Without Radical Change, China’s Current Development Has No Future

China Scope: Editor’s note - In his analysis packed with numbers, Professor Zhou Tianyong of the Central Party School presented a disturbing forecast on China’s future. China’s growing and ageing population, overburdened land, scarce water resources, worsening pollution, and intense hunger for steel and oil are not exactly what the Chinese leaders want to hear. “Sustaining (China’s) current 2H1R (High energy consumption, High pollution, Resource depletion) development model,” writes Zhou, is “absolutely out of the question.” The following report is translated from excerpts of his article.] [1]

1) The Crossroads: Over Population and a Botched Birth Control Policy

At the end of 2009, China’s population was 1.334 billion. By 2040, a conservative estimate puts the number at 1.55 billion. China’s current agriculture land, per capita, ranks sixth from the bottom of the world. Based on China’s agriculture population, its per capita arable land is the third lowest in the world, beating Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Only 5% of Chinese people live on 64% of the land in the West Part; the remaining 95% concentrate in the East Part, which has 32% of China’s total size. Based on the East Part alone, the population density is 364 people per square km. That’s number three in the world, behind Bangladesh (1102) and India (393).

Should China continue its current family planning policy? Or make adjustments? Or abolish it? It seems a Catch-22. If China abandons the one-child policy, its population may exceed 1.65 billion by 2040. That will create a huge burden on employment, resources and the environment. But with an ever expanding urban population and a long term one-child-per-family policy, China will have a big ageing problem associated with the high cost of care for senior citizens, which will reduce the country’s economic vitality. After 2040, the population will probably begin to contract. A shrinking and ageing society will result in a sharp and prolonged economic downturn, causing catastrophic consequences to the Chinese nation in the next thirty years (2041 – 2070). If that scenario comes true, China, after thirty years of rising, will plunge into a 30-year decline again.

2) Overburdened Natural Resources and Environment

China has 20% of the world’s population, but its land size is only 6.44% of the world. The majority of Chinese people live in the East Part. China has 1.74 million square kilometers of desert, or 18.12% of its total area. There is an additional 300,000 square kilometers of potential desert, which affects the life of 400 million people. Using international standards, China’s arable land is low grade in general. Only 6% of China’s farmland produces more than 1000 kg of grain per mu (666 square meters); a total of 3.57 million square kilometers of land suffer from water and soil erosion; more than 10% of the arable land is polluted by contaminated water, solid waste and heavy metal; a total 1.35 billion mu of grassland has become desert or wasteland.

The fresh water supply is insufficient and badly polluted. The agriculture water shortage is 30 to 50 billion cubic meters per year; the industrial water shortage averages 6 billion cubic meters, causing 200 billion yuan in economic losses; of China’s 667 cities, 420 cities experience a water shortage. The total city water shortage is 10.5 billion cubic meters.

Water pollution in the rural areas causes rapid deterioration. It is economically beyond salvage. Pollution by chemical fertilizers, pesticides and industrial waste water are commonplace. Irrigation with contaminated sewage, improper treatment of animal waste, and household garbage all directly contribute to the worsening environment. Nearly the entire rural population of 700 million people has drinking water that is substandard; about 190 million people’s drinking water contains hazardous chemicals that exceed the standard. Among the people with various health problems, 88% can blame their illness on dirty drinking water; and 33% of deaths are related to water contamination.

Garbage pollution in the cities and country is severe. China has 600 million urban residents. Using a conservative estimate, each person produces 200 kg of trash per year. Annually, Chinese cities and towns produce 120 million tons of trash. At least two-thirds of Chinese cities are surrounded by trash. Every year, 80% of the world’s electronic trash is shipped to Asia. Among that, at least 90% ends up in China.

3) A Severe Land Shortage

By 2040, the gap between land availability and demand will grow to between 856 million to 1.556 billion mu. Among that, urban development requires 132 million mu. Transportation and water conservation need 137 million mu. Counting reconstruction of old factories and mines which may create 30 million mu, the net increase of land demand for transportation and water conservation is 107 million mu.

Land usage in the country may be relaxed by policy. As a result, the villagers may take anywhere from 150 million to 358 million mu of land for homes. If the agriculture output is unchanged, the arable land shortage in China will reach 700 million mu by 2040.

4) The Fresh Water Shortage is a Hard Constraint

By 2040, the fresh water shortage will reach between 200 to 300 billion cubic meters. Using Japan’s water conservation model as a benchmark, China’s agriculture, industrial, living and ecological demand require 1.18 trillion cubic meters of water. That number approaches the total water resource for China. Even if we find 10% more fresh water, and increase our water supply to 880 to 990 billion cubic meters, our fresh water shortage is still between 191 to 301 billion cubic meters. Water is hard to import, and it will be a bottleneck for China’s development.

5) The Need to Import 10 to 18 Billion Tons of Steel over the Next 30 Years

Over the next 30 years, China’s demand for 55% grade iron core will be hit by a shortfall of 17.3 to 32.6 billion tons. Based on the author’s data, by the end of 2004, the global iron reserve was 80 billion tons. From the China National Bureau of Statistics Yearbook 2008, China’s total potential iron core reserve was 22.6 billion tons. Assuming a 35% grade, China’s maximum iron reserve is about 8 billion tons. If China’s economic development reaches the level of developed nations by 2040, it will need 22% to 33% of the world’s total iron reserve. Assuming China cannot find new iron mines before 2040, China will have exhausted all its iron reserves. In addition, it still needs to import 17.3 to 32.6 billion tons of 55% grade iron cores.

