October 2005 Archives

On the eve of the 56th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Reporters Without Borders releases a report of an investigation into the role of the news agency Xinhua News Agency in the system of propaganda and censorship put in place by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

With less than three years to go before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the worldwide press freedom organisation calls on the Chinese government to reform the state-run media.

Although it is more and more regularly cited as a credible source - nearly one third of the news reports on China selected by Google News originate from the agency - Xinhua, the head of which has the rank of minister, is the linchpin of control of the Chinese media.

Reporters Without Borders today called on the Chinese authorities to stop blocking accessing to the website of the independent online encyclopedia Wikipedia, whose popularity has been growing steadily in China. The site has been unavailable in several provinces including Shanghai since 18 October.

This latest online censorship paradoxically comes at a moment when China is openly raising the issue of democracy by publishing its first white paper entitled “The construction of political democracy in China” on 19 October.

The subjects tackled in the paper include human rights and grass-roots democracy in urban and rural areas, yet blocking the site of a free encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute is a clear violation of the right of Chinese citizens to information and it comes amid a series of new regulations adopted in recent months aimed at tightening controls on online free expression even more.

The authorities are censoring Wikipedia in the same way that they censor thousands of websites with information that strays from the official Chinese propaganda on certain issues as Tibet and human rights in China.

Internet users trying to visit the Wikipedia site since 18 October get an error message referring to temporary connection problems for unknown reasons. Wikipedia was previously blocked by the Chinese authorities in June and September 2004 because of dissident political content.

Original source: Reporters sans frontières

By Li Jia - Epoch Times Staff

Mr. Han Guangsheng, the former head of the Shenyang City Judicial Bureau, said during a recent interview that the Chinese Communist Party’s legal system is deeply flawed. As a result, the connection between the government and organized crime is inevitable.

The Two-Faced Nature of the CCP’s Legal System

In an interview to discuss the Chinese government’s engagement with gangs to suppress any civic rights movement, Mr. Han said, “The CCP’s political and legal system is like a double-edged sword. Under normal circumstances, it is used to attack criminals. However, when the CCP’s interest clashes with that of the people, the sword is pointed at the common citizens.”

Mr. Han said the current political and legal system includes the police, the Department of Justice, courts, the procuratorate, and the Bureau of Security, all of which are under the control of the “political and legal commissions” at each level of government.

Mr. Han said that the government uses both soft and hard tactics when dealing with the people. “Soft” refers to using the media to deceive and brainwash. “Hard” refers to using the political and legal system to violently suppress any dissent.

“The movement to restore civic rights is inevitable given the CCP’s control. The CCP’s violent suppression is also determined by the party’s nature,” Han said.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has expressed concern about China's growing missile capability.

Mr Rumsfeld was speaking on the final day of his trip to China before departing for South Korea.

In a speech, Mr Rumsfeld said China was expanding the reach of its ballistic missiles beyond the Pacific region to cover most of the world.

He also called on the Beijing government to be more open about its military spending.

"China of course is expanding its missile forces and enabling those forces to reach many areas of the world, well beyond the Pacific region.

"Those advances in China's strategic strike capability give cause for concern, particularly when there is an imperfect understanding among others about such developments," Mr Rumsfeld said.

"As a result, a number of countries with interests in the region are asking questions about China's intentions."

Source: BBC News World Edition
>> Read the complete article

By Gao Ling
Epoch Times Staff

TAISHI, China - On October 9, a reporter from the British newspaper the Guardian, Benjamin Joffe-Walt, and a Member of the People’s Congress, Lu Banglie, went to Taishi village, Guangdong province to conduct an interview. Around 7:00 pm, they were brutally beaten in the village. According to villagers’ reports via telephone, “they were nearly beaten to death, it was terrible!” When reporters once again asked about Mr.Joffe-Walt and Mr. Lu around 11:30 p.m. Beijing time, villagers told the reporter that they had been taken away by the local police. When a reporter called the Yuwotou police station, the officer on duty answered, “None of your business! you should listen to the news or call number 110 to check. I do not know anything and we have no right to answer any questions from overseas reporters!”

