Good afternoon. My name is Jeffrey Imm, and our group’s name is Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.).
I appreciate all of you here today fighting for freedom.
We share your fight for freedom around the world.
Today is “Holocaust Remembrance Day.” Around the world, people say “Never Again.”
But “Never Again” is not just history. In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), “Never Again” is now.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, people talk about concentration camps.
But that’s not just history, in the PRC that’s now.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, people talk about cultures being destroyed.
But in the PRC, “Never Again” is now.
So when we stand in solidarity with those that remember the Holocaust today, we say to them that in the PRC, “Never Again” is now.
Compassion is passion. We share your passion for freedom.
This is “Freedom Plaza.” It was named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Near here, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on a speech called “I Have a Dream.”
I have a dream – that the people in China will be free.
I have a dream – that the Tuidang – will be remembered as heroes.
I have a dream – that the 71 million who have left the Chinese Communist Party – are just the start of waves of freedom – that will Free China Now!
Share with me: Free China Now, Free China Now, Free China Now! (crowd chants in unison).
We have a dream, but we also have a responsibility.
President Obama, you have a responsibility, under House Resolution 605, to meet with the people fighting for freedom and the Falun Gong.
President Obama, you have a responsibility, to have a foreign policy where human rights are our first priority, not our last.
(Holding up poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
These represent the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They were signed by the Republic of China on December 10, 1948.
Less than a year later, the People’s Republic of China broke these (speaker tosses sign of Declaration of Human Rights to the ground, indicating the PRC’s rejection of them).
We must pick this Declaration of Universal Human Rights up. We fight for these human rights.
We fight for universal human rights for China.
With its original signature of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, China has signed a promissory note, a promise guaranteeing human rights.
We tell the PRC government today – Free China Now!
Chant with me: Free China Now, Free China Now, Free China Now! (crowd chants in unison).
On April 11, 2010, supporters of human freedom will join together at Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza to recognize the growing movement of Chinese citizens in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that have left the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as their rejection of Communist totalitarianism. The movement known as the Tuidang and Quit CCP movement states that over 71 million Chinese people have chosen to leave the CCP since December 2004.
Chinese-Americans and their supporters will gather at the Washington DC Freedom Plaza, which is located on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between 13th Street and 14th Streets NW. from 2 to 4 PM on Sunday, April 11 to recognize and show solidarity with the Chinese people that seek to embrace freedom.
Image from a NYC Rally Challenging Communism in PRC (Shaoshao Chen/The Epoch Times)
The Tuidang movement or “Quit the Party” movement has seen an increasing wave of resignations from those that now publicly reject Communist totalitarianism in the PRC. The Tuidang movement calls upon the Chinese people to resign their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so that Chinese people in the PRC will have an opportunity for political and human freedom. Resignations include the statement that “I declare that I solemnly denounce the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations.”
On its Facebook page, Tuidang states that “As of 06/04/10 [April 6, 2010] – 71,146,636 people have submitted statements withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party or its affiliated organizations. Those who are current members of the CCP or its affiliated organizations are with these statements resigning their membership; former members use these statements to sever all association with these organizations. All are renouncing the CCP totally.” The “Quit CCP” web page states that this number of those resigning from the CCP continues to grow. The “Quit CCP” web site also lists the individual statements of some of those who have resigned from the CCP. In challenging Communist totalitarianism, the Epoch Times reports on “Nine Commentaries” that justify the reason for Chinese people leaving the CCP.
Symbol of the Tuidang Movement of Chinese People Rejecting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
On January 5, 2010, NDTV reported that a former CCP director, Zhang Kaichen, came to America and publicly resigned from the CCP, stating: “”Today I am reborn. I come across the ocean, and solemnly declare to the world that, from today on, I will make a clean break from the evil Chinese Communist Party.” NDTV reported that “Zhang Kaichen is the former Director of the Liaison Branch of the Propaganda Department of the Shenyang CCP Committee in China’s Liaoning Province.”
January 2010: Fomer Chinese Communist Party Official Zhang Kaichen Resigns from CCP in America (Photo: NDTV)
Now the Tuidang and “Quit CCP” web sites state that, as of April 2010, over 71 million had resigned from the CCP. Chinese Americans and their supporters seek to show their solidarity in America’s capital, Washington DC, on April 11, 2010, to let those continuing to struggle against Communist totalitarianism that they stand in unity and in support of their efforts.
Rally Logistics:
— Date: Sunday, April 11, 2010
— Time: 2 to 4 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time
— Location: Freedom Plaza, Washington DC, 20004 – on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 13th and 14th Streets NW
The Freedom Plaza in Washington DC is named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., who worked on his “I Have a Dream” speech in the nearby Willard Hotel. In 1988, a time capsule containing a Bible, a robe, and other relics of King’s was planted at the site.
Freedom Plaza - Washington DC - 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW - Site of April 11 Rally for Chinese Freedom
— Parking lots: the nearby National Theater reports the following parking lot areas include:
— PMI
— 1220 E Street, NW – Enter on E Street between 12th and 13th Streets
— 424 11th Street, NW
— 1325 G Street, NW – Enter on G Street between 13th and 14th Streets
— QUICK PARK
— 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW – Enter on 13th Street between E and F Streets
As Obama plans his visit to China in November, he should pay attention to the Tuidang movement. It shows that the Chinese people understand human rights and civil liberties.
By Caylan Ford
posted October 21, 2009 at 12:00 am EDT
Washington —
The lead image on the Sept. 27 edition of the Jinzhou evening newspaper was hardly unusual. In anticipation of the 60th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China, it featured a street lined with enormous red flags beating in the wind.
It would have been nearly indistinguishable from any other Chinese state-run newspaper that day but for one important detail. In the bottom left corner of the photo, scrawled on a bike rack, were eight tiny but clearly visible characters: “Heaven condemns the Communist Party; denounce it and be blessed.”
Similar writings that dare to challenge the divine mandate of China’s rulers appear regularly across China, hanging as banners in city parks, posted on Internet forums, or handwritten on paper bank notes. It is all evidence of a movement that has silently swept the nation. Called Tuidang, which translates simply as “withdraw from the party,” the movement encourages people to publicly renounce their membership in Communist organizations. The implications are manifold. This is the first time since the 1980s that China has seen such a large, organized dissident movement – if an underground one.
The day after the image ran, the Jinzhou newspaper came under investigation by the government. Its website was shut down, and the paper taken out of circulation.
The incident represents a fitting analogy for the state of the Communist Party today. Beneath the pomp and power lie resentment, discontent, and questions. In 60 years of Communist rule, China has endured political and social upheaval that have left deep psychic wounds.