6) China will consume 50% of the World’s Energy

Using the modest energy consumption pattern of developed nations, by 2040, China is expected to consume 50% the world’s energy. In the next 31 years, using a modest plan, China will use 61.5 billion tons of crude oil and 25 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. Assume the world’s oil and natural gas reserve stay at 2008 level, then in the next 31 years, China will consume 26% to 40% of the world’s oil reserve; it will use about 2.3% to 8.1% of the global natural gas. Assume China’s population by 2040 is 1.55 billion, and China becomes a developed country, barring a major change in global energy output or China’s development model, China will need half of the world’s total energy.

According to the “China Statistical Yearbook 2009,” China’s current oil reserve is 2.89 billion tons; the natural gas reserve is 34 trillion cubic meters; the coal reserve is 326 billion tons. China’s oil and natural gas reserves per capita are below one tenth of the world average. Even as a coal rich nation, China’s per capita coal reserve is still less than 40% of the world average. Using the energy consumption rate in 2009, China’s oil reserve can last only 7.08 years; natural gas will last 39 years; and coal 108 years.

Due to China’s overpopulation, scarce resources, and environmental restrictions, sustaining the current 2H1R (High energy consumption, High pollution, Resource depleting) economic model is absolutely out of the question. Even if we reduce our energy consumption to a moderate or low level of the developed countries, it is still unlikely to succeed. Read more...

World Expo 'Exposed' says Chinese Novelist

Epoch Times: Absent are halls filled with advanced technologies of previous World Fairs. Instead, scalpers, long lines, empty buildings, and videos are waiting for you at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Recently a Shanghai Taxi driver said to me, “You will regret it if you don't visit the World Expo; but you will regret even more if you do.” So I decided to go and find out why.

I went with Wang, a friend, and his girlfriend around noontime on Sept. 4. Wang is a media worker and got free tickets. He offered me one, but I insisted on buying my own. I paid 160 yuan (US$24), quite a fortune in China. It took us 32 minutes to pass a security check at the entrance. There were only two security checkpoints. No one complained.

Nothing Worth Seeing

Our guide thought this expo was a rip-off, not because of smalltime scalpers like himself, but because of the organizers, who he says are the real scalpers. They do all the marketing to get people there, but cannot provide matching services. They sell overpriced tickets in every possible ways, while giving away free tickets to boost sales volume, he said.

He said that the Expo is already overcrowded, yet authorities are still using every propaganda channel to get more people to visit. He also said those major halls have nothing worth seeing except for some videos. During training he noticed that all the past World Expos in other countries were showcases of advanced technologies and ideas, but this expo has nothing but architecture and videos. He could not understand why it would be regarded to be so important for so many people to come visit. Read more...

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Big Brother widens his watchful eye in China

Millions of cameras trained on cities, particularly on dissidents and politically sensitive spots

The targets of this project are Chinese dissidents, and in particular, practitioners of Falun Gong. As one expert put it, when presented with Internet censorship technology, the “first question from the Chinese buyers was not ‘Will it make my workers more productive?’ but, invariably, ‘Can it stop Falun Gong?’”[8]

Read more here

Globe and Mail: Xining, China —East Riverside Road – better known to locals as Tibetan Street – is in fact a dusty and narrow alleyway across from the main bus station in this ethnically mixed city on China’s Tibetan plateau. Lined with Tibetan shops and teahouses, as well as Muslim bakeries and a row of stalls selling fireworks, it’s crowded and chaotic enough that few cars bother trying to enter.

But anxious local authorities watch the fray from above. Hanging at even intervals over the twisting 300-metre length of the road are seven domes containing closed-circuit television cameras – nicknamed “Global Eyes” by the Chinese company that makes them – recording nearly everything that goes on in the bustling alley below.

The use of such surveillance technology has skyrocketed in China in recent years – just as it has in many Western countries – with millions of cameras trained on cities around the country to watch traffic, prevent crime and to keep an eye on dissidents and politically sensitive spots such as Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. But the blanket coverage given to a narrow alley in the remote city of Xining highlights how cameras are also being used to closely monitor China’s restive ethnic minorities, especially since the 2008 riots on the Tibetan plateau and last year’s deadly ethnic violence in the predominantly Muslim Uighur region of Xinjiang.

The cameras along East Riverside Road were installed last year after a pair of murders on the street, which in addition to monks and traders also attracts gangs of beggars and, according to local shopkeepers, thieves. But while some say they’re glad for the added security that the cameras provide, many allege that the authorities have other goals in mind.

“We don’t like it because we know they’re only watching Tibetans. It’s political,” said Danjiang, the 36-year-old owner of a Tibetan restaurant on East Riverside Road.

