Come and see the most unique and uplifting cultural show of the millennium.
The 2008 Chinese New Year Splendor
Here is what people are saying after they have experienced the show
The Canadian Sentinel has been exposing the Chinese communist regimes atrocities for some time now and in particular the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners including the shocking forced organ harvesting that has claimed at the very least 41,500 lives according to the unaccountable organ transplants statistics from the Chinese communist party itself. reports here
Yet 30 million Chinese people have resigned in their hearts from the Ccp in
You may ask why it is not being reported in main stream news and the answer will be because closet commies everywhere in our western so called democratic countries are too busy kowtowing for the Ccp’s favour.
The Chinese communist regime’s propoganda states that freedoms will come to
You do not need money to have freedom. This is a human born fundamental right that no human or government can take from you unless you give up.
I am grateful to The Canadian Sentinel and others who expose this news in a decent and honourable way. Not to make money or a name for themselves but because its the only right thing to do.
Here is The Canadian Sentinel news story:
Following the messages written on Chinese currency, text messaging has become the new trend to promote The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (The Nine Commentaries) and resignations from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliates. It's becoming increasingly popular throughout the whole country.
Recently, quite a number of mainland Chinese informed The Epoch Times that along with their friends and families, they received a lot of text messages around Christmas time about The Nine Commentaries and quitting the CCP. In addition to the text, the messages also contained audio and visual enhancements, which were quite surprising to the receivers. Many resigned from CCP and its affiliated organizations using this approach.
An Internet user from the city of Wuxi received a special message with animation and Christmas songs from overseas. This is what he told The Epoch Times:
"Merry Christmas! So vast are heaven and earth; whither do people go? Lost, the way is obscured; Let truth be the compass. When disaster descends, it favors neither the rich nor poor. But there is a way out—Quickly find what is true! Please press 1 to quit CCP, press 2 to quit CCP's Youth League (CYL), press 3 to quit CCP's Young Pioneer League (CYP)..."
It is just the beginning of 2008. An interesting huge billboard has appeared in the area where the Los Angeles Chinese community gathers. The billboard has the words written in Chinese: "30 million have quit the Chinese Communist party (and its affiliated associations)—people are awakening—Have you quit?"
According to the data from Quit The CCP website, at present, more than 30 million have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated associations. Ms. Li, from the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, said this billboard was displayed to tell the Chinese community in Los Angeles what is happening in China, and to remind those who have yet to quit the party to renounce their membership. Thus this is also a billboard of conscience.
Qu Zheng, an Epoch Times columnist, said the Chinese people are afraid to voice their anger and dissatisfaction under the harsh and autocratic regime of the CCP. The purpose of this billboard is to tell the Chinese people that you have the right to express your thoughts. Qu said, "The purpose of putting up this billboard is to let every Chinese, irregardless of whether they are in or outside of China, know that quitting the CCP is a very common and simple act. It is also a just and honorable deed. Everyone has the same right, although you were deceived into joining the CCP or its affiliated association. Today, one still has the right to quit."
I too have a dream
Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sen Yang, President, Mid-USA Falun Dafa Association
Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary
Atlanta, Georgia
Jan. 21, 2008
President Clinton, Governor Huckabee, Senator Isakson, Mayer Franklin, and all honorable guests:
In 1992, I started my graduate study at Georgia Tech. I landed in Atlanta, a great city best known as the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I am honored to call this great city my second home in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And “Georgia is on my mind”.
But when I first arrived, I knew little about Dr. King. I very much wanted to return to China. Everything was so unfamiliar to me. But then I noticed something I had never before experienced.
I noticed that people in this country could say what they think without being arrested by the thought police. I noticed that people went to church on Sundays and that all people were free to practice their religion. I never saw people being arrested for bible study or for trying to be good and kind citizens of this country.
There was only one word that could describe my feeling: Freedom.
At first, I thoughts these freedoms were easily achieved in the United States. But then as I studied U.S. history, I learned about Martin Luther King Jr., one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement. I read Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” and started to have my own dream.
I talked with a friend in China. He asked me what greatest thing was in US. I told him it was “freedom” I enjoy the most. He replied: “You are rich and we are poor. We will chase after ‘freedom’ when we get more money.” I told my friend: “You don’t need to be rich to fight for the right to be free.” I told him that Dr. King fought for the freedom not because he was rich, but because he had the heart.
I lived in China for 31 years and now in this country for 15 years. I love China and I love the people in China. I want them to be respected and live like human beings. I want them to enjoy the same inalienable rights that God has given to all his people, not only in the United States, but everywhere.
Inspired by Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” I thank him for the sacrifices he endured to help all people in the United States become free. His life is an example for all people everywhere who have a dream of freedom, even me – a humble physicist happy to live as a free man in this country. I too have a dream.
I dream that all people in China will have freedom of thoughts and that they won’t have to endure persecution (torture, illegal arrests and interrogation) because of their most deeply held thoughts and ideals.
I dream that all people in China will have freedom of religion and that they won’t be persecuted because of what they believe; and that they won’t be sentenced to illegal prison terms or subjected to extra judicial killing.
I dream that Falun Gong practitioners in China can one day, walk to the public park and start to do the morning exercise without being beaten by the police.
I have a dream that my daughter can return to China and will not be judged by her belief in Falun Gong, but by her character. And, as Martin Luther King Jr. said,
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Edward McMillan-Scott has written another glaringly truthful article called
Power of the sports boycott
Excerpt read more here
THE Government wants it both ways on sport boycotts. It is trying to ban Zimbabwe's cricket team from a UK tour but wants to hang on to Zimbabwe – and other sympathetic African countries especially South Africa – for the 2012 London Olympics.