But in the country’s totalitarian climate, the people have few avenues to openly discuss their country’s history or to make peace with their own role in it. Since China has not had its opportunity for truth and reconciliation, its citizens are finding their own ways to do this.
Perhaps that explains the extraordinary appeal of the Tuidang movement, which organizers say has more than 60 million participants. It began in late 2004, when New York-based Chinese dissident newspaper DaJiYuan (Epoch Times, affiliated with the spiritual movement Falun Gong) ran a series of polemic editorials detailing the history of the Communist Party in China.They also proclaimed that the country would not truly be free or prosperous until it was rid of the party, which, it argued was at odds with China’s cultural and spiritual values.
Millions of copies of the articles found their way into mainland China through e-mails, faxes, and underground printing houses. Some Chinese readers say the articles finally confirmed what they suspected all along – about the Great Leap Forward, the Tiananmen massacre, the Cultural Revolution. This offered recognition that their memories were real and their suffering was shared.
But despite appearances, this is not a political movement in the conventional sense. Unlike the student movement of 1989 or the more recent Charter 2008 manifesto – both of which embraced the language of Western democracy – the Tuidang movement employs distinctly Chinese language and meaning. More Confucian than humanist, it often makes its points by drawing on Buddhist and Daoist spirituality.
Denouncing the party is thus not simply political activism, but takes on spiritual meaning as a process of cleansing the conscience and reconnecting to traditional ethics and values.
In December 2004, one month after the articles were published by the dissident newspaper, its editors starting receiving statements from readers declaring their wish to disavow membership in the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, or the Young Pioneers, sometimes after their memberships had technically expired. Today, statements representing some 60 million people have been sent to the newspaper, which posts them to an online database.
The authenticity of the declarations is impossible to independently verify. Most people sign them using aliases to protect their safety, and there are no provisions to prevent fraudulent postings.
But the numbers are really not the point. For those who do send in their statements disavowing the party, the postings offer a rare platform to vent frustrations, discuss ideas, share stories of suffering, or find forgiveness.
Many relay tales of personal victimization under the Communist Party. Take, for instance, Ding Weikun, a 74-year-old veteran party member from rural Zhejiang Province. In 2003, his town’s government colluded with private developers to seize the land of local farmers. The farmers protested, Mr. Ding wrote, and armed thugs were brought in to suppress them. “I witnessed the killing and injuring of dozens of villagers, on the spot,” he noted. The old man tried to pursue justice by appealing to the local government, but he was arrested and sentenced to prison by the very party that he had served for 40 years.
While some write of their personal suffering, others speak of their crimes. For them, withdrawing from the party is about seeking absolution.
“I have always thought that I was a good man, but looking back I realize that I had gradually lost myself,” wrote Xiao Shanbo, a former party member from China’s northeastern Liaoning Province. “My mind and heart slowly became corrupted. I declare invalid all the words and deeds I have done in the past. These were decisions that I made out of ignorance due to the lies and propaganda of the [Communist Party].”
Mr. Xiao never specifies his crimes, but closes his posting with a plea for forgiveness: “God, please give me this chance! I have gone through much arduous soul-searching, and I intend to change my ways and make up for what I have done.”
The Communist Party has reacted to the phenomenon with predictable disdain. Terms related to the movement are among the most vigorously censored on the Chinese Internet, and at least 71 people have been imprisoned for possessing movement literature or propagating its spread. That means that, if found, the activist who vandalized the bike rack in Jinzhou city will be in serious trouble.
The party may have good reason to be anxious. For decades, its power has relied on an ability to censor information, control public memory, and suppress dissenting views. The statements of participants offer a rare glimpse and great insight into the sources of discontent in China.
The Tuidang movement also shows the manner in which Chinese people understand human rights, civil liberties, and democracy, and how they might reconcile these ideas with a more traditional Confucian worldview. It could perhaps even serve as a precursor for another democracy movement.
But one way or another, the movement certainly challenges the popular view that most Chinese people are satisfied with the status quo. As President Obama prepares for his November visit, it is reason to consider engaging more with the Chinese people, and not only with their government.
Today, as more and more Chinese citizens are remembering their past, they may well change China’s future, too.
Caylan Ford is a master’s degree candidate in international affairs at The George Washington University, where she studies Chinese politics and international security. She is currently writing a thesis on organized dissent in China. She is also a volunteer analyst at the Falun Dafa Information Center and was a staff writer for Epoch Times until 2007.
[Editor’s note: The original version did not give the English name of the referenced newspaper or the affiliation. Additional information about the author has also been added.]
The House Resolution 605 bill was titled: “Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spriritual movement and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.”
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives —
(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs;
(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6- 10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents; and
(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government.
==============================
AFP reports on U.S. Congressional Resolution calling for an end to Communist China’s persecution of Falun Gong:
— “WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Tuesday urged China to end its ‘persecution’ of the Falungong and rejected Beijing’s charge that the banned spiritual movement is an ‘evil cult.'”
— “In a nearly unanimous vote, the House called on China to free thousands of practitioners who are said to be imprisoned and to abolish an office tasked with fighting the Falungong.”
— “The House expressed ‘sympathy to Falungong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs.'”
— “The resolution asked China to ‘immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison and torture Falungong practitioners.'”
— “The measure expresses the sense of lawmakers but is not binding on Washington policymakers. China has bristled at previous resolutions on its human rights record, calling it interference in its internal affairs.”
— “Falungong — a movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies that features spiritual exercises — enjoyed growing popularity among Chinese in the 1990s.”
— “China’s communist government banned the movement in 1999 and later branded it an ‘evil cult’ after thousands of practitioners silently converged in Beijing to air their grievances, showing their organizational might.”
— “‘Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falungong is a suicidal and militant ‘evil cult’ rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise,’ the resolution said.”
— “Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who led the legislation, called China’s treatment of the Falungong ‘one of the most flagrant examples of systematic persecution against a particular group taking place in the world today.'”
— “‘The Beijing regime of today engages in the barbaric repression of some of its own people simply because they seek to practice a peaceful spiritual discipline,’ said the Florida congresswoman, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”
— “Ros-Lehtinen, a longtime critic of China, pointed to allegations that Beijing has harvested organs from Falungong prisoners.”
— “‘It seems incomprehensible that in the 21st century such barbaric acts could occur — a cruelty comparable to imperial Romans throwing Christian martyrs to be eaten by lions,’ she said on the House floor.”
— “‘The stark reality which this resolution addresses gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Butchers of Beijing,'”‘ she said.”