Danjiang, who gave only his first name, said police had stepped up surveillance of Xining’s Tibetan population ever since the monk-led riots of March, 2008. Those were concentrated in the city of Lhasa and other parts of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, but spread to parts of neighbouring provinces, such as Qinghai, that have large Tibetan populations. At the time, Tibetan university students in Xining, the capital of Qinghai, demonstrated in support of the monks.

The use of video surveillance is common across China, though not excessive compared to some Western countries. (There are an estimated seven million cameras watching 1.3 billion people in China, compared to 4.2 million cameras watching 61 million Britons.) What’s troubling for human-rights activists is the overt focus on cities and neighbourhoods that are ethnically Tibetan or Uighur, as well as the specific targeting of political dissidents.

Following the March, 2008, riots in Lhasa, authorities awarded China Telecom – the maker of the “Global Eye” cameras – a $6.5-million contract to install cameras at 624 locations, including the train and bus stations, and all hotels in the city. Similarly, a cluster of cameras has monitored the Tibetan neighbourhood around Beijing’s Yonghegong Temple since before the 2008 Olympics there.

The program in the Tibetan capital was named “Peace in Lhasa.” A press release distributed by China Telecom after winning the contract boasted that “the police only need to lightly click their mouse to direct the ‘electronic policeman’ around. Such a ‘Security Skynet’ will leaves no place for criminals to hide, and ensures the citizens’ peaceful life and work, as well as the stability and harmony of society.”

In Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang and the site of deadly ethnic rioting last year between Uighurs and Han Chinese that left 197 people dead, there are already 47,000 cameras in place, with plans to install another 13,000 by the end of the year. Residents say a disproportionate number are trained on mosques and Uighur neighbourhoods of the city.

It’s not just minorities, but anyone that gives the government trouble who gets the extra scrutiny. Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group, said that at least half a dozen prominent political dissidents have cameras trained on their residences. Amid growing expression of dissent online, video cameras have also been recently made mandatory in the country’s Internet cafés, with direct feeds to the local police stations, making it easier for the government to trace those making anonymous comments on websites.

“Our concern is not surveillance cameras per se [but] the use of such surveillance to further enforce the ban on peaceful assembly and demonstration; the overt ambition by the Chinese government to marry video-surveillance data with a wide range of other government databases [and] the lack of any meaningful regulations to prevent uses that infringe on the right to privacy,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong-Kong based researcher for Human Rights Watch.

“The government is entirely free to do whatever it pleases for as long as it chooses with the data gathered through video surveillance, including mobilizing this technology to repressive political or religious ends. Such technology is already highly problematic in democratic countries with an independent judiciary – in China the counterweights are simply non-existent.”

According to the official China Daily newspaper, the southeastern factory hub of Guangzhou – which is getting set this year to host the Asian Games – now has 2.6 million surveillance cameras in place around the city, likely making it the most-watched city on Earth. Beijing is believed to have the next highest number of any Chinese city with an estimated 470,000, followed by the heaving southwestern megalopolis of Chongqing with 310,000. (According to official figures, Xining will by the end of this year have a relatively modest 5,000 surveillance cameras watching its two million residents.) Those most closely watched by the cameras say it’s a cheap and efficient way for the government to insert itself into their lives. “They use [cameras] to observe human-rights defenders and activists more and more often, rather than arresting us directly. It costs less than using human beings to watch us,” said Zeng Jinyan, an outspoken blogger and the wife of jailed AIDS activist Hu Jia.

Ms. Zeng and her young daughter have lived with a camera trained on their Beijing apartment building for almost four years, since shortly before her husband was arrested. She said the biggest inconvenience has been that friends and family have become nervous about visiting her apartment since the cameras were installed.

“My apartment is like an isolated island in our compound. It’s very strange, but I try my best to carry on living a normal life.”

China used force at Tibetan protests: Rights group

Washington Post Foreign Service, BEIJING -- The New York-based group Human Rights Watch, in a report released Wednesday, said Chinese security forces used "disproportionate force" against peaceful, unarmed protesters and "acted with deliberate brutality" in suppressing widespread rioting in Tibet in March 2008.

The 73-page report accuses the security forces of engaging in "a pattern of deliberate brutality" against the protesters, and then systematically torturing detainees in prison while seeking evidence that exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was behind the uprising. Human Rights Watch accused China of violating international law in quelling the protests.

"The scale of human rights violations related to suppressing the protests was far greater than previously believed," the report concludes. It also says "violations continue, including disappearances, wrongful convictions and imprisonment, persecution of families, and the targeting of people suspected of sympathizing with the protest movement."

Read more

The Seduction of China’s Red Carpet

By Hua Ming
New Epoch Magazine Created: Jul 2, 2010 Last Updated: Jul 6, 2010

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Related articles: China > Regime

When foreigners visit China, they may find the red carpet rolled out for them, an actual red carpet. (New Epoch Magazine)

When foreigners visit China, they may find the red carpet rolled out for them—an actual red carpet. Behind the flattering attention and well-orchestrated hospitality may lie years of meticulous research aimed at gaining influence over selected visitors.

“Doing business in China is the greatest honor in my life,” Steven Miller, director of a private storage company, told a New Epoch Magazine reporter. He was with other business professionals. “The treatment I’ve received is like a king: red carpet, excellent food, and local officials who are very responsive.”