"The Great Destroyer"
Summary of Article:
Mao Zedong is still viewed by his people, as well as many Westerners, as a great revolutionary and philosopher. The communist party honors its founder as an important leader. Now a new, spectacular biography proves that Mao has murdered more people than Hitler and Stalin combined.

Der große Zerstörer
Von Klaus Wiegrefe

Noch immer gilt Mao Zedong seinen Landsleuten, aber auch vielen Westlern als großer Revolutionär und Philosoph. Die KP ehrt ihren Gründer als bedeutenden Staatsmann. Nun belegt eine neue spektakuläre Biografie, dass Mao mehr Menschen umgebracht hat als Hitler und Stalin.

Das Gesicht des einbalsamierten Leichnams ist gelblich verfärbt, eine blutrote chinesische Fahne bedeckt die Beine des geschrumpften Körpers. Kübel mit Zierpflanzen säumen den Kristallsarg, auf den das kalte Dämmerlicht von Neonröhren fällt. Ordner drängen die Besucher weiterzugehen, denn ununterbrochen wollen Tausende dem Verstorbenen in seinem Mausoleum ihre Reverenz erweisen.

Tagein, tagaus, als wäre der Volksheld gerade erst aus dem Leben gerissen worden, kommen die Massen, weil sie die Überreste des wohl berühmtesten Chinesen aller Zeiten sehen wollen; sein Name lautet: Mao Zedong.

Mehr als 25 Jahre lang - von der Gründung der Volksrepublik China 1949 bis zu seinem Tode 1976 - hat er als Diktator die Geschichte seines riesigen Landes weitgehend selbst geschrieben und so das Leben von gut einem Fünftel der Erdbevölkerung geprägt.

Zu Lebzeiten ließ er sich von der KP mit einem monströsen Personenkult als großer Revolutionär feiern, der China dem sozialistischen Paradies näher gebracht habe. Heute ehren ihn die chinesischen Kommunisten - ungleich verhaltener - vor allem als Staatsgründer und Vater der Nation.

Sein Konterfei prangt noch immer auf Banknoten, seine Gedichte sind auf hauchfeinen Blättern aus 24-karätigem Gold erhältlich. Das über 30 Quadratmeter große Porträt Maos am Tor des Himmlischen Friedens in Peking ist nach wie vor die bekannteste Ikone des Landes. Das Mao-Mausoleum auf dem größten Platz der Hauptstadt ist jenem Memorial in Washington nachempfunden, in dem die Amerikaner ihren großen Präsidenten Abraham Lincoln ehren. Die Marmorstatue in der Vorhalle zeigt einen milde lächelnden Mao in staatsmännischer Pose.

Source: DER SPIEGEL 40/2005 – October 1, 2005
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"Always in my Heart"
Summary of Article:
The Chinese Communist Party has no intention to abandon the myth of Mao in the future.

Immer in meinem Herzen
Von Andreas Lorenz

Auf den Mythos Mao kann Chinas Kommunistische Partei auch in Zukunft nicht verzichten.

Die große Verehrung, noch immer: "Mao hat die Chinesen von den Japanern, den Kapitalisten und den Großgrundbesitzern befreit", sagt Schuhmacher Zhang, 53, der an einer Ecke in Pekings Süden Sohlen flickt. "Er setzte sich für die Armen ein. Er war ein guter Mensch."

Seine Kunden stimmen ihm zu. "Zu Maos Zeiten war es viel besser. Damals wagte es niemand, korrupt zu sein. Die Gesellschaft war fairer und gleicher", sagt die Rentnerin Liu, 60. "Meine Großeltern waren Bauern. Unter Mao hat sich ihr Leben verbessert", sekundiert der Immobilienhändler An, 32.

Source: DER SPIEGEL 40/2005 – October 1, 2005
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