— “A former Canadian cabinet member in 2006 authored a report that found that China harvested organs from live prisoners, mostly jailed Falungong members.”
— “China denounced the report as inaccurate and biased, saying the information came from Falungong supporters overseas.”
— “A total of 412 lawmakers voted for the resolution. Only one voted against — Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas.”
— “Paul, a maverick former presidential candidate, routinely opposes measures which he considers interference in another nations’ internal affairs.”
Washington DC's Leon Chao to Americans: "I ask Americans to take a stand and not take our freedoms for granted"
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每 小時雜誌。605605 In the House of Representatives, US,在眾議院，美國， March 16, 2010. 2010年3月16日。
Whereas Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, which consists of spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life,鑑於法輪功是一個傳統的中國精神紀律李洪志創立於1992年，它包括精神，宗教，道德 說教的生活， meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance;冥想，運動，依據的原 則，堅持真理，同情和容忍;
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “tens of millions of Chinese citizens practiced Falun Gong in the 1990s and adherents to the spiritual movement inside of China are estimated to still number in the hundreds of thousands despite the government’s ongoing crackdown,” and other estimates published in Western press place the number of Falun Gong adherents currently in China at the tens of millions;而根據2008 年年度報告國會執行委員會的中國，“幾千萬的中國公民修煉法輪功，在90年代和信徒的精神運動在中國境內，估計數目仍然在數十萬人，儘管政府正在進行的打 擊，“和其他估計西方媒體發表的地方有多少法輪功信徒在中國，目前在幾千萬;
Whereas in 1996, Falun Gong books were banned in China and state media began a campaign criticizing Falun Gong;而在1996年，法輪功的書籍都被禁止在中國的官方媒體開始批判法輪功 的運動;
Whereas in 1999, Chinese police began disrupting Falun Gong morning exercises in public parks and began searching the homes of Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年，中國警方開始破壞法輪功晨練的市民公園，並開始搜 索家園法輪功學員;
Whereas on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council Office of Petitions in Beijing, next to the Communist Party leadership compound, to request that arrested Falun Gong practitioners be released, the ban on publication of Falun Gong books be lifted, and that Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to resume their activities without government interference;而在1999年4月25日，1萬多名法輪功學員聚集在國務院信訪辦公室在北京，旁邊共產黨的領導化合物，請求抓 捕法輪功學員被釋放，禁止出版法輪功的書籍被取消，而法輪功學員被允許恢復他們的活動沒有政府干預;
Whereas on the same day, immediately after then-Premier Zhu Rongji met with Falun Gong representatives in his office and agreed to the release of arrested practitioners, Communist Party Chairman Jiang Zemin criticized Zhu’s actions and ordered a crackdown on Falun Gong;而在同一天結束後，當時的朱 鎔基總理會見了法輪功學員代表在他的辦公室，並同意釋放被逮捕的人士，共產黨的批評江澤民主席朱的行動，並下令鎮壓法輪功;
Whereas in June 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered the creation of the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus, given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong;而在1999年6月，江澤民下令設立的610辦公室，法外安全機構的任務是“剷除”法輪功;
Whereas in July 1999, Chinese police began arresting leading Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年7月，中國警方開始逮捕法輪功學員的領導;
Whereas on July 22, 1999, Chinese state media began a major propaganda campaign to ban Falun Gong for “disturbing social order” and warning Chinese citizens that the practice of Falun Gong was forbidden;而在1999年7月 22日，中國官方媒體開始了大規模宣傳活動，禁止法輪功“擾亂社會秩序”，並警告中國公民的做法法輪功被禁止;
Whereas in October 1999, Party Chairman Jiang Zemin, according to western press articles, “ordered that Falun Gong be branded as a ‘cult’, and then demanded that a law be passed banning cults”;而在1999年10月，黨主席江澤民根據西 方報刊上的文章，“下令法輪功被命名為1’邪教’，並要求通過一項法律，取締邪教組織”;
Whereas Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is a suicidal and militant “evil cult” rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise;而中共當局投入了大量的時間和資源在過去10年全球範圍內傳播虛假宣傳，聲稱法輪功是自 殺，好戰的“邪教”，而不是一種精神運動，借鑒了傳統觀念的冥想和運動;
Whereas on October 10, 2004, the House of Representatives adopted by voice vote House Concurrent Resolution 304, which had 75 bipartisan co-sponsors, titled “Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China,” and that the text of this resolution noted that “the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States”;而 在2004年10月10日，眾議院口頭表決通過了眾議院304號決議的同時，該75兩黨共同提案，題為“的意思表示，國會就政府壓迫的人民共和國中國對法 輪功的美國和中國“，並認為這項決議的案文指出，”中國政府還試圖壓制法輪功運動和中國民運組織在美國境內“;
Whereas, on October 18, 2005, highly respected human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng wrote a letter to Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao calling for an end to the persecution of Falun雖 然，在2005年10月18號，是非常尊重人權高智晟律師致信中共黨主席胡錦濤和國務院總理溫家寶呼籲結束迫害法輪功 Gong and Chinese authorities, in response, closed his law office and took away his law license, with Chinese security forces suspected of being directly involved in Mr. Gao’s disappearance on February 4, 2009;龔 和當局的回應，關閉他的辦公室，拿走了他的律師執照，與中國安全部隊涉嫌直接參與高先生的失踪於2009年2月4日;
Whereas Gao Zhisheng’s family has subsequently been granted political asylum in the United States;而高智晟的家人後來獲得政治庇護，美國;
Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture in its fourth periodic report of China, issued on December 12, 2008, stated that “The State party should immediately conduct or commission an independent investigation of the claims that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished.”;鑑於聯合國禁止酷刑委員會在其第四次定期報告中國，發表08年12月12日指出， “締約國應立即進行或委託獨立調查的要求，一些法輪功學員遭受酷刑和用於器官移植，並採取措施，酌情確保那些對這些事件負有責任受到起訴和懲罰。“;
Whereas the Amnesty International 2008 annual report states that “Falun Gong practitioners were at particularly high risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention * * * during the year 2007 over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have died in detention or shortly after release as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment, and other forms of ill-treatment.”;鑑於大赦國際2008年年度報告指出， “法輪功學員，尤其是高風險的酷刑和其他虐待被拘留* * * 2007年期間，100多名法輪功學員被報已死亡被拘留或釋放不久結果酷刑，剝奪食物或醫療，和其他形式的虐待。“;
Whereas according to the 2008 Department of State’s Human Rights Report on China, “Some foreign observers而按照2008年國務院的人權報告對中國，“一些外國觀察家 estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in re-education through labor (RTL) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher.”;據 估計，法輪功信徒組成的至少一半的正式記錄的25萬囚犯中重新勞教（RTL）的營地，而海外法輪功來源放置的數量增加。“;
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “The (Chinese) central government intensified its nine-year campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer而根據2008年年度報告國會執行委 員會的中國，說：“（中國）中央政府加強了9年的迫害運動，法輪功學員1995年11月至2008年北京夏季 Olympic Games.”;奧運會。“;
Whereas Falun Gong-related websites remain among the most systematically and hermetically blocked by China’s Internet firewall; and鑑於法輪功相關的網站仍然是最系統和密封封鎖中國的互聯網防火牆;和