Sam Sullivan, former mayor of Vancouver, Canada, was equally moved and impressed during his time in China. “When I go to China, they treat me like an emperor. And we don’t have that tradition of that red-carpet thing, so it’s a little embarrassing for me in a way,” he said in an interview with The Vancouver Sun.

According to the report, Sullivan recalled that on a trip to China as city councilor, he discovered that almost every major Chinese official at every city hall had his own dining room and his own chef to welcome guests.

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Joe Trasolini, mayor of Port Moody, Canada, visited Beijing some years ago and was given similarly warm treatment. He met with the mayor of Beijing, and the city footed the bill for his travel expenses. The next time he visited China, although he paid for his own travel, he was entertained by municipal-level officials. After a few hours of sightseeing in the morning he would enjoy extravagant banquets in the evening.

Except the super rich, most live a lifetime without receiving such treatment. In today’s China, however, it has become the norm for communist officials to personally receive in lavish style Western VIPs, businessmen, and delegates, who cannot help but feel honored.

Changed Attitudes

After being treated like an emperor, Western politicians have found their attitudes changed toward subjects such as Chinese dissidents and the persecution of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). Some have gone from denouncing the human rights violations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to singing the praises of a developing China.

Mayors of Ottawa have for years issued a Falun Dafa Day Proclamation, meant to express recognition of Falun Dafa practitioners’ contribution and presence in Canadian society. Current Mayor Larry O’Brien, however, decided against that this year soon after returning from a recent business trip to China. He explained that he had “made a commitment”—to whom he would not say—and would not issue the proclamation.

Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice including meditation and self-reflection on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Despite Mr. O’Brien’s refusal, the City Council unanimously passed the proclamation on June 9.

Doing Research and Identifying Targets

The red carpet is one of the more benign methods used by the regime to gain influence over businessmen, diplomatic staff, and politicians.

The Chinese communist regime’s intelligence agencies perform extremely thorough and “scientific” research on the human foibles of their targets, which are then ruthlessly exploited, according to a Beijing insider. The intelligence agencies work on the theory that there are four weak points in human nature: fame, profit, lust, and anger. The CCP intelligence agencies attempt to pinpoint these weaknesses in an individual and tailor their approach accordingly.

Those fond of fame will find Chinese officials and scholars seeking humble consultation from them; they will receive invitations to universities to give speeches and have flattering reports written about their achievements in official media.

For the greedy, Chinese intelligence organizes business opportunities for cooperation, investment, or a fast track to the market. Those whose weakness is lust will be sent pretty girls.

The insider told the New Epoch Magazine that the United Front Work Department of the CCP, the International Department of the Central Committee, the Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the General Military Department of the People’s Liberation Army, all have a large number of intelligence agents that search for and collect information on potentially useful figures, including Western governmental officials, businessmen, famous scholars, and leaders of overseas Chinese communities and their relatives.

According to the degree of usefulness of the targeted individuals, the CCP establishes contact and invites them to China. The scale of the reception is decided on a case-by-case basis. Targeted individuals may then be subject to soft or harsh techniques to persuade them to act in a way that would benefit the Party.

Australian Scandal

In March 2009, the Australian media reported that then Defense minister of Australia, Joel Fitzgibbon, had a previously undisclosed close relationship with a Chinese-Australian businesswoman, Liu Haiyan, which posed a security threat to Australia.

Liu was closely associated with the Intelligence Department of the People’s Liberation Army, a branch for the collection and analysis of military and political intelligence. The Fitzgibbons had visited China as early as 1993, and since 1993 Chinese intelligence had kept an eye on them.

The revelations made a splash in Australia and Fitzgibbon resigned from Cabinet. Soon afterward a shadier deal was revealed: Fitzgibbon had received large sums of money from Liu, and established a joint venture company together with her in China. The incident brought to a wider audience the CCP’s meticulous efforts to cultivate influential figures in Western political circles.

Foreign consular officials in China have also not been spared manipulation behind the scenes. In May 2004, a male diplomat from the Consulate General of Japan in Shanghai killed himself; two years later his testimony was uncovered.

An investigation revealed that the motivation for his suicide was due to blackmail and threats from the Chinese secret police. The Japanese prime minister pointed out that the CCP had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Not all succumb to power and corruption, and many dare to say “no” to the CCP’s advances. Money, fame, lust, and anger are weaknesses inherent in human nature that the CCP has learned to exploit deftly.

CSIS has a long preoccupation with Chinese spying

By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun June 24, 2010

Beijing's efforts at espionage and recruiting agents of influence in Canada has been a preoccupation of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) for many years.

There has been no clearer indication of how large the issue looms for CSIS than when the former director, Jim Judd, appeared before a Senate committee in April 2007, and said fully half of his organization's work involved monitoring Chinese government espionage efforts in Canada.

So there is a long heritage to the statement by the current CSIS director, Richard Fadden, that his organization has evidence that a few provincial and municipal politicians and officials have become "agents of influence" for foreign governments, with the clear inference that he meant primarily China.

