climate anomalies in China have caused ceaseless droughts in some areas and continuous floods in other places. Experts have pointed out that the global greenhouse effect and other human factors were the main reasons for the disasters. Continuous droughts and high temperatures have been afflicting many areas including Hunan, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Xinjiang, Fujian provinces and Shanghai City, with Jiangxi and Hunan being the hardest hit. The drought in the mid-eastern part of Inner Mongolia has lasted a long time, and the situation keeps worsening. According to the latest official figures, this year 23 million acres of cultivated area suffered from the droughts, which is 2.7 million acres higher than average. The droughts affected 21.7 million acres of crops, among which 7.8 million acres are severely affected, and 1.4 million acres completely withered. The drought has also caused a fresh water shortage for 5.88 million people and 4.7 million cattle. Since this summer, heavy rainfalls have caused floods in many parts of China, especially in Chongqing City as well as Sichuan, Guizhou, Xinjiang, Guangxi and Hubei provinces. So far the flood has killed nearly 700 people, affected 120 million, and caused US$7 billion economic losses. Jiangxi is experiencing the worst drought in 50 years, with 1.06 million people facing a drinking water shortage, and 1.3 million acres of crops affected by the drought. The drought is still worsening, and is spreading quickly from the middle to the rest of the province. According to latest figures, from April 1 to July 30 this year, the average rainfalls in Jiangxi is 594 mm, 32 percent below that in the same period of past years, and 20 percent blow that in the same period of 2003. In Hunan Province the drought has continued for four weeks, which omens a dry autumn. Several million people are facing a drinking water crisis. Rainfall is down by 25 percent compared to previous years, leaving half of the two million water reservoir facilities empty. According to the Hunan Meteorological Bureau's forecast, the temperate will reach up to 40° C (104° F) in most of August. According to a meteorological department report, Shanghai's temperature peeked at 39.6° C (103° F) on July 29. The last time Shanghai had the same temperature was on July 25, 2003, and it broke a 63 years' record. So far nearly 700 people have died as a result of the flood, lightning and mudslides across China. The flood has affected up to 120 million people with economic losses amounting to USD$7 billion. Chongqing City recently was hit by the heaviest rainfalls in the century. Millions of people were affected and nearly 100 were killed or missing. The losses reached 2.978 billion yuan (USD$0.39 billion). Guangxi Province
was also hit by continuous torrential rainfalls, resulting in mountain
torrents and river flooding which affected 8.3 million people and
caused a direct economic loss of 9.84 million yuan (USD$1.3 million).
Back When the IOC awarded Beijing the 2008 summer Olympics, it was said to be an act of faith that the Games would give China's leaders the impetus to become more responsible players in the international community. What the current Chinese regime had hoped to be an Olympic coming-out party on the world stage is instead looking more like the 1936 Olympics, which were blighted by Hitler and Nazism. A laundry list of interest groups are sounding the alarm over the 2008 Games, ranging from concerns over press freedom, the persecution of Falun Gong, Tibetans, and political dissidents to China's arms proliferation, its role in Darfur, tainted products, and pollution problems. The organizers of the Beijing Olympics are no strangers to controversy. The preparations for the Games have ranged from the eccentric–like spray-painting the grass green during IOC inspections and planning to artificially force rain ahead of the opening ceremony–to the appalling. Some human rights groups charge that Beijing has used the Games as a pretext to step up the suppression of dissidents and religious groups such as Falun Gong and Tibet so as to avoid any public protests during the Games. But rather than being silenced, rights advocates are instead using the Games as a platform to flag long-standing abuses during this time when the international community is more inclined to pay attention. Last week, exactly a year ahead of the opening ceremonies for the Games, two former Olympians joined supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline in launching a "Human Rights Torch Relay" in Athens to protest the Chinese regime's violent persecution of the meditation practice. Among those present at the event in Athens was former Edmonton MP and Liberal cabinet minister David Kilgour, who referred to the 2008 Olympics as the "bloody harvest Olympics." The moniker was a reference to the Chinese regime's practice of forcibly removing and selling the organs of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Supporters of human rights in Darfur, have also seized on the chance to condemn Chinese rulers for their policy on Sudan, which includes weapons proliferation and obstructing UN resolutions to intervene in the conflict there. Referring to the Beijing Games as the "genocide Olympics", many groups are calling for a boycott. "We have tried to give China a chance to try to make good of what is required of a rising world power, that is, recognizing and respecting the rights of its citizens and promoting human rights outside of its own borders. So if that does not happen we will have no choice but to call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games," says Clement Apaak, chair and founder of Canadian Students for Darfur. High-profile celebrities
like Mia Farrow have also called for a boycott of the Games over China's
backing of the Sudanese government. Farrow,along with several prominent