Whereas, according to an April 2009 New York Times report, “In the past year, as many as 8,000 (Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, according to experts on human rights, and at least 100 have died in custody”:而 根據2009年4月1紐約時報報導，“在過去的一年中，多達8000（法輪功練習者被拘留，據專家人權，至少有100人死於羈押”：
Now, therefore, be it因此，現在無論是
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—解決，那眾議院， (1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs; （1）表示同情法輪功學員和他們的家人誰遭受迫害，恐嚇，監禁，酷刑，甚至死亡在過去十年僅僅因為他們的堅持個人的信念;
(2) calls upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6- 10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents; and （2）籲請政府對中華人民共和國中國立即停止，並停止其活動，迫害，恐嚇，監禁和酷刑的法輪功學員，立即取消6 – 10個辦公室，法外安全機構賦予的任務來“剷除”法輪功，並立即釋放法輪功學員，被拘留僅供自己的信念，從監獄和勞教所勞動（RTL）的營地，包括醫生誰 是親戚美國公民和永久居民;及
(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government. （3）呼籲總統和國會議員，以紀念11週年，中國官方鎮壓法輪功精神運動適當和有效地公開表示聲援練習者在中國受迫害，只是因為他們個人的看法，以及會見 法輪功學員隨時隨地以表明支持良心自由仍然是一個基本原則，美國政府。
On a bitterly cold day, Chinese Americans and their supporters protested in Washington DC today outside the Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Representative Office (HKECRO). They called on the Hong Kong immigration authorities to permit the Shen Yun Performing Arts to perform their Chinese cultural music and dance show in Hong Kong. On Wednesday, January 27 at press conferences at the National Press Club and on Capitol Hill, supporters of the Shen Yun Performing Arts described how the group’s key production staff were denied visas to support the show for sold-out audiences in Hong Kong.
Washington DC: Supporters of the Shen Yun Performing Arts Protesting Outside Hong Kong Office on January 29, 2010
The supporters of the Shen Yun Performing Arts group told of the importance of allowing artistic freedom to permit the show in Hong Kong, which includes traditional Chinese cultural music and dance, as well as stories about modern-day persecution in Communist China of the Falun Dafa and others that seek human freedom. Falun Dafa supporters stated that the Shen Yun show would provide a message of hope to the Chinese people in Hong Kong through the values of truth, compassion, and tolerance.
Dr.Sen Nieh and other leaders spoke in support of the need for the Hong Kong immigration authorities to grant the visas necessary to allow the Shen Yun Performing Arts show to be seen by the Chinese people in Hong Kong. Falun Dafa leader Dr. Shan-Tao Lai presented a letter to the Washington DC Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Representative Office with the Falun Dafa request to allow such necessary visas to be granted. Dr. Lai was accompanied by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm from the protest group. The Falun Dafa letter was accepted by the Hong Kong office.
Dr. Sen Nieh Speaks Outside Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Representative Office Calling for Approval of Visa for Shen Yun Performing ArtsAnother Shen Yun Performing Arts Supporter Calls for Artistic Freedom in Hong Kong
A key message of the Washington DC protesters was to show that they stood as one in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Hong Kong.
On Sunday, January 31, 2010, supporters of the Shen Yun Performing Arts will hold a “grand march and rally” to protest the Hong Kong immigration department’s denial of the visa to seven key members of Shen Yun that has caused the forced cancellation of seven sold out shows. Falun Dafa and Shen Yun supporters anticipate global protests around the world to demonstrate their desire to see the Shen Yun Performing Arts have the opportunity to perform in Hong Kong.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm also spoke at the protest in support of the Shen Yun Performing Arts, stating that such artistic freedom of expression was a vital way of defending our universal human rights. He called for the Hong Kong authorities to change their decision on banning Shen Yun show staff from traveling to Hong Kong so that they can provide their Chinese cultural show to the Chinese people. He also urged Americans to contact their government officials to address the Hong Kong government on this. He stated that the values of truth, tolerance, and compassion shown in the Shen Yun performance was a key part of values essential to our universal human rights, and shared respect for one another. He stated that R.E.A.L.’s motto for the world is “Love Wins.”
On January 27, 2010, the Shen Yun Performing Arts group held a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC, regarding the refusal of Hong Kong authorities to allow members of their pro-human rights Chinese cultural show to perform in Hong Kong. Days before the Shen Yun Performing Arts was scheduled to perform in Hong Kong, visas for their production staff were denied, preventing their production staff with specialized knowledge of how to manage the Shen Yun performance and choreography from entering Hong Kong. The result of the visa denial was the cancellation of sold-out shows of the Shen Yun performances, affecting 7,700 ticketed audience members.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a U.S.-based non-profit organization that provides performances of traditional and regional Chinese dance, music, and culture, including recounting both traditional and modern stories of life in China. In addition, its performances includes discussions of values of truth, compassion, and tolerance, Buddhist religion, and Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) practices. These modern stories told in dance and music, also include references to oppression of the Falun Dafa in Communist China.
Banner of Shen Yun Performing Arts 2010 World Tour
Questions were raised as to whether Hong Kong’s stated political environment of “one country, two systems” was being eroded by the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to pressure Hong Kong immigration authorities from preventing Shen Yun Chinese cultural show from being performed in Hong Kong. Within Communist China, the city of Hong Kong has in the past been an island where free expression was allowed in the vast totalitarian Communist-ruled nation. However, with the recent efforts to stymie the Shen Yun show from performing in Hong Kong, some believe that things may be changing in Hong Kong.
Washington DC: Shen Yun Press Conference at National Press Club (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
The panel of artists and production staff on Shen Yun Performing Arts each told stories of how their efforts in preparing to share traditional Chinese cultural dance, stories, and values in their planned show in Hong Kong. The Shen Yun Performing Arts held shows at the Washington DC’s Kennedy Center in recent weeks that were enjoyed by an audience of many thousands of Washingtonians, and was listed among the “Top 10” entertainment choices in a local Washington DC magazine.