In a world clamouring for democracy and the universal value of human rights, Britain could give a lead by arguing for a switch of all future games to Athens, home of the Olympics and a 2004 spectacular (and saving us £10 billion in the process) – as well as saying no to Zimbabwe's cricketers.
Unlike sanctions, boycotts work and yes, sport, politics and religion are inevitably mixed.
The truth is that sport is now a high-profile commercial activity with an unprecedented impact on the public.
So much so that Pope Benedict recently gave football his blessing and said: "Soccer should increasingly become a tool for the teaching of life's ethical and spiritual values".
In 2001, making his pitch for the 2008 Olympics, bid spokesman Liu Jingmin argued that: "By allowing
Even though article one of the Olympic Charter insists on "universal fundamental ethical principles" the crackdown by
Last month, the European Parliament unanimously expressed "serious concern" and invited the IOC to make its own assessment of
On December 27, Hu Jia, an environmental activist who has publicised
Another noted dissident, Christian human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng – sometimes called
Gao is best known for his report on the regime's vast brutality against the Falun Gong "Buddha school" spiritual movement.
Harry Wu, an exiled dissident, runs a
The UN's torture specialist, Austrian jurist Manfred Nowak, says the majority are Falun Gong practitioners, being "re-educated" or tortured to recant. Survivors have told me of SS tactics.
At least 3,000 deaths have been confirmed under torture since the crackdown on Falun Gong's 70 million practitioners began in 1999 – for no other reason than its popularity as a health-promoting activity.
They are probably the reason why
Would the 1936 Berlin Olympics have taken place if the world had known about the Nazi's camps?
US Supreme Court judge Felix Frankfurter said of Jan Karski's
reports about the SS camps: "I did not say that this young man was
lying. I said that I was unable to believe what he told me. There is
a difference."
It is time to stop the humbug in this globalising world: sports boycotts work. And it is time to stop the suffering in both
An Olympic boycott was imposed against
Those who argue against boycotts say that "being there" matters more: I disagree, it just gives comfort to tyrants.
In 1987, President Reagan bluntly told the South Korean junta that, unless it brought in democracy, the
It is time to stop the humbug in this globalising world: sports boycotts work. And it is time to stop the suffering in both
Edward McMillan-Scott is Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and
"An Olympics held without freedom and against the will of the people will … be nonsense because no totalitarian regime can play at being a democracy. It is a pretend harmony and happiness.He says the party is like the Mafia, its only purpose being to protect and maintain its power.The goal of the CCP was to overthrow private property, but every one of the 70 million members of the party today raise their hands at one moment to announce their lives will be sacrificed to end capitalism. This is the biggest lie and if you have 70 million professional liars who are controlling the whole nation … it's a madhouse."
Ai Wei Wei... "‘‘An Olympics held without freedom andagainst the will of the people will . . . benonsense..."
Photo: Bernardo de Niz
In an interview last year with The Guardian, he attacked Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, Hollywood's Steven Spielberg and others over their work on the opening ceremony, calling them "shitty directors" prostituting themselves to promote China's one-party dictatorship by agreeing to work for the Chinese Government. "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgement. It is mindless," Ai told The Guardian. In his first blog for this year, Ai unleashed another lament about the state of affairs in his homeland, lampooning the Olympic slogans "We are Ready" and "One World, One Dream".
THE blog reflects that after 30 years of "opening and reform", China today is a nation where the poor are becoming poorer while no one questions how the nouveau riche made their fortunes.
"2007 was year of strenuously defending rights … with both growth and collapses. People got used to desperation and disillusionment, the incompetence of the regime and being told habitual lies," it says.
"Nobody cares why poverty continues. Prices are going up crazily, air and water are polluted and land is disappearing," he rails. The rich have become so not through hard work and skill but through "hidden deals" and membership of the Communist Party.
"The disgraceful reality is that although our national economic strength has surpassed Germany's and is only behind that of Japan and the US, in the last 30 years, there has been no real sense of political reform, no real elections, citizens' rights have not been realised, there is no free speech or free press … people have lost faith and the Government has no credibility.
"An Olympics held without freedom and against the will of the people will … be nonsense because no totalitarian regime can play at being a democracy. It is a pretend harmony and happiness."
Ai says that while he is one of the most widely quoted cultural and social commentators in China, his political views are never published. Not a word of his anti-Olympic tirade has appeared in the Chinese media (although ripples of his dissent inevitably spread through cyberspace). His blog provider has been repeatedly threatened by the cyber-police but has so far stood firm (it did take down two posts, one about Tiananmen Square and the other about the Olympics, but reposted them the next day).
When I checked with a Chinese journalist colleague about whether Ai's Olympic views had been published in the Chinese media, she looked at me in horror. "No, no, no," she said, the very suggestion that anyone would be allowed to say things so negative about China's glorious Olympic adventure was ridiculous.
This week Ai won the lifetime achievement award at the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards, founded in 1998 by Uli Sigg, a former Swiss ambassador to Beijing who owns the world's largest and most complete collection of contemporary Chinese art. The citation said that perhaps no other artist "mirrored the volatile and challenging development of Chinese contemporary art more deeply and accurately".