rights activists, also launched a symbolic torch relay in Chad this
week to protest the Beijing Games.Director Steven Spielberg, one of
the artistic advisors for the Beijing Games, is reportedly considering
resigning his post if China does not change its stance on Sudan. Back ATLANTA—The recall of millions of Chinese-made toys by U.S. toy company Mattel Inc. will make Americans more cautious about buying toys made in China but will not deter them, parents said. U.S. companies were as much to blame for importing sub-standard goods as Chinese manufacturers who produced them, said parents interviewed in Atlanta and Phoenix. They said parents were under two types of pressure: to buy particular makes of toys and dolls for children and to buy cheap. That means it would be near impossible to stop buying Chinese-made toys. The recall on
Tuesday involves 18.2 million magnetic toys globally including 9.5
million in the United States with magnets or magnetic parts that can
be dislodged. The toys involved include Polly Pocket dolls, Doggie Day Care magnetic toys, Barbie and Tanner magnetic toys, Batman and One Piece play sets. Some parents said the recall raised the issue of whether Chinese-made products could be trusted at all. Trusting Toy Companies "We need to trust the toy companies and I'm not sure that we can trust the things that are made in China anymore," mother Marie Thearle told Reuters as she left a Toys-R-Us store in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her 2-year-old daughter. Thearle, a medical doctor, said she had checked the Mattel recall list before setting off for the toy store on Tuesday and had decided not to buy anything made in China. "I'm just not sure that they have the same regulations that we have in the United States to make sure that things are safe ... Previously I didn't really think about it but now I am not going to buy anything that was made in China," she said. But living without purchasing Chinese-made products is not easy, as author Sara Bongiorni discovered when she attempted to do so for a year. She detailed her attempt in the book A Year Without 'Made in China,' which was published this year. Bongiorni said she wanted to make Americans aware of how tied they were to the global economy and did not have a protectionist agenda. "It seems that everything that we buy comes from China," she said. "We don't find very much made in America. Is it scary? Definitely ... I guess it should be a bit government regulated what's coming in from over there ... I would not want my children having things with lead-based paint in them." Back Ancient
Chinese Yin-Yang Fish Bowl Remains a Mystery Back Ancient Chinese science and technology were very advanced. The Ancient Chinese knew more about science and technology than any other culture. For instance, the yin-yang fish bowl that is part of the collection of the Hangzhou Museum in China's Zhejiang Province cannot be explained by modern science nor replicated by modern technology. It remains a mystery to the world. Among the collections of the Hangzhou Museum, there is a bronze spouting bowl named the "Yin-Yang Fish Bowl." The bowl, which is about the size of a washbasin, has two handles and a decoration of four fish at the bottom. There are four clear parabolas drawn between the fish, just as those described in the Yi Jing (The Book of Changes). If you fill the bowl half-full of water and rub the handles with your palms, instantly the water in the bowl will tumble and the vibration will cause water to spout four two-foot-tall fountains from the mouth of each fish on the wall of the bowl. Moreover, the bowl will make the same sound as chanting the ancient divination words in the Yi Jing. Bowl Cannot be Replicated by Any Modern Technology Physicists from the U.S. and Japan have used all kinds of modern scientific instruments to examine and investigate the bowl trying to find out its construction principles of heat conductivity, sensoring, self-propelling, and spraying and making sound, but have not succeeded. In October 1986, a replica bronze spouting bowl was made in the U.S. It looked identical to the yin-yang fish bowl but was a failure, as it could not function properly: It could not spout water, and the sound it made was very dull. Modern science can only lament its insignificance before the miracles created by ancient Chinese technology and treat it as an unsolved mystery. What were the principles upon which ancient people made the bronze fish bowl? As developed as it is today, why can't modern science and technology make a replica of a bronze ware bowl made by people in ancient times? According to experts' analysis, modern science is analytical science. Characterized by high accuracy and strict quantification, it has reached the level of micro quantum technology. The so-called "Nami Technology" may very well represent the achievements of today's high-tech. Yet modern science has a fatal weakness: linearism. Linear science still dominates today's modern science and continues to apply a simplified approach to natural phenomena as always. The real world and Mother Nature do not conform to linear principles, but in most cases non-linear theory instead. Modern science and technology are nothing but man-made simplification against the truth of Mother Nature. Fountains of water that are similar to those in the bronze spouting fish bowl are called "solitary wave" or soliton phenomena. Different from ordinary waves, solitary waves do not disperse when occurring, and therefore can last a long time. The existence of solitary waves is a non-linear phenomenon. Thus the construction principles of the yin-yang fish bowl are far beyond the scope of modern science, and it is therefore impossible for modern technology to replicate. Back |
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