Shen Yun submitted their visa application on October 13, 2009 for the January 27, 2010 performance, and was told of the visa denial on January 20, just days before the performance was to start. On January 21, U.S. Congressman Gus Bilirakis contacted the Hong Kong immigration authorities on behalf of the Shen Yun Performing Arts group. The Hong Kong immigration authorities claimed that the visa denial was to demand that Shen Yun hire a “local production staff” when it is standard for major performances to bring their trained production staff with them to performances, a problem that Shen Yun has not had in performing in over 100 locations around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Shen Yun Production Manager Gregory Xu explained how knowledge of the specific choreography and aspects of the performance were essential to such a major production, stating that even when Shen Yun submitted supplementary documents explaining the need for such production staff, the Hong Kong authorities ignored their request. Mr. Xu concluded in frustration that “I can see the black hand of the Communists behind this.”
Panel at Shen Yun Press Conference (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
Shen Yun performer Cindy Liu spoke as to how shocked she was at the Hong Kong immigration authorities decision. She expressed how the Shen Yun cultural performance was designed to revive the Chinese culture which has been damaged by the Communist Chinese Party. Ms. Liu said that one of the goals of the Shen Yun shows were to bring back such traditional Chinese culture of dance, stories, and values back to the Chinese people. She expressed her concern about the apparent change in tone regarding freedom in Hong Kong, stating that “the freedom in Hong Kong is getting less and less.” ” If principles such as truth, compassion, and tolerance can be blocked, what else can be blocked?”
Cindy Liu - if Principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance can be blocked , what will happen to freedom in Hong Kong? (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
Shen Yun danger Hoiwa Lee, a native of Hong Kong, spoke of the disappointment among those she had spoke to in Hong Kong. She had looked forward to performing for forty of her family and friends. She had received an email from one friend who was “very shocked that this could happen in Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong Native Hoiwa Lee Says that Hong Kong Residents Are "Very Shocked That This Could Happen in Hong Kong" (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
Shen Yun Company Manager and Choreographer Vina Lee stated that she grew up in China and says that you can’t see any traditional Chinese cultural dance and performances there. Ms. Lee stated that the performers were shocked by the Hong Kong immigration authorities’ decision. But she remained optimistic that Shen Yun will perform in Hong Kong and Communist China mainland someday, stating “We want to bring Chinese culture — truth, compassion and beauty – back to China.” Vina Lee also pointed out that the Communist Chinese government had previously attempted to disrupt Shen Yun performances in other places, recounting an attempt to influence government officials in Australia.
Vina Lee : "We want to bring Chinese culture -- truth, compassion and beauty - back to China." (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
Leeshai Lemish, the emcee of the Shen Yun Performing Arts, spoke of the importance of the Shen Yun show in helping to preserve traditional Chinese culture. He said that Shen Yun communicated such culture and values through its dance and music, and that the denial of the Hong Kong visa was a “threat to artistic freedom.” Mr. Lemish stated that such Chinese culture has been destroyed to a large extent by the Chinese Communist Party, first by the Communist “Cultural Revolution” designed to undermine such culture, and then over the years of preventing the Chinese people from celebrating such culture. A U.S.-Israeli citizen, Mr. Lemish has a college degree in Asian Studies, and spent extended periods conducting research in Asia, and has served as the emcee of the Shen Yun shows since 2006 around the world. In November 2001, Mr. Lemish was put in jail in Communist China for joining activists in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square for a sit-in meditation underneath a banner with the Falun Dafa principles of “Truth, Compassion, Tolerance.”
Mr. Lemish spoke of other harassment and intimidation tactics regarding Shen Yun performances by the Communist Chinese government in cities throughout the United States, and in locations around the world, which he has documented on a web site, including performances throughout Europe, Canada, Russia, Australia, Malaysia, Korea, and the United States (New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arkansas, Florida). Regarding a recent Shen Yun tour in Canada, Mr. Lemish also spoke of a recent attack on a Shen Yun show’s bus, where the front tire had been cut in a way, not so that it would go flat, but so that it would burst on the highway while en route.
Leeshai Lemish Speaks of "Threat to Artistic Freedom" in Blocking Shen Yun's Show on Traditional Cultural Dance , Music, and Values (Photo: Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
Washington DC’s Shen Yun dancer Leon Chao urged the American people to pay attention to acts by the Hong Kong immigration authorities to effectively block the performance of the Shen Yun show; Leon Chao is a principal dancer in the show. Mr. Chao stated that the Hong Kong show is a “very important first step” in ultimately Shen Yun performing in mainland China to allow the Chinese people to see the traditional Chinese culture and values incorporated in the dance and music by Shen Yun Performing Arts. It was because this show is so important to the Chinese people, that the Shen Yun performers had been rehearsing for many months, he stated. Leon Chao urged the Hong Kong authorities to give the Shen Yun Performing Arts a chance to perform in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
As a fellow American concerned about the ability to suppress an artistic message of tolerance, compassion, and truth, Leon Chao urged the American people “to take a stand and not take our freedoms for granted.”
Washington DC's Leon Chao to Americans: "I ask Americans to take a stand and not take our freedoms for granted"
After the press conference at the National Press Club, there was a follow-up press conference on Capitol Hill at the House Cannon Office Building in the afternoon, which was attended by Congressman Joseph Cao and Gus Bilirakis.
Hong Kong: Demonstrators held a press conference outside the Immigration Department (Photo Source: Voice of America, REN Jing-Yang)
We note that the Voice of America is reporting on protests by the Hong Kong people regarding the decision of the Hong Kong immigration authorities preventing the Shen Yun show. Americans and those people who support freedom around the world should support the efforts of the Hong Kong protesters and those who seek truth, tolerance, and compassion around the world.
Shen Yun has announced a press conference for Wednesday, January 27, to address the refusal of Hong Kong authorities to allow members of their pro-human rights Chinese cultural show to perform in Hong Kong.
