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Jun 16

China Internet

It seems the western media and Chinese blogosphere agree on one thing; Green Dam is not winning any popularity contests. Today, the Chinese government backed down on the mandatory usage of the software, though it will still come either pre-loaded or be included on a compact disc with all PCs sold on the  mainland from July 1st.

There are several problems associated with this software, each one an interesting topic in itself. I’d like to run down the issues associated with its release, one by one.

1) Why the sudden announcement of this invasive software with virtually no implementation time given to the manufacturers?
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Feb 19

I suppose it is generally a good idea not to pick up a fight with someone agreeing with you. Or as Sherlock Holmes would have said, “it’s elementary”. So with that in mind, this following story probably sounds rather amusing. (H/T to Charles Liu)

The short version: Some Falun Gong followers literally stopped the press of a Canadian newspaper over a sympathetic article towards their cult spiritual movement.
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Oct 06

(Backgournder on David Kilgour, David Matas, and their affiliation with Falun Gong\’s political lobby, CIPFG.)

Dear Mr. Kilgour, Mr. Matas:

While China’s human rights record should be examined, I would like to urge you to look into all the facts of the case regarding the organ harvesting allegation made by the relgious sect Falun Gong.

In my opinion Falun Gong’s actions not only discredited their own cause, they also detracted from honest examination of China’s problems. Falun Gong’s vivisection indictment muddled the rational discussion of issues such as Chinese society’s moral, ethical standards on dignity and treatment of the condemned.

It is in this spirit I would like to bring to your attention some contrarian facts:

– US State Department’s undercover investigation found Falun Gong’s Sujiatun/Auschwitz allegation not credible. [1]

– A US Congressional brief critical of China questioned the veracity of Falun Gong’s claim of genocide and credibility of Kilgour/Matas report. [2]

– Independent investigation by long time Chinese dissident Harry Wu found Falun Gong’s claim, and its witnesses, unverifiable. [3]

– The Ottawa Citizen published a report on the veracity of Falun Gong’s organ harvesting allegation, and credibility of the Kilgour report. [4]

– The gory photo admitted as evidence by Falun Gong is not evidence of vivisection. Specifically, photo of Mr. Wang Bin in the Kilgour/Matas report, Appendix 20 Case 1.

A pathologist review contradicted Falun Gong’s claim. [5] Even according to Falun Gong’s own reporting, an autopsy was performed as part of Mr. Wang’s murder investigation held by local authority. [6]

Another photo that is widely mis-used by Falun Gong is of Mr. Liu Yufeng, it too does not prove vivisection.

In reality these photos are medical in nature, and are not evidence of atrocity. For example Falun Gong used a photo of breast cancer to support their “sexual torture” allegation. This story ran for two years before a physician blogger noticed the misrepresentation. [7]

In conclusion, writing an allegory of “Schindler’s List” is not the way to examine China’s human rights record. If we can not be precise with our accusation, only resort of nefarious indictment – why should anyone take the issue seriously?

Sincerely,

Charles Liu
Community Activist
Seattle, WA

References:

1) http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=April&x=20060416141157uhyggep0.5443231&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html

http://www.usembassy.it/pdf/other/RL33437.pdf (section CRS-7)

2) \’The Collateral of Suppression\’, a brief written for Senator Dianne Feinstein, member of US Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC), where congressional researchers Emma Ashburn and Thomas Lum were quoted.

3)http://www.cicus.org/info_eng/artshow.asp?ID=6491

4) http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=2c15d2f0-f0ab-4da9-991a-23e4094de949&p=3 (page 3, 4)

5) Review by Dr. Friedlander of Kansas City University School of Medicine, Pathology Dept. The photo exhibited ‘Y’ incisions in the neck and baseball stitch sutures, which are typical of autopsy. The fact organ removal by medical examiner during autopsy is routine, is omitted.

6) http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2000/11/16/6164.html

7) Review by Dr. Ramana: http://rambodoc.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/is-the-falun-gong-going-wrong

Jul 15

I don’t really know what to say about this. So, I’ll just jump right to the pictures:

In 2002, this rock formation was found in Pintang county, in Guizhou province. This rock face is apparently one half of a larger boulder that split about 500 years ago. The local government began to insist that the formation, itself approximately 270 million years old, reads “Chinese Communist Party” (中国共产党). If you believe local press reports, local villagers have started calling the stone the “Savior’s Stone” (救星石). Conveniently, it has become a tourist destination in Guizhou province. (See promotional video.)

Ironically, it’s not the Communist Party or the mainland press that focuses on the “savior stone” these days. Even though Guizhou, also the site of the recent Weng’an riots, is one of the poorest, most backward regions in China… I think the mainland public is way too sophisticated for this kind of nonsense.

Instead, it’s the Falun Gong that finds the topic most interesting. Why? Because with completely seriousness, it insists the rock formation actually has another character to the right: “dies” (亡). See FLG-produced video for the full, comical story.

Jun 05

Six Four: 1989 and Falun Gong

Written by: DJ | Filed under:Letters | Tags:,
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This article is another one coming from MITBBS. Because the original post at MITBBS seems to have been edited into a truncated version, the full Chinese text is presented along with the translation.

To be honest, it seems out of place to discuss 6/4 and FLG together. But after seeing the “antics” of FLG followers in the last few years, I cannot help reflect on the way the government handled 6/4.

说实话,把六四和FLG放在一起似乎有些不合适,但近年来F LG在全球范围内的“表现”不由得引发了我对当年政府处理“六四”的方式作一点思考。

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May 22

China’s crackdown on Falun Gong (FLG) is frequently cited in the west as evidence of human rights abuse and suppression of religion. On the other hand, some of the FLG followers make it really difficult to sympathize with their cause.

Case in point, there are reports of FLG followers publicly cheering the Sichuan earthquake as a karmic response from heaven on the Chinese Communist Party. ESWN provided a translation of a report from Ming Pao dated May 21, 2008:

The confrontation between Queens county residents and the FLG practitioners is now on its fourth day …

Yesterday at 10am, several dozen FLG member appeared in front of the Flushing Public Library.  Just like the past three days before, they unfurled banners that pronounced “The Heavens destroy the Chinese Communists,” “Experts sent Sichuan earthquake prediction report confidentially to authorities” and so on to show the passer-bys.  Some of the FLG members said that they have been criticising the Chinese Communist regime and they thought that the Sichuan earthquake revealed the evil nature of the Chinese Communists.  Some FLG members even said that the Sichuan earthquake was the result of the violent rule of the Chinese Communists.

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