While in the art world he may be revered, Ai says he has plenty of critics. He has been called an "American running dog" and accused of only speaking out because of his celebrity and having an American passport. He disagrees. He has always spoken out, he merely gets heard a little more now that he is famous. He doesn't have an American passport but neither does he condemn the many Chinese intellectuals who have taken up residence overseas.
Ai says his life would be far more comfortable and productive if he didn't speak out. "All my close friends, family call me and say 'Ai Wei Wei, c'mon, you have your comfortable life, so many things to do, why are you doing this (criticising the Government)?'
"They don't understand why I do this; I think I am doing this because no one understands why," he jokes before turning serious again.
"I hate to repeatedly talk about these things. They are not in any way comfortable or easy subjects, and I get more emotional when I think about them and it's not constructive," he says. "But as a human being, member of society, you must clearly state your mind. It's a responsibility … it is the way you identify yourself otherwise you don't know who you are and why you are here. I don't have a choice, it's the way I live."
HE SAYS for the rest of the world to understand why China is as it is, it must understand the nation's history. For 2000 years the Middle Kingdom believed itself the centre of the world and that it needed nothing from the rest of the world. So when the Western powers came knocking in the 19th century, the emperor refused to open trade relations, saying the world had nothing China needed. The West refused to take no for an answer. The Opium War forced China to make humiliating concessions to the Western powers and Japan.
The overthrow of the failing last dynasty, the Manchu, and its replacement with Sun Yat Sen's Republic quickly stalled then faltered into the civil war between Mao Zedong's Communists and Chiang Kai-Shek's corrupt Nationalists and invasion by Japan before the short-lived euphoria of the Communist victory in 1949.
The People's Republic of China was quickly plunged into decades more of famine, natural and man-made disasters, and convulsive purges including the anti-rightist movement that claimed his father, and the Cultural Revolution. Then came the latest phase, after Mao's death in 1976, when his successor Deng Xiaoping ushered in market reforms from 1978, believing that allowing the people to get rich (with some people getting rich first) would enable the Communist Party to retain power. Ai is disgusted that that is in effect what has happened.
"It is very important to understand China that you know very soon after 1949, even before the Communists had total control, because of the severity of the problems facing China (what Mao called the 'three mountains' on China's back of feudalism, imperialism and bureaucracy) they developed into a totalitarian state that could not tolerate dissent." He says the party is like the Mafia, its only purpose being to protect and maintain its power.
Ai says the Chinese Communist Party gutted any remaining ideological basis for being.
"The goal of the CCP was to overthrow private property, but every one of the 70 million members of the party today raise their hands at one moment to announce their lives will be sacrificed to end capitalism. This is the biggest lie and if you have 70 million professional liars who are controlling the whole nation … it's a madhouse.
"Why can't you clearly speak out and talk about historical events — what's wrong with you? Why are you (the party) so timid and scared to have debate?"
He wants a brighter future for his country, where people truly have a chance to better their lives. "Life is precious. I don't care how many members your party has, how strong it is, how glamorous, how the world will cheer during the Olympics …
"Every deal is covered, has hidden rules which can never be openly discussed and the sacrifice is education, medical care, the environment, social crimes and shattered families and hopelessness … people have lost faith in the Government and confidence in the future," he says.
"Yes there will be the Olympics on August 8, but there is no New China."
BORN Beijing, 1957.
EXILED from 1958-78 with his family (his father, poet Ai Qing, was deemed a rightist and sentenced to labour camp) in the deserts of Xinjiang, far-western China.
STUDIED at the Beijing Film Academy and briefly at New York's Parsons School of Design.
MOVED in 1981-93 to the United States for 12 years, mostly working in New York.
PUBLISHED upon his return to China Black Cover Book, White Cover Book and Grey Cover Book, on China's underground art movement. These have become the standard reference texts.
PERSONAL Married to artist Lu Qing.
AWARDS Chinese Contemporary Art Award 2008 for Lifetime Contribution.
Mary-Anne Toy is China correspondent.
OTTAWA—The Chinese New Year Spectacular presented its final performance in Ottawa on Monday night. Presented by New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), the show features Chinese classical dance and music emphasizing the positive values of freedom, peace, and beauty.
David Kilgour, former Secretary of State for Asia Pacific, attended the Monday show after arriving from Europe. (photo at right)
“I want to congratulate everybody associated with this show. I wish everybody in Canada could see it. I wish everybody could see it everywhere, especially of course in China.”
“Last year, when I saw it in Toronto, I did not think it could get any better. This year, probably everything is a little better,” said Kilgour. “The dancing is absolutely fabulous, the last piece was spectacular.”
Kilgour elaborated on some of the issues currently facing China and pointed to how the show transports the audience to a China before communist rule.
“I’ve been reading a lot of books on China in the last year or so, and I think this is the authentic China, the authentic culture.”
“What is being used now [in China], as somebody says, is imported from Europe. Last time I looked, Karl Marx was not Chinese,” said Kilgour, alluding to the link between the father of communism and the regime that now rules China. “The imported violent philosophy that is still, unfortunately, being used by the [regime in] China is quite foreign to the culture, people, and history of China. This shows what a marvelous culture and tradition the authentic Chinese culture is.”
Kilgour also described how the show makes people feel.
“Uplifted, inspired, dazzled,” he said. “It’s magical what we’re seeing here tonight. I’ve got nothing but respect for the people who’ve done it. They have put in so much time, I gather, to make the show what it is.”