Leeshai Lemish
Shen Yun Performing Arts
(347) 920-0735
leeshai.lemish@shenyunperformingarts.org
Terri Wu
New Tang Dynasty Network
(202) 680-3912
Terri.wu@ntdtv.com
Hong Kong Authorities Deny Visas to US-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, Force Cancellation of Sold-Out Shows
WHAT: Press Conference hosted by Shen Yun Performing Arts and New Tang Dynasty Network,
Local presenter of Shen Yun performances with the latest completed on January 24 at the Kennedy Center Opera House
WHEN: 10am., Wednesday, January 27, 2010
WHERE: Bloomberg Room, National Press Club
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045
WHO:
Vina Lee, Company Manager and Choreographer
Brian Nieh, Lead Dancer and DC resident
Leon Chao, Lead Dancer and DC resident
Hoiwa Lee, Dancer and Hong Kong Resident
Gregory Xu, Stage Manager, whose visa was denied
Leeshai Lemish, Master of Ceremony
Terri Wu, NTDN Director of Sales and Marketing
On January 27, the date of the first originally scheduled performance in Hong Kong, Shen Yun Performing Arts hosts a joint press conference with its local presenter in Washington, New Tang Dynasty Network, to ask the U.S. government and Washingtonians to protect Shen Yun’s rights as an American company, support artistic freedom, and defend freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
Over 7,700 ticketed audience members have been directly affected.
Three days before over 90 dancers, musicians, and technical crew were to board a plane for Hong Kong ahead of seven sold-out shows, Hong Kong authorities refused to issue visas to key production members, forcing the shows’ cancellation. The seven crew members are an integral part of Shen Yun Performing Arts and are highly trained in Shen Yun’s specific artistic requirements. They cannot be replaced and the show cannot go on without them.
Shen Yun artists and representatives of the local presenter New Tang Dynasty Network are available for interview. B-rolls are also available.
About Shen Yun Performing Arts:
Based in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization that seeks to revive Chinese traditions that thrived before decades of suppression. At the production’s heart is classical Chinese dance, along with vocalists, a unique orchestra of Chinese and Western instruments, and colorful hand-made costumes. Shen Yun’s dances portray traditional legends, as well as events in present-day China, like the story of Falun Gong. By artistically depicting these stories on stage, Shen Yun aims to breathe new life into the values of China’s divinely inspired culture. Last week, Shen Yun performed seven shows at the Kennedy Center Opera House.
About New Tang Dynasty Network:
New Tang Dynasty Network (NTDN), a Chinese language TV, is proud of presenting Shen Yun performances to Washingtonians. It has presented three Shen Yun appearances at the Kennedy Center Opera House in February 2009, August 2009 and January 2010; the last run was completed on Sunday, January 24, with sold-out performances over the weekend. Some 33,000 Washingtonians have enjoyed Shen Yun performances.
Banner of Shen Yun Performing Arts 2010 World Tour
The Shen Yun Performing Arts group will be making a human rights statement through dance, music, and art at the Washington DC Kennedy Center as part of its continuing 2010 world tour throughout the United States, Canada, UK, Europe, and the world.
The upcoming Washington DC performance from January 19 through 24 will provide a show which combines such dance (traditional Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, story-based dance), music (a live orchestra and solo musician singers), and art of incredible costumes and backdrops for hours of spellbinding entertainment. The Shen Yun Performing Arts group has been entertaining audiences around the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Shen Yun Performing Arts show’s focus is on entertaining its audience and giving many their first exposure to such traditional and ethnic dance and music from China.
While the majority of the Shen Yun show focuses on Chinese cultural and ethnic stories, music, and dance, other more contemporary story-based performances, included as part of the Shen Yun performance, also have inspirational messages on the importance of our shared universal human rights and human dignity. As one individual told me, “this is how they express themselves on human rights – through their music and through their dance.”
The totalitarian oppression of 1.3 billion by the Communist Chinese government is hardly something any human being could ignore in any legitimate portrayal of Chinese life and culture. Portraying stories about life in Communist China, the Shen Yun Performing Arts show includes inspirational stories of how Chinese people are oppressed but find the strength to have courage to be true to themselves and their beliefs.
They include performances praising the Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) group’s goals of “truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.” The Falun Dafa have been oppressed, imprisoned, and tortured in Communist China for their beliefs. While such stories were told in dance, the message was very clear, as dancers with jackets appliqued with the Communist hammer and sickle emblem (recognized universally as representing Communism) attacked dancers representing Chinese families and those who sought freedom of expression and belief. One dance tells the story of a family divided, beaten, and a mother killed for her beliefs by Communist thugs, but whose family’s beliefs are ultimately rewarded in the afterlife. Another story tells of an activist who is beaten by Communist thugs for displaying the sign “Falun Dafa is good,” but who remains courageous. These stories mirror the real life oppression of the Chinese people in Communist China today, a story that the world must hear, and a story that the world must never forget.
Having seen this performance ourselves, R.E.A.L. is pleased to commend the Shen Yun Performing Arts on their artistry, talent, and their unceasing courage to honestly portray Chinese culture, Chinese life, Chinese hopes, and Chinese challenges to the world to see. We urge others to see the Shen Yun Performing Arts show for themselves, with upcoming shows in 2010 in many cities in the United States. The Shen Yun Performing Arts also plans 2010 performances in Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Czech Republic, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.
Banner of Shen Yun Performing Arts 2010 World Tour
Some arts reviewers have been critical of Shen Yun’s inclusion of such story-based dances and music, which are the vast minority of their three hour show on Chinese cultural dance and music. One arts reviewer has been critical that contemporary Chinese songs were “peppered with words like ‘oppression’ and ‘injustice.'” I ask such critics, would they have also been critical of a Jewish performing arts group in the 1930s that included stories about the oppression of Jews under Hitler? When did free people start dismissing the performing arts when they point out oppression and injustice?
Such criticism by some of the limited and graceful inclusion of human rights topics in the Shen Yun performances is appalling. What type of artistic expression demands that we can talk about oppression and injustice against all people in every form of entertainment, unless it happens to about oppression and injustice towards the 1.3 billion people in Communist China, one fifth of the world’s population?
One can only imagine if arts reviewers had criticized more specific and more directed human rights messages in entertainment such as Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,”“Schindler’s List,” the music of the American civil rights movement,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” and “To Kill A Mockingbird,” among many examples In fact, history has shown that human rights issues continue to find their way into every form of media – theater, movies, music, and television. The Shen Yun Performing Arts cultural dance and music performance demonstrates that there are no national boundaries to this growing trend of representing human rights in entertainment as part of human expression.
In every form of human expression, from dance to YouTube videos, from music to poems, from books to blogs, from Twitters to protests in the streets, the march for human freedom and human rights presses on.
The choice is not whether love, human rights, and human freedom will ultimately win over hate, supremacism, and totalitarianism. The only real choice is the one we will make as to what we will be doing when the great wave of human rights movements are sweeping the world.
As those who are oppressed sing with hope and fearlessness for their beliefs, will we listen?
The Shen Yun Performing Arts group is counting on your conscience to hear their message.