Indeed, CSIS has always been quite open that it believes Canada is an inevitable target of the Beijing government's determination to activate susceptible Canadians to gather both useful secrets -especially involving technological advances -and to influence Canadian public policy in China's favour.

One of the first reports dealing with Chinese efforts to exert influence on other countries and governments was made public by CSIS in 1998. It is an examination of how Beijing used what is called "The United Front" to try to affect public opinion in Hong Kong ahead of the handover to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and minimize fears of repression.

The United Front, now a department of the Chinese government since it was resuscitated by former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978, has a long history starting with the war against Japan in the 1930s and '40s of seeking to play on and use the natural patriotism of non-communist Chinese towards the Communist party's objectives.

"Because they are international in scope and occasionally coercive, activities associated with this work can amount to interference in the internal affairs of other nations," says the 1998 CSIS paper.

"In this context, Canada cannot claim disassociation from the phenomenon, if only because of the sheer size of its Chinese community."

The report goes on to document the role played by the New China news agency, Xinhua, in United Front activities and it points out that the main targets for recruitment as agents of influence are not leftists sympathetic to communism.

The main targets are business people who can be suborned by the inducements of contracts in China, and people who may rise to political or other positions of influence within Canadian society.

The CSIS report is careful to say, however, that "ethnic Chinese who have settled abroad should not be viewed as a fifth column."

The number of people within the Chinese diaspora who are susceptible to Beijing's blandishments are relatively few, the report says.

The CSIS interest in Beijing's efforts to recruit agents of influence was refreshed in 2004 with the start of the Chinese government's worldwide program to place Confucius Institutes in academic and other institutions.

The official Beijing line was that these institutes, paid for by the Chinese government, are only an attempt to win friends and calm fears about China's rise by spreading knowledge about Chinese culture and language.

Institutions in scores of countries have taken Beijing up on the offer, including at least seven colleges and universities in Canada, among them the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

But some jurisdictions such as Sweden, and some states in Australia and the United States, have been wary of accepting the institutes, seeing them as another effort by Beijing to recruit agents of influence and perhaps acquire technical secrets from academic institutions.

'Quitting the CCP' Gets Attention at Hong Kong' Parade

Epoch Times Staff Created: Jul 2, 2010 Last Updated: Jul 4, 2010

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The lineup from Quit the Chinese Communist Party was the main focus of the parade. (The Epoch Times)

Hong Kong's annual July 1st parade took place in the hot summer sun as more than 50,000 people from all walks of life took to the streets to continue their fight for general elections.

The lineup consisting of more than 500 Falun Gong practitioners as the main body, with the theme – Quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) movement, became the highlight of the parade. Along the way, tourists and people watching the parade took photos and video recordings of the group.

Professor Gao Dawei, chairman of the Global Quit the CCP center said since 13 years ago, when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, the island previously lauded as the “Pearl of the Orient” has become the battleground of good versus evil.

On July 1 2003, 500,000 took to the streets to force the Hong Kong government to protest against the proposed article 23 legislation which if passed would have destroyed all political freedom in Hong Kong.

On July 1 2005, the 1st of July was designated as “Global Quit the CCP day” and July as “Global Quit the CCP month”. Since then, the annual July 1 parade has become a symbolic day for Hong Kong citizens fighting for democracy, protesting against suppression by the CCP and supporting Mainland citizens in quitting the CCP and its affiliated associations.

Gao appealed for more to step forward and protest against China. He quoted the words of famous US leader Martin Luther King who once said that change does not come naturally, but is the result of continuous battle.

Gao advises Hong Kong people: “You should free yourself from the CCP's evil specter because it is against humanity and evil in nature. This not only requires strong conviction towards moral courage and conscience, it needs wisdom and power to save Hong Kong and the country, to save oneself and others.”

The CCP has gone against its promise of “one country, two systems”. In recent years, the regime has continuously put pressure on the Hong Kong government in areas such as economy, culture, immigration, media and political systems. In Professor Gao's opinion, the Nine Commentaries published by The Epoch Times is the key to disintegrating the CCP and freeing Hong Kong from its tyrannical rule.

The Nine Commentaries exposes the evil nature and history of the regime. Through spreading the publication and reading it, people “understand the evilness and brutality of the regime, resolve to quit from it which in time will ultimately lead to its disintegration. In the process, people return to their benevolent nature and right traditions, forsaking the CCP and embracing what's true and beautiful in life.”

Prominent support

Szeto Wah, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China also commented that one has to publicly announce their decision to quit the CCP. This shows one's resolution in cutting off all ties with the CCP. He emphasized that action is not enough but in one's mind, one has to thoroughly deny the regime. “I hope this quit the CCP movement will continue. It is beneficial to ending the tyranny of the CCP and I hope the movement will continue to be successful.”

Many prominent Hong Kong citizens have also shown their support for the quit the CCP activities. Albert Lam, central committee member of Hong Kong's democratic party thinks that quitting the CCP is a sign of the awakening of people's conscience. “Yet such conscience cannot be betrayed with money, power and conciliation.” He continued: “every time we mention the issue of quitting the CCP, it is the same as saying that the day when the one party rule will end is coming. There will come a day when we can witness the end of a political power that has brutalized its people and distorted the moral values of the Chinese race. This also signifies that the Chinese people, as a nation with conscience and moral values, will truly stand up.”