“It’s topically spiritual. It’s not giving any other message, that’s what’s wonderful,” said Frank Scheme, a freelance photographer who also works part-time with Amnesty International, and who attended the show with Kilgour.
Due to his previous role as Secretary of State for Asia Pacific, Kilgour has traveled extensively throughout Asia and is in a strong position to comment on the unique nature of the show.
“It’s absolutely unique, one of the best I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world, and I’ve been in more than 100 countries,” Kilgour added. “The combination of everything, costumes, music, the live orchestra … The moderators are good, they’re funny.
“The dancing is really out of this world, almost everything is out of this world. I would recommend this show to anybody, I have recommended it to many people and I’m glad to see some of them here tonight.”
The Chinese New Year Spectacular now leaves Ottawa to play four shows in Montreal before going on to Toronto next weekend.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts shows that will perform in over 60 cities worldwide in 2008. To find a show near you, please visit www.bestchineseshows.com.
The culture passed down by Gods puts the CCP's atheism in danger. In order to destroy all original beliefs, the CCP forced people to believe in the CCP. All the textbooks promote atheism and define the culture passed down by Gods as "superstitions" in order to twist the real meaning.
However, Gods indeed are the main characters depicted in ancient Chinese culture. Gods are the most important part of ancient Chinese culture; therefore they naturally became the theme of NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular.
At last, NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular has united all the hearts of overseas Chinese. Out of jealousy, the CCP is afraid of losing its control.
Recently the South Korean government bowed to the Chinese communist regime, and forcibly canceled the first performance of New Tang Dynasty TV's (NTDTV) Chinese New Year Spectacular in Seoul. Moreover, the venue didn't notify NTDTV about the cancellation until the day before the show.
I feel sad for the South Korean government. South Korea is a direct beneficiary of Chinese culture. Even the Korean people's contemporary lifestyle still reflects its Chinese heritage. Canceling the Chinese New Year Spectacular, which contains traditional Chinese culture, is irresponsible to the audience who had purchased tickets. Moreover, this is a tremendous loss to the Korean people.
What puzzles me the most is why the Chinese communist regime has expended such huge efforts using such an illicit diplomatic method to suppress the Spectacular. According to the communist regime's logic, there seems to be no other reasons than the ones described below.
First, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defined NTDTV as an "enemy TV station." Therefore, the communist regime has been persistently suppressing all of NTDTV's activities by any means possible. Ever since the CCP seized power in China, it has not spent a day without fearing its collapse. To this day, it is still pumping out lies on a large scale from all directions, while strictly hiding the truth from overseas. It threatens and unites with selected overseas Chinese media to weaken the overall strength of independent media; it uses all means to cut the informal information channels between China and overseas.
The emergence of NTDTV has driven the CCP to its wits end, since independently reported news attracts close attention from overseas Chinese. NTDTV also broadcasts to mainland China via Satellite TV, especially the series of Nine Commentaries on Communist Party which has helped more and more people recognize the true nature of the CCP. The wave of withdrawals from the Party is becoming greater and greater, and this is what the CCP fears the most.
Secondly, the CCP is afraid that art may no longer function to serve politics. In the CCP's eyes, culture and art should serve politics. From the army's art group between the wars, to the Model Operas during the Cultural Revolution, to the movie The Rise of A Big Country and the opera The First Emperor, all of these were nothing but self-decoration and only served to twist history. The CCP's plan is to force the people to accept its monopoly.
Ever since the CCP seized power, China's art has fallen into a steep decline. Much traditional culture and art was forcibly destroyed by the communists. The land for artistic creation disappeared. Over the last few decades, China hasn't had any cultural or art form worth inheriting. The artists either comply with the political needs of the CCP or meet crude commercial needs. The real art and culture, especially traditional art, has disappeared completely.
NTDTV has restored traditional Chinese culture, which is the hope of all overseas Chinese. Naturally, NTDTV became highly regarded. People finally could enjoy a Chinese New Year spectacular without a political agenda or crude tricks, and more and more emigrants would naturally pass on this beauty to their friends in China. This is apparently something the CCP doesn't want to see. Especially in every year's Spring Festival Evening Ball, every program was examined politically then carefully wrapped up, which dramatically demonstrates the present Party culture. The CCP naturally is afraid of a professional rival such as NTDTV.
Third, the culture passed down by Gods puts the CCP's atheism in danger. In order to destroy all original beliefs, the CCP forced people to believe in the CCP. All the textbooks promote atheism and define the culture passed down by Gods as "superstitions" in order to twist the real meaning.
However, Gods indeed are the main characters depicted in ancient Chinese culture. Gods are the most important part of ancient Chinese culture; therefore they naturally became the theme of NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular.
At last, NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular has united all the hearts of overseas Chinese. Out of jealousy, the CCP is afraid of losing its control.
For these reasons, the CCP has again played an ugly diplomatic role. It never treats Chinese people as human beings; it even treats overseas Chinese as enemies. This kind of regime is bound to disintegrate. The CCP can't imagine that after all this, the reputation of NTDTV will be elevated even more in international society.
(Clearwisdom.net) Prominent Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas attended New Tang Dynasty Television's (NTDTV) Chinese New Year Spectacular on January 13, 2008 at the National Arts Center in Ottawa. He told the reporter that he noted "...the continuity between the show and ancient Chinese cultural traditions, and the costumes, the music, choreography, and the lessons around the show of faith. It's a continuation of Chinese culture as a living entity rather than just as a museum artifact."