May 30, 2009 Candlelight Vigil for Tiananmen Square Martyrs - DC's Washington Monument Washington DC: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - where Shen Yun performance will be shown in Washington DC in January 2010
I accompanied Falun Gong’s Lisa Tao and others from the Washington DC area to the Shen Yun performance in Philadelphia. At R.E.A.L.’s December 10, 2009 press conference at the National Press Club on Human Rights Day, Lisa Tao and Jin Pang told of the torture of their families in Communist China because of their beliefs. Lisa told of her father was “tortured to death” by the Communist Chinese government, and of her own torture. Lisa told the press and the audience on December 10 how “I was also frequently beaten, and many times I was close to being beaten to death.” Jin Pang told of the imprisonment and torture of her mother and her aunt. Her mother and aunt were part of 10,000 Falun Gong supporters arrested during the Beijing Olympics. During the DC press conference, Lisa told of estimates that the Communist government has killed 80 million people, and she told of the countless others tortured, imprisoned, and abused by the Chinese Communist government.
Lisa Tao Speaks at National Press Club on the Human Rights Abuses by Communist China Against Falun Gong (Falun Dafa)
But like during our protest of the 60th anniversary of the Communist Chinese government at the PRC embassy on September 30 (October 1 Beijing time), Lisa does not tire or get discouraged. She glows from the power of hope, love, and freedom that her beliefs have taught her. It is something that the Communists could never take away from her. She found extraordinary strength in her faith and in her belief in human freedom.
Lisa Tao of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Protests at PRC Embassy in Washington DC on a Rainy Day
On our trip together to see the Shen Yun performance in Philadelphia on a bitterly cold January night, she does not notice the chill, as we stopped together to get a fish sandwich at a nearby McDonalds. (Meantime, I am bundled with layers of clothing and a heavy sweater.)
Quietly, just like Lisa Tao regularly protests at the PRC embassy without publicity or the press, Lisa Tao is also waging a daily battle for human freedom in Communist China. That night Lisa shared with me her efforts that day alone in helping Chinese people to find the courage to stand up and defy the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From the United States, Lisa calls people in Communist China on the telephone and tells them about Falun Dafa and also encourages them to stand up against the CCP. She is part of a “Quit CCP” movement of Chinese people who publicly renounce their support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
That day alone, Lisa Tao convinced 10 new people to publicly Quit the CCP. Her efforts won’t be recorded in any local news media. But she has the quiet confidence and satisfaction of someone who is living the courage of her convictions.
The Quit CCP movement states that over 66 million Chinese have left the CCP since December 2004. Public individual statements are posted on the Quit CCP campaign web site. Every day, Lisa Tao and freedom fighters around the world seek to extend a hand to other Chinese people who are lifting themselves up out of oppression.
The march for freedom – for human beings around the world – is just getting started. But every day, there are new members joining that march and taking up the cause.
Lisa Tao Speaks at National Press Club on the Human Rights Abuses by Communist China Against Falun Gong (Falun Dafa)
I accompanied Falun Gong’s Lisa Tao and others from the Washington DC area to the Shen Yun performance in Philadelphia. At R.E.A.L.’s December 10, 2009 press conference at the National Press Club on Human Rights Day, Lisa Tao and Jin Pang told of the torture of their families in Communist China because of their beliefs. Lisa told of her father was “tortured to death” by the Communist Chinese government, and of her own torture. Lisa told the press and the audience on December 10 how “I was also frequently beaten, and many times I was close to being beaten to death.” Jin Pang told of the imprisonment and torture of her mother and her aunt. Her mother and aunt were part of 10,000 Falun Gong supporters arrested during the Beijing Olympics. During the DC press conference, Lisa told of estimates that the Communist government has killed 80 million people, and she told of the countless others tortured, imprisoned, and abused by the Chinese Communist government.
But like during our protest of the 60th anniversary of the Communist Chinese government at the PRC embassy on September 30 (October 1 Beijing time), Lisa does not tire or get discouraged. She glows from the power of hope, love, and freedom that her beliefs have taught her. It is something that the Communists could never take away from her. She found extraordinary strength in her faith and in her belief in human freedom.
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Protests at PRC Embassy in Washington DC
On our trip together to see the Shen Yun performance in Philadelphia on a bitterly cold January night, she does not notice the chill, as we stopped together to get a fish sandwich at a nearby McDonalds. (Meantime, I am bundled with layers of clothing and a heavy sweater.)
Quietly, just like Lisa Tao regularly protests at the PRC embassy without publicity or the press, Lisa Tao is also waging a daily battle for human freedom in Communist China. That night Lisa shared with me her efforts that day alone in helping Chinese people to find the courage to stand up and defy the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From the United States, Lisa calls people in Communist China on the telephone and tells them about Falun Dafa and also encourages them to stand up against the CCP. She is part of a “Quit CCP” movement of Chinese people who publicly renounce their support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
That day alone, Lisa Tao convinced 10 new people to publicly Quit the CCP. Her efforts won’t be recorded in any local news media. But she has the quiet confidence and satisfaction of someone who is living the courage of her convictions.
The Quit CCP movement states that over 66 million Chinese have left the CCP since December 2004. Public individual statements are posted on the Quit CCP campaign web site. Every day, Lisa Tao and freedom fighters around the world seek to extend a hand to other Chinese people who are lifting themselves up out of oppression.
The march for freedom – for human beings around the world – is just getting started. But every day, there are new members joining that march and taking up the cause.
Jeffrey Imm, from Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), said nations and individuals should uphold the principles of equality and liberty. (Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)
WASHINGTON — International Human Rights Day, December 10, received scant world attention this year, apart from a handful of people and cities around the globe. In the nation’s capital, a few people spoke at a forum at the National Press Club, using this occasion to call attention to what they said were particularly egregious violations of human rights.
Sixty-one years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, following the horrors and human tragedies associated with World War II and the Holocaust.
“Universal human rights” has become an accepted concept that encompasses all nations, religions and elasticities. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, said last year that the UDHR acknowledged the “inherent dignity and equality of all human beings.”
On Dec 10, we not only remember to support universal human rights, “but also we remember those who have denied them, including totalitarian and supremacist nations and ideologies of the world…,” said Jeffrey Imm, representing “Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.),” which sponsored the event held at the National Press Club.
R.E.A.L., consisting of all volunteers from the U.S. Canada, UK, and Europe, is a new organization that started this year. R.E.A.L. also sponsored a public meeting acknowledging human rights day in Nuremberg, Germany as well as private meetings in Chicago and Los Angeles. [edit: note I stated New York, not Chicago].