Chow Wai Tung, district councilor of the Democratic Party who has already quit the CCP complimented the Quit the CCP movement on its revival of one's moral conscience. He said: “The nine evil genes of the CCP are clearly analyzed in the Nine Commentaries. The recent split within Hong Kong's Pan Democracy camp is the doing of the CCP. Those in the Pan Democracy camp could also easily be deceived by the outward appearance of the CCP and believe in the regime. Fortunately, we have the book Nine Commentaries, we think this is a great literary work. It is a cleansing agent for the CCP's poison. I hope everyone will read the Nine Commentaries and that everyone can quit the CCP on the Internet.”

Lam Wing Yin, former Sai Kung district council member for the Democratic Party praised Falun Gong volunteers for their dedication in handing out information to tourists from Mainland China and encouraging them to quit the CCP. He thinks it is no surprise that the number of people quitting the CCP will increase over time. He said: “As long as we continue to persist on this path, there will come a day when the CCP will disintegrate. The regime is actually very vulnerable.”

Albert Chan, member of the Legislative council of Hong Kong who once took to the streets to appeal for free elections, admired the actions of Falun Gong practitioners in spreading the Nine Commentaries and the Quit the CCP movement. He said that quitting the CCP is a basic right of the people. “Political freedom is the most important thing. The CCP is a one party dictatorship, restricting freedom of assembly, religious freedom and freedom of its people. Therefore we have to resolutely support the people's right to freedom of expression.”

Recently, the CCP caused a division within the Hong Kong Pan democracy camp and has attempted to deceive the people with alleged promises of open dialogue. Albert Chan emphasized that the words of the CCP cannot be trusted. “I appeal to the citizens of Hong Kong not to believe in those lies. We have been deceived so many times. The government has previously said that there would be general elections in 2007 and 2008 but this has been postponed to 2012 with no date set. The CCP still controls everything and the disparity between rich and poor in Hong Kong is increasing. As long as there is no democracy, the people in Hong Kong will remain oppressed.”

Read the original Chinese article

Read the Nine Commentaries

Disappearance of Chinese activist Gao Zhisheng demands action

washingtonpost.com

WP July 6: A MAN DISAPPEARS. He is subjected to excruciating torture -- his body broken until he is scarcely recognizable -- and threatened with death unless he disavows his beliefs and embraces the Party. It sounds like something out of the writing of George Orwell. But this is the story of Gao Zhisheng, a prominent Chinese lawyer whose case has drawn international attention, and who has now vanished for a second time.

Mr. Gao's story is astonishing. With only a middle-school education, he taught himself law and went on to rank among China's top lawyers, becoming a dedicated advocate for justice and the rule of law. His writings earned international attention, from "A China More Just," a book detailing his struggles, to his impassioned open letters denouncing China's human rights failures. He took on sensitive cases most other lawyers avoided, even asserting the rights of detained Falun Gong members to judicial review. As a result of his activism, he has been kidnapped, tortured and disappeared. Last year, he vanished for more than a year, emerging this March under tight scrutiny from authorities, forced to abandon his human rights efforts and seeming broken. In April, he vanished again.

And he is one of the few "disappeared" Chinese known to the public. More than 400,000 prisoners are said to be languishing in the "black jails," labor camps and detention centers of China. In the year following Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's disastrous remarks that human rights must not "interfere" with U.S.-China relations, the Chinese government's crackdown on those who strive to build the rule of law has only broadened. Citizens blog, tweet and engage in discourse -- until their comments are censored, their opinions removed and they are arrested.

Increased international attention may bring back Mr. Gao. But this will not solve the problem.

President Obama has just invited Chinese President Hu Jintao for a state visit. He must allow human rights -- and Mr. Gao -- to interfere. For years, Chinese lawyers like Mr. Gao have struggled to build the rule of law, case by case. The United States must support democratic processes and the authority of the legal system. A China in which the law is respected, where citizens have a say in their government and can count upon it to protect their rights, rather than depending upon the whim of Communist Party leaders, would be a great leap forward for individuals and businesses alike.

David Matas: Lessons From the Holocaust, Organ Harvesting in China

The fight to expose systematic organ harvesting in China

By Fany Qiu & Michelle Yu
Epoch Times Staff Created: Jun 20, 2010 Last Updated: Jun 20, 2010

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Men of conscience often face tremendous challenges in life. Driven by their hearts, when exposed to injustice and evil, they cannot turn away; despite the risks, they choose to do what they believe is right.

Oskar Schindler, the heroic figure portrayed in the 1993 Spielberg film “Schindler’s List,” is a historic example of a person who risked everything to save nearly 1,200 Jewish workers from certain death during Nazi Germany’s “Final Solution” genocide targeting European Jews—the Holocaust. The brave Schindler risked life and limb to stand against tyranny and follow his conscience.

Canadian David Matas is also a man of conscience. Although he does not find himself living and surviving daily while surrounded by oppressors, he has seen evidence of great tyranny. His determination to expose unspeakable evil may potentially save hundreds of thousands from the clutches of one of the most oppressive regimes in human history.