Prominent Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas
Mr. Matas remarked, "I see this also in context where I am aware that the Chinese government is trying to discourage people from going to the show and preventing the show from taking place.
"It's not just striking as show but it's a striking contrast between the community which is trying to keep Chinese culture alive and the communist party which is in effect trying to scrounge Chinese civilization and cultural history as if all of China began in 1949 with the advent of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] in power."
Matas continued, "To me the Chinese [government's] effort to frustrate this sort of performance is like environmental destruction and it's a form of cultural destruction, one of the richest cultural heritages in human history and human civilization."
Matas stated, "The community which is putting on this performance is not just providing a lot of entertainment but I would say adding to contemporary cultural diversity and keeping alive this rich and diverse Chinese culture in the face of huge obstacles."
You can't have a meaningful Chinese culture while the CCP remains in power in China
Regarding the CCP, Mr. Matas stated, "It's antithetical to culture and spirituality, it's a foreign imposition. The theory of Communism was developed in the West, by Marx and Engels, who were German. It has no historical connection with China. The way it relates to Chinese culture is simply by trying to destroy it, obliterate, repress it. There's no real connection between China and communist culture, and so any continuity of Chinese culture like what we see through the show is something that has no connection to communism whatsoever."
Matas said, "I think culture has to come from the people, it can't come from the government. Culture by its very nature is a grassroots phenomenon, and in a communist system it's a controlled system and any controlled system thwarts culture."
Matas illustrated this with an example, "That's what we saw in the Soviet Union, which had a very important culture before the Russian Revolution. I think a number of important cultural figures afterwards were basically suppressed.
"You can go through the various elements of Russian culture where everybody who was doing important work had to do it in spite of the communist party rather than with support of the communist party. That's what we see in China as well, we either see suppression or total obliteration."
Matas said, "To me the whole notion of central control which is essential to the notion of communism is antithetical to cultural development from the people, which is by its very nature something that comes out. You can't have a meaningful Chinese culture while the CCP remains in power in China."
The show aids in developing Chinese culture
Mr. Matas stated, "Culture is important to identity, and different people develop their own identity based on the identity of the communities to which they belong. When you obliterate the Chinese culture which is basically what the CCP has been trying to do, you are basically attacking the identity of the Chinese people so what you get is people who are lost in a sea that is devoid of culture and are losing or have lost important identity markers."
As for the impact that the show brought about, Mr. Matas said, "As Canadian people, you have to distinguish between ethnic Chinese and people who are not. With the ethnic Chinese, it's the connection with their identity. With the people who are not ethnic Chinese, it's an indication of the cultural diversity, the richness of the Chinese civilization. Both groups would appreciate the people who are putting on this show for their commitment to continue, and preserve, and develop this culture.
"It isn't just the preservation, because you see things in the show that would normally help cultural development that don't just replicate the past but bring the past up to the present. One of the things we saw was the marriage of modern musical instruments and ancient Chinese instruments and that in itself is an important cultural development, important for global culture, important for Chinese culture."
Matas commended the show, "It's a very high-quality show, the costumes were wonderful, the music was terrific, the choreography was imaginative and very pretty to look at. It was a very professional show. That too added to the importance of the event."
Reflection on the CBC's handling on Beyond the Red Wall
Source: The Epoch Times
Background: The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) on Nov. 6 pulled the documentary hours before it was set to air. Over 200 media outlets reported on the ensuing controversy, with most reporting the CBC acted in response to pressure from the Chinese regime. On Nov. 20, the film was finally aired, after it had been re-edited.
(To view the unedited version please visit here )
The CBC's recent re-editing of director Peter Rowe's documentary Beyond the Red Wall: The Persecution of Falun Gong resulted in numerous international media reports that were highly critical of the decision. While this criticism is valid, the CBC should be both appreciated for at least airing an edited version as well as criticized for sweeping away some evidence that director Rowe had delivered to their doorstep.
In fact, the vast majority of media, including some who criticized CBC, have reported very little about the persecution of Falun Gong, even though the persecution has been investigated and confirmed by Amnesty International, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Watch and others.
When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime launched the persecution of Falun Gong in the early morning hours of July 20, 1999, practitioners were literally dragged out of their beds and bussed to sports stadiums, many of which were filled over capacity. This occurred on a mass scale across China. It was ferocious, unexpected, and shocked practitioners. The CCP's own survey in late 1998 had estimated 70-100 million Chinese were practicing Falun Gong. The planning for such a large scale, organized attack had to be months in the making.
Of course the accompanying avalanche of propaganda against Falun Gong was also well planned in advance. It targeted not only the citizens in China, but the international community as well, since the CCP was well aware of the negative effects from the international community after the massacre of students on Tiananmen Square in 1989. This time the propaganda and justification for their actions were planned carefully.
Names such as "evil cult" were spread by the CCP to an international community, which knew next to nothing about Falun Gong at the time. Falun Gong practitioners didn't have the chance to contemplate what was happening before the international community was provided with this strong first impression and sole source of information by CCP propaganda.
Western media, having little other information to go on, initially helped to stigmatize Falun Gong by repeating unsubstantiated propaganda by the CCP. These first impressions have left an enduring mark on the minds of many, including those in the media.
However, when Falun Gong practitioners snapped out of their initial shock and began to provide alternate information to the media, the ink given to the Falun Gong side was grossly minimized in relation to the information from the CCP that was initially reported. This trend has continued to today.
