Inside China Today – Sunday 20th December
Astrid Lulling, Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social People's Party.
Update: Indonesia/Taiwan issue
CADEN PEARSON: European Parliament Vice President, Edward McMillan-Scott, and Canadian MP, David Kilgour, as well as Human Rights Without Frontiers Director, Willy Fautre, have spoken out against the Chinese Communist regime’s acts to suppress free and independent media and democracy in Taiwan and Indonesia.
The Hon. David Kilgour told Indonesia’s President, Yudhoyono, he found it “deeply troubling that a foreign government with a well-documented record for systematically violating its own citizens dignity and their basic human rights” could write to the Indonesian government to demand the closing down of a domestic station in Indonesia and seemingly be listened to.
European Parliament Vice President Edward McMillan-Scott said “It is well-documented that Beijing maintains complete control over all media in China, and attempts to control media flow out of the country. However, it is still up to the free world how to react to such an attempt.”
ASTRID LULLING: “They should resist the pressure from Beijing! I know this is not very easy, but you must have the courage to do so! And if you have, then they will understand that they don’t come through with their dictatorship against free press!”
CADEN PEARSON: Astrid Lulling is a politician in Luxembourg, and a Member of the European Parliament for the Christian Social People’s Party, part of the European People’s Party. She told SOH, the situation is “unacceptable!”
ASTRID LULLING: “I’m very much attached to free media, because it’s basic of democracy. And I think it’s very important that people are well, and objectively informed, and I regret very much that the People’s Republic of China, once again, to go against free media, and against objective information of the population. I think the population… You should take much more seriously. The population does want to be well informed. And then also, if they are well informed, they react well, and they judge well. And even politicians who are not well informed cannot judge well, and decide well. So it’s very important to have free press, free media. And it’s very regrettable that they think they should close this down.”
Caden Pearson for SOH Radio Network.
December 20th, 2009
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Asia Cast for Tuesday 22nd December