David Matas. (Mingguo Sun/The Epoch Times)

Matas, along with former Canadian government official David Kilgour, published “BLOODY HARVEST—Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China.” In the report, they summarize their shocking investigation into a modern-day mass genocide:

“We have concluded that the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centers and ‘people’s courts,’ since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Their vital organs, including kidneys, livers, corneas and hearts, were seized involuntarily for sale at high prices, sometimes to foreigners, who normally face long waits for voluntary donations of such organs in their home countries.”

This conclusion was reached after months of documented, investigative research, and the eventual report released in July 2006. A subsequent 2007 revision of the report, and recently published book “Bloody Harvest,” include new evidence collected by the two authors in ongoing efforts to expose the mass killings.

How does one investigate crimes committed by a communist regime that controls the very flow of information and stifles transparency? “The allegations, by their very nature, are difficult either to prove or disprove,” Matas and Kilgour stated in the “Difficulty of Proof” section in their 2007 report.

Mr. Matas elaborated on this assertion in a recent interview with The Epoch Times. “What was difficult was to figure out a method to approach the issue when there are no corpses [according to the allegation, the victims’ bodies were cremated], no crime scene, no records, no independent media, no human rights NGOs working within the country.”

Request for Help

The investigation began when a non-governmental organization (NGO)—the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong in China (CIPFG)—sent the men a request for help in investigating emerging allegations that Falun Gong practitioners were being targeted for organ harvesting.

With decades of experience as a human rights attorney—and participation as a Canadian delegate in the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust—Matas, along with Kilgour, immediately knew this investigation was no easy task.

But they accepted the challenge and, drawing from lessons learned during the time of Oskar Schindler, couldn’t dismiss such allegations as mere rumor.

“One of the lessons we’ve learned from the Holocaust is that human nature does not change,” Matas stated to The Epoch Times. “What changes is the technology, but the capacity for doing evil remains the same.”

Once they decided on an approach to prove or disprove the allegations, no time was wasted in collecting evidence—not so easy when the Chinese regime was determined to thwart investigators.

“First of all they wouldn’t let us go to China [to investigate the case],” said Matas. “They said, ‘We know what’s going on. We’ll tell you. You don’t have to go.’”

Communist authorities also tried to prevent the investigators from interviewing witnesses by threatening those they wanted to interview.

Still, the researchers were able to interview a substantial number of people, including released Falun Gong practitioners, non-Falun Gong former prisoners, and a family member of a surgeon involved in organ removal operations, as well as organ recipients.

Investigators, posing as potential recipients inquiring about transplants, also contacted Chinese hospitals requesting organs and donor information.

‘Shocking and Chilling’

The findings, Matas said, were “shocking and chilling,” and were more than enough to reach a conclusion. “Together, they paint a picture,” he stated in the 2007 report, “… particularly when there are so many of them.”

Since the release of the first report, the two authors have been invited to 80 cities in 40 countries to present their research, while accumulating more evidence. Along the way, the biggest barrier has always been the Chinese regime’s obdurate interference around the world.

When invited to speak of the genocide at certain universities, for example, Chinese student groups guided by the regime would show up in protest; in some cases, these students were so violent and disruptive that campus security ordered them to leave. In other cases, hosting organizations canceled the presentations on organ harvesting due to threatening pressure from Chinese embassies.

“Everywhere [we see] this kind of harassment and interference,” Matas said, adding that Chinese embassies went so far as to call a parliament committee in Finland and demand they cancel a meeting with Matas and Kilgour.

Sometimes harassment turns into threats—personal threats. When David Matas spoke on a radio program in Australia—broadcast live into China—audience members were invited to call in for questions and comments. A man calling in from China said, “I’m from the Internet police. What you are doing is an attack on China. By insulting China you are putting your own life at risk. My question for you is: are you not afraid?”

“The problem is the abuse,” Matas replied. “Don’t blame the messenger. Blame the message. If you don’t want this sort of criticism, stop human rights violations. Stop killing Falun Gong for their organs.”

Responses from regime officials have been annoying, to say the least. The rare and belated responses consist mainly of two parts: typical propaganda attacks on Falun Gong and personal attacks on the two authors and their “subversive intrigue” against China.

Of note: no comment has been made to address the evidence listed in the reports, evidence which the investigators say is independently verifiable.

After repeated requests, Kilgour and Matas were granted a meeting at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa; a staffer showed up with a prepared statement consisting mainly of attacks on Falun Gong copied from Chinese propaganda materials. Mr. Matas described the staffer’s reference to the organ harvest report as “just silly.”

“The way it attempted to refute our report was to take statements from our report that had citations or [were] supported by evidence, strip the citations, and changed the quotations to ‘it’s said that’ or ‘it’s rumored that’ … to give the impression that our report was based on rumors rather than on evidence. And then he criticized the report for being based on rumors.

“For me and David Kilgour, we are two individuals working part time to take on the government of China, which has a budget of billions and full-time staff around the world,” Matas reflected, in our interview. “We know from defectors that [combating Falun Gong] is their number one priority. ... They have more personnel devoted to combating the Falun Gong than to anything else. For us two part-time individuations to stand against this monolith is a mammoth task.”