Many Islamic countries in violation of universal human rights
Individuals and nations violate universal human rights when they don’t make “equality and liberty” their number one priority, according to Imm. This is a high standard to meet in today’s world. This forum focused on two major violators of universal human rights: the governments of Moslem majority countries enforcing religious or Sharia law, and totalitarian communist China.
Two countries mentioned most frequently in this event, Pakistan and China, were declared by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) — a list of 13 nations that are the worst offenders of religious freedom. Egypt, also mentioned often, is on the Commission’s “Watch List.”
The use of blasphemy laws against Christians in Pakistan beginning in the 1980s has damaged the harmony among religious communities, according to Nazir Bhatti, President of Pakistan Christian Congress. Bhatti cited more than 7000 cases of these laws that occurred from 1984 to 2009. “Thirty-two [persons] accused of blasphemy were murdered in jails, police lockups or in streets by hands of radical Islamic elements,” said Bhatti.
Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic in 1973, and their constitution and legislation proclaimed Pakistan to be home to Muslims only, according to Bhatti. The USCIRF states that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws “commonly involve false accusations and result in the lengthy detention of and violence against Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Muslims on account of their religious beliefs.”
In the 1980s, amendments were added to the blasphemy laws that imposed capital punishment, said Bhatti. Apparently, the law may influence public opinion. Imm cited a Pew Global Research poll conducted in Pakistan last Aug, which found that 78 percent believe in the death penalty for those who made the choice to leave Islam.
“The blasphemy law was used by the Muslim majority in Pakistan to settle personal disputes and business rivalries against Christians…after 1986, said Bhatti. Christian villages “were attacked by Muslim mobs and hundreds of homes set on fire.” He cited 10 towns where the churches were attacked and worshippers gunned down. The Holy Bibles were desecrated, pastors were gunned down and moreover children and women were burnt alive,” said Bhatti. He would like to see the rppeal of the blasphemy laws and the Sharia law on the 20 million Pakistani Christians.
No less incensed by the imposition of Sharia law was Ashraf Ramelah, President of Voice of the Copts, and an Egyptian. He spoke on behalf of Christians of Egypt (known as Copts). “We demand an end to kidnapping minor Christian girls, forcing them to convert to Islam. Those girls are often raped and tortured using inhuman techniques by Muslim extremists.”
Ramelah said: “Any crime committed against a Coptic woman[in Egypt] is treated without morality, conscience and legal deterrence….In examining what happened only in [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak’s era, it’s effortless to point out no single kidnapper was brought to justice, in spite of the gravity of the crime and its frequency.”
Ramelah charged that the reason that nothing is done and why there is no official count of the number of girls harmed is due to the complicity on the part of Egyptian law enforcement and the kidnappers.
Imm expressed his strong disapproval of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) — an organization of 57 nations with mostly Moslem majorities — when in 1990, it created the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI). Imm said the CDHRI is an attack on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Bhatti said the adoption of the CDHRI was expressing “no confidence in UDHR” and the supremacy of Sharia law.
“[The OIC] made a conscious decision to deny our unqualified universal human rights, other than those rights allowed by interpretations of Islamic Sharia law,” said Imm.
Recently, the OIC has attempted to pass at the UN a “defamation of religion” resolution, which Leonard A. Leo, chair of USCIRF, called an attempt to “create a global blasphemy law.” Leo said on Oct. 24 that this resolution really “promotes intolerance” and would be used to empowered repressive governments and religious extremists to suppress and punish members of minority religions and sects.
Many of the OIC nations were signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which is a document that applies UDHR principles to children. These OIC countries are on record expressing “reservations” on those rights, according to Imm.
“We have seen a growing problem of child marriages, arranged marriages, and ‘honor killing’ violence in many of these nations that claim to be advocates of children’s rights. …Somalia is a nation where a 13-year-old girl has been publicly stoned to death as punishment by an Islamic Sharia so-called court for being the victim of gang rape. But an epidemic of violence against children is also found in many other OIC countries,” said Imm.
Falun Gong practitioners share experiences of Chinese Communist torture
A local Falun Dafa practitioner, Lisa Tao, discussed some of the ordeals she and other practitioners suffered when they lived in Communist China. Ms. Tao grew up in China and lived through the Great Cultural Revolution, when her father and four other members of her family were killed.
“I was also frequently beaten and many times I was close to being beaten to death,” said Tao. Tao was “guilty” of being born into a wealthy family which the communist regime targeted for special humiliations and punishments.
Lisa Tao (l) and Jin Pang (r) spoke about torture and deaths by the Chinese Communist Party. (Jenny Jing/Epoch Times)
After immigrating to the United States, Ms. Tao became a practitioner of Falun Gong, which China has persecuted since 1999. Tao has become involved in daily protests at the Chinese Embassy in Washington.
Tao brought with her to the conference evidence in the form of real people who suffered under the current Chinese regime or are relatives of such persons. Tao introduced Ms. Quiying Wang, who was sent to a labor camp for practicing Falun Gong.
“One day in June 2000 at the Tuanhe Deployment Center in Beijing, police ordered her to take off all her clothes and squat in the sun, from 10 a.m. in the morning until 11. p.m. In the days that followed, she was also forced to stand still from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., 17 hours everyday, for nine days,” said Tao.
Tao introduced Jin Pang, who said that her mother and aunt were sentenced in October 2008 to 10 and 9 years, respectively, for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Pang described the interrogation when her mother was arrested in August 2008 during the Beijing Olympics. Over10,000 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested before and during the Olympics, according to the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, not because the regime was concerned about practitioners interfering with the Olympics, but so it could use the Olympics as a pretext to intensify its persecution of Falun Gong.
Pang said her mother’s interrogation in the Weifang detention center lasted five days. “Six people took turns to interrogate her. During these 100 plus hours, she was not allowed to close her eyes even for a second, and if she did, they would pour cold or hot water on her. They also forced her to continually sit on an iron chair. She was tortured so badly that she lost control of her bowels,” said Pang. They stopped for a day and then resumed the torture for another three nights.
“The Chinese Communist regime is a devil,” said Tao. “Its destructive nature can never change. As long as it exists, it will not stop killing. This persecution can be stopped only if the [Communist] Party dissolves.”
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In Washington DC, R.E.A.L. held a press conference at the National Press Club, which included speakers:
* Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), on women’s and children’s rights, the dual challenge of religious extremism and freedom, the challenges to human liberty by totalitarian ideologies, and growing challenges to racial equality by supremacists
— Jeffrey Imm Human Rights Day Remarks: Adobe Acobat format, Microsoft Word format