In a thorough, in-depth article published in Compassion magazine, Leeshai Lemish examined 1,879 media articles written about the persecution of Falun Gong that appeared in the leading newspapers and wire services of the English speaking world such as the
New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, AP, and Reuters. CCP sources were "cited as the main sources of news in the headline or opening paragraphs of articles about Falun Gong four times as often as Falun Gong sources and three times as often as rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In other words, for every article with a headline like: 'Falun Gong Woman Says She was Tortured,' four articles had a headline like: 'China Sentences Sect Member.'"
In another study of 1,308 AP articles, of those in which Falun Gong reported practitioners dying from torture in custody, Mr. Lemish found that the CCP was given the opportunity to directly respond 50.2 percent of the time. When the CCP made major accusations toward Falun Gong, such as claiming practitioners died from refusing medical
treatment or suicide, Falun Gong was given a chance to respond only 17.9 percent of the time.
In an article by the Canadian Press, head of news for CBC, John Cruickshank, made a telling comment regarding the Red Wall controversy, "The Falun Gong—they want it all their way. They wanted it basically to be their show. Peter Rowe used an awful lot of Falun Gong footage, and just at a certain point we got uncomfortable with the degree to which we were basically putting their show on to television without there being a reflection about what was actually credible."
This program was made by Peter Rowe,
who is not a Falun Gong practitioner. In what way could it be Falun Gong's show? Due to the fierce restrictions in China, there are only two types of footage I've seen taken by Falun Gong. One is of torture victims on the verge of death, reminiscent of emaciated Holocaust victims, including the case of Ms. Gao Rongrong, the lower half of whose face was charred and covered with large scabs from multiple burns by electric batons.
The other type of footage is taken on Tiananmen Square showing practitioners among large crowds of people being violently attacked by Chinese police while holding banners and calling for an end to the persecution. Red Wall included some of this latter footage, with on-screen labels stating it was footage taken by Falun Gong. The practitioners who took the footage risked their personal safety and even death to show the world what is happening. Yet somehow this is diminished to Falun Gong wanting it "all their way."
This isn't a competition for airtime, or an endeavor for attention, or an unsubstantiated claim of political struggle as the CCP states when it serves their propaganda aims of the moment. Before the persecution began, Falun Gong had nothing at all to say about the CCP.
This is a full-on, brutal persecution of innocent people—including the elderly and children—on a mass scale that has been verified by the top international bodies mentioned above. People are dying as I type these words and will be dying when they're read.
In the CP article, Mr. Cruickshank stated in reference to CBC personnel in Beijing "Our guys are good … They had seen an early version of the script and they were horrified by it—they said that what was being treated as truth in this show was not accepted by any credible organization." There are many valid points of evidence presented in Red Wall, even in the CBC's edited version. To what exactly is Mr. Cruickshank referring? This blanket statement insinuates uncertainty over the program as a whole. To say that no credible organization accepts what is presented in Red Wall is grossly inaccurate and irresponsible.
What his guys in Beijing should be horrified by is the persecution itself, for which they have not produced a single substantial report since it began over eight years ago. Granted, this must be taken in context, considering that covering the persecution of Falun Gong is one of the most—if not the most—difficult, obstructed, guarded, and dangerous journalistic endeavors in China. This is what makes the footage shot by Falun Gong practitioners so valuable. Yet it is utilized as a point of contention and to draw suspicion against those who risked their lives to shoot it and then send it out of China.
If the unspecified rationale from CBC's guys in Beijing is solid enough to elicit a reaction so strong as to re-edit a previously approved program produced by a veteran, trusted director, one must ask where these guys in Beijing suddenly turned for such conclusive information on the persecution of Falun Gong, considering they've produced nothing in the past.
One must also question why, for eight years, the CBC has all but totally ignored first-hand accounts of persecution sent out of China at great risk by the victims themselves. Certainly if their guys in Beijing can so quickly invalidate the initial version of Red Wall with such all-inclusive certainty, they must be able to substantiate or deny at least some of these reports from the actual victims. Why such one-sided certainty and effort to dismiss evidence of persecution, while ignoring reports of the persecution for so many years?
The intent here is not to solely criticize CBC, as there has been neglect on this issue by almost all major media. But CBC had a rare and valuable opportunity delivered to their doorstep. However, they not only swept away some of the most vital evidence, but diminished the urgency of the matter by accusing the abused party—which provided some of the most compelling footage in the program at the risk of their own lives (free of charge!)—of some petty attempt to have the program "be their show."
This disturbing lack of clarity must be addressed directly when the stakes are so high.
In a National Post article, CBC spokesman Jeff Keay said, "We wanted to have a credible and solid piece of work out there, because I suspect, at the end of the day, we will have the Chinese government upset with us and we will have some Falun Gong members upset with us,"
Beijing denies the persecution outright, despite the masses of evidence compiled by human rights organizations that prove otherwise. Beijing denies abusing practitioners, torturing practitioners, killing practitioners, and all other abuses which have been confirmed. Beijing is upset any time the persecution is exposed. They are the persecuting party. CBC should not be concerned about what Beijing thinks whatsoever. Of course Beijing will be upset.
David Matas, co-author of a report on the illicit harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners' organs, said in the same National Post article, "The notion that CBC would pay any attention to Chinese concerns is evidence they've lost all perspective," and continued, "The CBC becoming a vehicle of Chinese government propaganda—even under the notion that it's balanced coverage—is not responsible journalism."
