Inside China Today

Inside China Today – Sunday 18th April

In his latest interview with AP, Gao Zhisheng is revealed to be a shadow of his former, lively self.

- Zhong Weiguang: “I believe the Communist Party…is still an evil group”

- Yunnan aid relief from regular people

- Victims protest Shanghai Mayor’s Taiwan visit

***************

Zhong Weiguang: “I believe the CCP…is still an evil group”

Renowned Chinese human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng reappeared recently after mysteriously disappearing a year ago. He was interviewed by the Associated Press on April 6th in the wake of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States. Zhong Weiguang a Chinese scholar living in Germany, warned the Chinese Communist Party’s nature should never be underestimated. People should be wary of the temporary ease of control by the government.

Gao was interviewed on April 6th after going missing since February 2009. Before his disappearance Gao was seen as a strong, talkative, slightly plump human rights attorney. But recent photos of Gao shows a shadow of his former self. He is thin and his face seems disfigured. Upon seeing the photo, Gao Zhisheng’s wife, Geng He was in tears, and couldn’t believe he looked so old after missing for one year. Observers believe Gao may have been injected with drugs harming his nervous system.

A healthier, more robust Gao Zhisheng prior to his detention on February 2009.

Zhong Weiguang, an expert on authoritarianism and founder of the Chinese Cultural Freedom Movement, believes Gao was severely tortured. He said (recording):
“I finally saw the news and picture of Gao. The picture showed Gao’s appearance was totally different. We can see a change after severe torture, the kind bordering on life and death that would result in such a change in a person.”

Gao was targeted by the government after taking many sensitive human rights cases, especially when he wrote open letters condemning the persecution of Falun Gong. In November 2007, Gao published a letter entitled ‘Dark Night, Dark Hood, and Kidnapping by Dark Forces’, which described his abduction by police between September and November of 2007. According to the article he was subjected to electric shocks, his eyes were burned with cigarettes, and his genitals punctured with toothpicks. These accounts shocked the international community.

Zhong believes the recent interview by AP right before Hu Jintao’s visit to the USA was a political stunt by the Chinese authorities to achieve its goals. He said (recording):
“Ever since the communists took power in China, they have launched movement after movement of suppression and persecution. After each movement, they would again pretend to show goodwill to its people and to the outside world. But all of this, from what is demonstrated in Gao’s case, serves no purpose but to uphold and maintain its grip on power and to stay in power. I believe the communist party, in the era of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, is still an evil group. The very nature of the CCP is just as it was ten years ago, nothing has changed.”

When Gao disappeared many human rights organizations and the United States and British governments repeatedly questioned the Chinese regime on his whereabouts. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Manfred Nowak also expressed concerns over the personal safety of Gao. Zhong Weiguang talked about the role the international community has on Gao’s safety (recording):
“The reason we hear about Gao on the news, is not because the CCP has repented and started respecting the rule of law, nor because it cares about human rights. It’s the concern shown by people and media all over the world. And all those good people with hearts and consciences, that make the CCP afraid. So what we learn is towards the CCP we have to keep exerting pressure.”

Tang Yin and Yu Hang of SOH Radio Network.

******************

Yunnan aid relief from regular people

The disastrous drought in China’s Yunnan Province still hasn’t eased. Many victims of the drought have told SOH reporters that local government efforts have been completely inadequate. Common people are now forced to provide relief. Also, a Lincang City representative publicised a plan to open a new hydroelectric dam and plant large quantities of eucalyptus plants, despite the worsening the disaster.

Li Shilong, an official representative of Aihua Town in Lincang, told reporters the local government is building a hydroelectric dam which is creating a water shortage and effecting water quality. Town folk have raised the issue with authorities many times but many were detained or sentenced to re-education through forced labour.

Li Shilong stated (recording):
“We made it known to them, but the government just ignored it. For ten years we haven’t planted rice and eucalyptus on this side. No other trees can survive where eucalyptus are planted. Some areas have perished.”

In Yunnan Province, there is a mountain village in Yulou County of Chuxiong Yi Prefecture. A reservoir which supplies water to the village sits ten kilometres away and is slated to last a further two months. Food supplies will last nine more months. The village secretary, Li Guangzhou said locals have had difficulties getting food and water; they’ve had to rely on the goodwill of people from other provinces for aid.

Li Guangzhou said (recording):
“We try getting water from anywhere; it’s very difficult to draw water. We only dare shower once a month and we use the same water to wash our legs, water vegetables and feed animals. It isn’t just water, we don’t have fodder and we need to sell it. We are 60 km from town, and too far away. We don’t have money to buy, we have difficulty getting vegetables. We people do labour and government aid is inadequate, there are people here from Jiangsu, Hubei and Hong Kong.”

In late March, students from Sapiwu Village Primary School in Nanhua County were reportedly drinking dirty water to quench their thirst. This has raised public concerns. The village committee has built two wells to ease water constraints and are still looking for other sources.

A committee member said (recording):
“We’ve built two deep wells, and now things have eased a bit. We’re still looking for water sources, if we can find a new water source, we will draw from it. The water is 65 meters groundwater, the water is fresh. There’s still no irrigation, farms must wait until the rains come. We are 40 km from the city, we still have enough vegetables to last a month.

The suddenness of the drought caught farmers by surprise and has affected crop growth and farming work. Subsequently there’s been a growth in the number of people working outside villages. In one instance, a factory village had a population of 2500. Previously, only 200 people worked outside the village. Now half the village population work elsewhere.

Lu Fang and He Wen of the SOH Radio Network.

*********************

Shen Ting (right), Chairperson of the 'Chinese League of Victims', protesting during the Shanghai Mayor's visit.

Victims protest Shanghai Mayor’s Taiwan visit

As the Mayor of Shanghai Han Zheng, visits Taiwan to promote the World Expo. Leader of the ‘Chinese League of Victims’, Shen Ting has made a special trip from France to protest. She said behind the glory of the expo lay the tears and blood of victims whose homes were forcibly demolished.

According to Shen, about 4,000 houses were destroyed for the expo, impacting nearly 18,000 families. Some were even beaten to death on trains while they travelled to make appeals. Some were taken to labour camps or died of injections from unknown drugs. So far three deaths are accounted for. From May 2009 to March, several people have been sentenced to terms of forced labour in prison.

Shen said the league had compiled a book titled the ‘Shanghai Expo – Shame to the World’, which was delivered to the headquarters of the World Expo in France and to the Polish Government. While in Taiwan, Shen called upon the Mayor of Taipei, Hao Longbin, to pay attention to the suffering by Shanghai residents whose homes were wrecked.

She said (recording):
“Taiwanese people live in democracy and freedom. They can voice the injustices they suffer any time. If these Shanghai residents were to apply for a protest, they would be arrested immediately. Under the totalitarian rule of the communist party, there is no freedom of speech.”

She further told reporters (recording):
“Forced demolition and construction in Shanghai began in the 90s. Initially, citizens sold their homes at cheap prices for fear of government coercion. They gradually started to defend their rights. But going to Beijing to petition is tough. On paper we aren’t allowed to appeal, but in reality appellants are persecuted severely. In 2002, Shanghai won the bid to host the World Expo with the slogan, ‘Better City, Better Life’. What we see now is it has already broken its promise, going against its slogan.”

The World Expo is scheduled to run from May 1st until October 31st in Shanghai. Shen Ting is chairperson of the ‘Chinese League of Victims’. In 2003 Shen had her Chinese travelling documents annulled for suing Shanghai millionaire Zhou Zhengyi and organising the league.

Li Jingyu and Yu Han of the SOH Radio Network.

***************

Bookmark It

Hide Sites