Mammoth task as it is, giving up is never an option for Matas. Of Jewish descent, Matas says he’s learned important lessons from the Holocaust. “One of the reasons that the Holocaust happened was the global indifference, the notion that this is a country far away,” he said. “Crimes against humanity are not just crimes against the Chinese. It’s crimes against all of us.”

Matas said conscientious law professionals in China such as Gao Zhisheng also inspired him to persist.

Gao, nominee of the Nobel Peace Award for two consecutive years, has been repeatedly imprisoned, tortured, and placed under house arrest because of his efforts to appeal for persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. “If he can do all that,” Matas said, “what David Kilgour and I have done is the least we can do.”

According to the Matas and Kilgour report, systematic organ harvesting started as early as 2000 or 2001.

Four years have elapsed since the 2006 initial publication of the investigative report, and the persecution of Falun Gong is still going on. But Matas says he has faith.

Related Articles

• Kilgour and Matas Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
• What's Really Wrong with Rights and Democracy
• Lessons of the Holocaust: Making ‘Never again’ a Reality

“I’ve been in this business for a long time,” said Matas, now senior legal counsel to B’nai Brith Canada. “I know that human rights change doesn’t happen quickly,” he said. “But over a period of time I’ve seen a lot of changes.”

He added that over the last four years, the publicity surrounding systematic organ harvesting has forced China’s communist regime to at least admit that organs do come from prisoners; responding to public scrutiny, regime officials have also removed websites that overtly advertise harvested organs for transplant.

Both gentlemen have voluntarily carried the fight to expose the atrocities; when complimented for his generous deeds, Matas laughed, and dismissed the credit.

“It’s not about me. It’s about all the other people,” he said. “But from a personal perspective, I’m Jewish and I’ve been very much affected by the Holocaust. … I’ve been trying to think about the Holocaust, learn a lesson from the Holocaust and act on them as a legacy to victims of the Holocaust.

“One of the lessons I’ve learned is the need for people everywhere to act on human rights violations anywhere, to prevent those violations from happening.”

In the “Recommendation” section of the Bloody Harvest report, Matas and Kilgour request from us:

“To all those who are sceptical about the allegations, we ask you to ask yourself what you would suggest to prevent, in any state, allegations like these from becoming true. The common sense list of precautions to prevent the sort of activity here alleged have pretty much all been missing in China.”

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Biography of David Matas (www.bnaibrith.ca)
David Matas is senior legal counsel to B’nai Brith Canada, and an internationally renowned refugee, immigration, and human rights lawyer based in Winnipeg. A former president of the Canadian Council of Refugees, he is also active in such organizations as Amnesty International, Helsinki Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists. He has represented B’nai Brith in many international fora, such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He is an accomplished author of several highly acclaimed publications, among them “Justice Delayed: Nazi War Criminals in Canada” (1987) with Susan Charendoff; “Closing the Doors: The Failure of Refugee Protection” (1989) with Ilana Simon; “Bloody Words: Hate and Free Speech” (2000); and “Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and the Rise of Contemporary Anti-Semitism” (2005). His latest book is “Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for their Organs” (2009) with David Kilgour. He has received numerous awards and honors, including an honorary doctorate from Concordia University.

For more information about David Matas, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Matas

China Anniversary Memorial on Behalf of 70 Million Ghosts

Thanks to Jack Fowler for this piece.

China Anniversary Memorial on Behalf of 70 Million Ghosts [Jack Fowler]

NRO: The Visual Artists Guild, sponsor of yesterday’s Big Apple “die-in” outside the PRC consulate, has issued this statement on the 60th anniversary of China going Red:

Memorial to the victims of 60 years of Peoples Republic of China

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

Today, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, we mourn the deaths of 70 million Chinese who died in the greatest genocide of human history.

We mourn those killed during the violent days of land redistribution when people were agitated into murderous frenzies against their fellow human beings labeled as being landowners, rich peasants and bourgeoisie.

We remember those intellectuals who answered the call of the Hundred Flowers Movement to speak freely about their government only to find that they were trapped during the anti-rightist campaign that followed.

We demand the release of all Political Prisoners.

We mourn the 38 million men, women and children who died in the greatest man-made famine in human history as a result of the wanton disregard of human lives under Mao during the Great Leap Forward.

We mourn the millions who died during the Cultural Revolution.

We mourn the millions who were tortured and died in the laogai labor camps.

We mourn the deaths of the Buddhists, Taoists, Tibetans, Catholics, Protestants, Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghur Muslims, and many others who were persecuted and died when they struggled for their right to freedom of religion.

We mourn those who were slaughtered during the Tiananmen Massacre and the subsequent executions which followed.

We grieve with their families.

70 million human beings perished.

Such intentional behavior by the government of the Peoples Republic of China in the treatment of its citizens must not continue in the 21st century.

We demand for the people of the Peoples Republic of China their rights to Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Religion and all other Freedoms as stated in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

We demand the release of all Prisoners of Conscience.

We demand that China's history record an official apology from its government for past transgressions against 70 million human beings and their families.

We look forward to a peaceful and prosperous China whose citizens will live in a nation that respects basic human rights and respects the inherent dignity of human life that all people deserve.