Considering the CBC's fastidious and controversial extraction of actual evidence of persecution from the program, it is curious that they retained the numerous denials and accusations made by the Chinese Embassy spokesman who did not even attempt to provide any substantiating evidence whatsoever.
CBC extracted evidence revealing the two most damning events undertaken by the CCP: organ harvesting and the so-called self-immolation.
The immolation is the single most crucial event that turned perception of Falun Gong around in the minds of people in China as well as many around the world. The footage was played constantly on China's state-controlled media, complete with follow-up reports and masses of commentary by CCP-appointed experts. To some, the incident brought to mind a quote attributed to Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
The footage was also played in Western media, the shocking images leaving a deep impression on viewers. The response allowed Falun Gong was a one-line denial that the immolators were not Falun Gong practitioners.
Practitioners in China deconstructed the video footage in the report, finding many inconsistencies, uncertainties, and contradictions. This led to the production of a video, which when made available to the public, caused the CCP to edit footage out of their initial report before re-broadcasting it further.
Although many points of contradiction, evidence, and inconsistencies were raised in the deconstruction video and presented to international media, it was met with virtual silence. Broadcasts of the immolation had already made a deep impression in the minds of viewers and readers, but the other side was not given a voice. This voice was once more diminished in the CBC version of Red Wall. I urge all readers to view the deconstruction of the so-called self-immolation and judge for themselves.
The report on organ harvesting speaks for itself as well.
With more and more third parties confirming the facts of the persecution in China and calling for an end to the atrocities, including Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng (who has been detained for a second time, current whereabouts and well being unknown), defecting Chinese consular official Chen Yonglin, defecting Chinese policeman Hao Fengjun, high ranking regime officials Wang Zhaojun and Jia Jia, along with an increasing number of other brave individuals speaking out in China against the persecution of Falun Gong, Western media would be hard pressed to further justify its silence.
There are many signs of the imminent collapse of the CCP. When that time arrives there will be no more stifling of voices from the many friends and relatives of Falun Gong practitioners who are also suffering through various forms of persecution and who have witnessed immense suffering of their loved ones. The small percentage of police officers and CCP officials of conscience will also speak out.
The voices of the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners themselves will no longer be ignored as documentation of abuses will be compiled. At this point there will be no need for media to fulfill its responsibility of revealing this massive atrocity. But people will be demanding to know why they hadn't.
Article by Michael Mahonen. Michael Mahonen is a winner of the Gemini Award (Canada's Emmy) for acting. His first feature film as writer/director, Sandstorm, has won 29 awards at international film festivals. He is currently writing a script about the persecution of Falun Gong along with another script for an independent feature film.
Shunning Olympics is your chance
to show that you care and things matter.
Are you willing to sacrifice some fun
to make our world just a bit better?
This is from a poem written by somone who understands and cares about our world and realises that the Olympics should never have been given to communist China in the first place.
click on his name for orginal post
From Ranfuchs:
The state of human rights in China, is an issue close to my heart.
As China is becoming a super-power, our politicians are unable to act.
Yet, China does care about it international image: their space program and their effort to create the perfect Olympics are the proof.
However,
The Olympics will not be successful without successful media coverage Media coverage will not be successful if we will not watch
So would we agree not to watch? I know that you are dealing with bigger, and more important issue. But in addition to signing your petition, not watching the olymics, asking my friends to commit to not watching, and make it known is my protest, whic I posted on
http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/Why-Should-We-Care.71636
Why Should We Care?
by ranfuchs, Jan 6, 2008
China continuously and severely violate human rights. Falun Gong and Tibet are just two such examples. They are super power, but they do care about their image. Can shunning the Olympics by the public make a difference?
So what if for their own beliefs
and their, quiet strange, ways of life
someone comes in the midnight
to take them away from their wife ?
So what if nobody's knows
why they have just disappeared,
and why is their kidney or heart
in market one day reappeared ?
So what if they're turned into slaves
and killed, just like that, when in jail.
Should we care what is done with their bodies and how organs are offered for sale ?
So what with old cultures they're ruining are we expected to care ?
Men wearing such old funny clothes
our consciousness to bug how they dare ?
We love to buy goods that they give us
and fake or pretend we don't know.
And if it's not straight in our backyard What's wrong if we make some more dough ?
If evil persists in strange places
that not on agenda for US
As long as we can make some profit
why should we make any fuss ?
But shouldn't we try make a difference
if we don't believe this is fair.
Or is it only our backyard
of which we look after and care ?
Shunning Olympics is your chance
to show that you care and things matter.
Are you willing to sacrifice some fun
to make our world just bit better?
--
“The Year of the Rat symbolizes new beginnings and change,” says Francis Madore, spokesperson for, no, not Barack Obama, but for “not-for-profit, independent, Chinese-language television” company New Tang Dynasty TV, which is presenting the Chinese New Year Spectacular at Place des Arts this week (though the actual Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 7 this year).
“The legend says that at the time of the new year, the Buddha called upon all the animals to meet him, so he could assign them roles. Only 12 showed up, and each was given a year, so people born in that year would get the characteristics of that animal. People born under the year of the rat tend to be leaders, pioneers, conquerors. They’re usually charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and of course hardworking, like you know the rat is.”
The charm quotient of rats could be debated, but the dedication of the Divine Performing Arts Troupe, composed largely of Chinese émigrés and ex-pats, is unquestionable. Among the most successful touring shows in the world, the Spectacular strives to revive five millennia of Chinese art and history without fudging the specifics.
