Nine days before the Beijing Olympics are to begin George Bush (a known member of the notorious Bush Crime Family)…
“held private talks with five prominent Chinese dissidents on Tuesday, and urged China’s foreign minister to relax restrictions on human rights, as part of an intensifying White House effort to put pressure on Beijing before Mr. Bush travels there in a little over a week for the summer Olympic Games. Mr. Bush received the dissidents — Harry Wu, Wei Jingsheng, Sasha Gong, Rabiya Kadeer, and Bob Fu — in the White House residence, where he “assured them that he will carry the message of freedom as he travels to Beijing,” said his press secretary Dana Perino. Earlier, Mr. Bush dropped in on a meeting between his national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, and China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. Said Michael Green, an Asia expert and former adviser to Mr. Bush, “These are very high profile people. These are people designed to get the Chinese’s attention. It was not just a political move to provide cover at home. It was an important move to let Chinese leaders know that he’s not satisfied with the progress”. (New York Times, July 30th, 2008. edited). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/sports/olympics/30prexy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bush%20meets%20dissidents&st=cse&oref=slogin
The White House issued this release. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080729-4.html
“Today in The White House Residence, President Bush met with five Chinese freedom activists to discuss his concerns about human rights in China. The President assured them that he will carry the message of freedom as he travels to Beijing for the games, just as he has regularly made this a priority in all of his meetings with Chinese officials. He told the activists that engagement with Chinese leaders gives him an opportunity to make the United States' position clear - human rights and religious freedom should not be denied to anyone”.
The release further states:
“The President asked them about their personal experiences in their peaceful efforts to press for more freedom in China. The group welcomed the President's strong commitment to human rights and religious freedom and urged him to continue to deliver that message not only to the Chinese leadership but also to all the people of China”.
I’m sure George was charming, but who are these five dissidents? For certain, each has paid a heavy price in their lives for having spoken up and acted out against the CCP. They are but five of roughly 70 highly conscientious Chinese intellectuals known of in the West for their pro-democracy activities. Of these 70, 10 are currently in prison or under house arrest, the remainder have at one time been incarcerated and are either currently exiled and living in the West, mostly in America, or closely watched by the authorities who have urged them to cease and desist - or else. They represent the crème de la crème of Chinese society. Intellectuals all, they came from prominent families, attended China’s most prestigious academies, and held or now hold eminent positions in society as doctors, lawyers, scholars, writers or entrepreneurs.
According to Amnesty International tens of thousands of innocent people are arrested every year in China for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religious beliefs. Hundreds of thousands currently languish in Chinese 'reeducation camps' for such 'crimes'. Harry Wu's organization, Laogai Research Foundation, contains a database on 3,682 of them ( http://www.laogai.org/dissent/index.php). They may not come from as prominent of backgrounds as the five who recently met the President of the United States, but all have taken on the Chinese state. Their official crime? The authorities repeatedly call it “treason” or “revealing of state secrets”. An amazing title for such a crime. The irony is nearly ineffable. On the highest order the Chinese government regards its human rights abuses as a state secret, and anyone who makes the difficult decision not to preserve it is deemed treasonous. Posted separately and to follow are brief background sketches of the five heroic individuals who recently met at the White House.
“held private talks with five prominent Chinese dissidents on Tuesday, and urged China’s foreign minister to relax restrictions on human rights, as part of an intensifying White House effort to put pressure on Beijing before Mr. Bush travels there in a little over a week for the summer Olympic Games. Mr. Bush received the dissidents — Harry Wu, Wei Jingsheng, Sasha Gong, Rabiya Kadeer, and Bob Fu — in the White House residence, where he “assured them that he will carry the message of freedom as he travels to Beijing,” said his press secretary Dana Perino. Earlier, Mr. Bush dropped in on a meeting between his national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, and China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. Said Michael Green, an Asia expert and former adviser to Mr. Bush, “These are very high profile people. These are people designed to get the Chinese’s attention. It was not just a political move to provide cover at home. It was an important move to let Chinese leaders know that he’s not satisfied with the progress”. (New York Times, July 30th, 2008. edited). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/sports/olympics/30prexy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bush%20meets%20dissidents&st=cse&oref=slogin
The White House issued this release. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080729-4.html
“Today in The White House Residence, President Bush met with five Chinese freedom activists to discuss his concerns about human rights in China. The President assured them that he will carry the message of freedom as he travels to Beijing for the games, just as he has regularly made this a priority in all of his meetings with Chinese officials. He told the activists that engagement with Chinese leaders gives him an opportunity to make the United States' position clear - human rights and religious freedom should not be denied to anyone”.
The release further states:
“The President asked them about their personal experiences in their peaceful efforts to press for more freedom in China. The group welcomed the President's strong commitment to human rights and religious freedom and urged him to continue to deliver that message not only to the Chinese leadership but also to all the people of China”.
I’m sure George was charming, but who are these five dissidents? For certain, each has paid a heavy price in their lives for having spoken up and acted out against the CCP. They are but five of roughly 70 highly conscientious Chinese intellectuals known of in the West for their pro-democracy activities. Of these 70, 10 are currently in prison or under house arrest, the remainder have at one time been incarcerated and are either currently exiled and living in the West, mostly in America, or closely watched by the authorities who have urged them to cease and desist - or else. They represent the crème de la crème of Chinese society. Intellectuals all, they came from prominent families, attended China’s most prestigious academies, and held or now hold eminent positions in society as doctors, lawyers, scholars, writers or entrepreneurs.
According to Amnesty International tens of thousands of innocent people are arrested every year in China for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religious beliefs. Hundreds of thousands currently languish in Chinese 'reeducation camps' for such 'crimes'. Harry Wu's organization, Laogai Research Foundation, contains a database on 3,682 of them ( http://www.laogai.org/dissent/index.php). They may not come from as prominent of backgrounds as the five who recently met the President of the United States, but all have taken on the Chinese state. Their official crime? The authorities repeatedly call it “treason” or “revealing of state secrets”. An amazing title for such a crime. The irony is nearly ineffable. On the highest order the Chinese government regards its human rights abuses as a state secret, and anyone who makes the difficult decision not to preserve it is deemed treasonous. Posted separately and to follow are brief background sketches of the five heroic individuals who recently met at the White House.
No comments:
Post a Comment