“The movements of the dancers, the costumes they wear, the backdrops—every detail is weighed and studied so that they’re as authentic as possible,” says Madore.
“The Chinese people themselves have been disconnected from this ancient culture, which was governed by dynasties. Each dynasty had a specific culture, depending on the emperor. These are people who had high beliefs in gods and adhered to high standards of morality, and they believe that’s what enabled them to develop these rich, glorious civilizations of ancient China. Now, with the Cultural Revolution and even in historical textbooks, all this information has been altered or removed. So it’s really interesting for both Chinese and Western audiences.”
The show touches on the Tang, Qing and Song dynasties, says Madore, “and on top of that, it goes into depicting some ethnic groups that prevailed in China. For example, there’s the traditional Mongolian cup dance, where the ladies carry cups with actual milk in them on their heads. The Manchurian ethnicity is also depicted, and the Tibetans.”
Madore adds a final but not inconsequential note, an unsurprising one given the Falun Dafa Association’s collaboration on the show. “The 5,000 years of Chinese history that are covered are from the ancient times, but also modern times. Some scenes depict the human-rights issues in China in the last 50 years, so there’s something to learn there too.”
The world is not as bad as we think as many righteous people understand how the closet communists have sold out our western values that our ancestors fought and gave their lives for last century, We are here again, same stage same act different players. Can we solve this fundamental issue? Each and everyone of us can say no in our hearts and not watch or attend the Olympics if held in communist
Here is one below .. post this or upload onto your site for maximum exposure etc..
Global Effort to Stop the Beijing’s Persecution of Falun Gong before the 2008 Olympic Games
To Whom It Might Concern:
I know that Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is a spiritual cultivation practice begun in China, which teaches people to cultivate themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, so as to develop good health and character, and that it has spread to over 80 countries around the world. As a result, I have a good impression of Falun Gong.
I am also aware that since July 1999, some leaders of the party-state in Beijing, headed by former president Jiang Zemin, launched a brutal crackdown on Falun Gong across China, and that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who refused to give up their belief were tortured to death. Tens of millions of Chinese nationals have been deprived of their basic human rights and freedom of belief because of practising Falun Gong. I am both shocked and grieved about this persecution.
Human rights are universal and indivisible; respect for them is integral to the Olympic Games’ modern tradition. It is thus unacceptable that the government of China, even while preparing to host the 2008 Olympic Games, continues to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, thereby also violating international human rights covenants signed by China itself.
I, therefore, make the following appeals:
1. The government of China must immediately put an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.
2. My own national government, parliament, Olympic Committee and human right organizations should call on the authorities in Beijing to stop the persecution of Falun Gong.
3. The CIPFG can submit this petition or a copy of it to various governments, parliaments, the International Olympic Committee, the United Nations and other international human rights organizations, in order to urge them to take immediate action to help the Falun Gong practitioners in China to regain their human rights and dignity by the time of the opening of 2008 Olympic Games.
Printed Name: Signature:
City, Country: Title:
Contact Address: (Email, Phone number or Fax number)
Note: the petition texts above can be downloaded in various languages below:
Chinese
Asian General
English
Indonesia
Japanese
Malasia
Thai
This graphic, called "Dancing Beijing Man (in chains) Olympic Logo", and the concept were created by Faithmouse. The idea is to post this graphic on your site and to link to all the others (or as many as you can) who do the same. This crosslinking should boost the graphics’ rating on Google and other search engines thereby raising awareness to the suffering caused by the Chinese government.
Visit Faithmouse for the image and to sign on to the list of bloggers who are trying to make the world a better place. Let me know when you post it!
Faithmouse, Leticia, SFO Mom, Blogs4Brownback, 50 Days After, Kaj, The Good Life, Cooper, Lina Lamont Fan Club, Kaj la hundo, Scarlett Crusader, Makina, Team-Swap, Berlin Wall, WorD, Faith…, A True Chinese Renaissance , See this extensive list for government contacts to voice your objections to this human suffering!
I dont think this is an amazing prediction- its really a conclusion that is absolutely inevitable - a disaster just waiting to happen. Please watch out people..think twice before going to an Olympic Event hosted by a brutal communist regime. The only difference between North Korea and communist led China is money.
Mike Elgan's report below leaves nothing out and Human rights activists all around the world will be applauding this piece of fine journalism.!!
Prediction:
By Mike Elgan
The games themselves will be exciting, lavish and hotly contested. But the main event will be the clash between the Chinese Communist Party, which will use biometrics, surveillance, censorship and an army of goons to suppress information about
The Chinese government sees the Beijing 2008 Olympics as China's "coming out party" -- the unveiling of a shiny, new, powerful, prosperous and stable China fully recovered from a century of weakness, division, poverty, famine, upheaval and despair.
But recent and impressive economic growth obscures the fact that
The 2008 Olympics are the first Games to take place in an authoritarian country since the Internet went mainstream. This "window" will open briefly, then close, which makes it all the more urgent for people inside
Do you see the incredible train wreck that's coming our way?
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These groups will do everything in their power to air grievances in front of the foreign press or stage protests before groups of camera-wielding tourists.
Never mind that man behind the curtain!
Certainly, the journalists are preparing to spoil
Amnesty International has even distributed a Media Kit for all the thousands of journalists covering the games, which catalogs
Thousands of people thrown out of their homes as part of
china
human rights
torture
Falun Gong
Boycott the Olympic Games
2008 Olympic Games
Live Organ Harvesting in China
