Ai Vows to Appeal Tax Decision

2012-03-30

Chinese authorities uphold tax evasion charges against artist Ai Weiwei that he says are a 'pretext' to punish him for his activism.

AFP

Ai Weiwei (R) speaks to reporters outside his studio in Beijing, June 23, 2011.

Authorities in Beijing have upheld a U.S. $2.4 million tax evasion fine issued to outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in a move that has been widely seen as retaliation for his criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

Ai said the decision came suddenly after he made a trip to the tax bureau on Wednesday and vowed to continue to appeal the decision.

"Basically ... they have upheld the original decision by the Beijing tax office," Ai told RFA's Mandarin service.

"I only just went [on Wednesday] to get the review of the decision, and ... before we had managed to give any comment, they had already issued their decision."

"It's very surprising," Ai said.

The bill and fine were issued to Ai's design company following the artist's 81-day detention by police at a secret location last year, which sparked an international outcry that prompted an angry response from Beijing.

The company, named Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., is now legally owned by Ai's wife, Lu Qing.

Speaking out

Official media reports later said he was being detained under investigation for "economic crimes," but Ai and his lawyers have said the tax charges are a political backlash against his vocal activism on behalf of China's least-privileged people.

Ai said on Thursday that he had been told by police during his secret detention that the fine was linked to his criticism of the government.

"As for my secret detention, the police stated very clearly to me that this was a punishment that was linked to my crime of incitement to subvert state power," Ai said.

"They are using economic crimes as a pretext to punish me for thinking independently and for criticizing them openly," he said.

He said the decision doesn't bode well for China's community of rights activists and government critics.

"One can well imagine, given the large number of similar situations that exist in China right now, that they will continue to act in such serious breach of the law," he said.

Donations

The tax bill prompted tens of thousands of Ai's supporters to send small donations that ended up totaling nearly 8.7 million yuan ($1.4 million), which was used to pay a guarantee to the tax bureau. Some donations were folded into paper airplanes or wrapped around fruit and thrown over the gate at his home.

He was also given a symbolic 100 euro (U.S. $137) donation from the German government's human rights commissioner.

Hong Kong-based current affairs commentator Ho Leong Leong said the tax fine gives a legalistic veneer to the government's backlash against Ai, who is an internationally popular celebrity with strong support inside China.

"I believe that ... they are using this as a ... form of legal and informal revenge, as a way of keeping Ai Weiwei in line," Ho said.

"China's bureaucracy is more powerful than anything in the country right now."
Appeal
Ai said he and his legal team will continue to appeal the fine, however.

"We have already posted 8.7 million yuan ($1.4 million) as a bond in the tax bureau's account, so they can now take that money without having to ask our permission," Ai said.

"This is illegal, but judging from our dealings with them ... they have no intention of understanding the truth of the situation," he said.

"This is a form of control ... under the direction of the police."

Reported by He Ping for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Torture Threat Against Tibetans

2012-03-30

Authorities inform Tibetans that they are subject to beatings for 'threatening social stability.'

AFP

A Tibetan boy (R) looks on as armed Chinese police patrol a street in Chengdu in Sichuan province, Jan. 27, 2012.

Chinese authorities in the remote Western province of Gansu have threatened residents of the Tibetan region of Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) with "torture" and "beatings" if they circulate certain views or information, a Paris-based press freedom group said Friday.

According to police notices in the Tibetan language posted in public places in the prefecture, "criminals" who say certain things will be subjected to "torture" at the hands of police, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement on its website.

The notices call on the public to inform on "criminals" who "threaten the social stability of Gan Lho [Kanlho]" with "ideas of splitting the nation." Also subject to immediate punishment is the "incitement of illegal activities and agitation between ethnic groups."

The destabilization of society and the promotion of "illegal organizations" is also cited as banned, as is any form of communication or information that is judged to be being used for "criminal purposes."

This could include "speech and the distribution of written information," "cartoons," "homemade materials," "videos," "websites," "emails and audio files," or "SMS text messages," the notice says.

"People found to be in possession of, or promoting any of the above materials, actions or ideas, will be met with violent beating/torture by the Public Security Bureau,” the notice says.

Informers, on the other hand, will get full police protection and confidentiality, as well as a reward of 5,000 yuan (U.S. $790).

'Outrage' at policy

RSF said it was "outraged by the policy of terror openly pursued by the Chinese authorities in Kanlho."

"The aim of these torture threats is to instill terror in all those who might circulate information about the government's repressive policies," the statement said, calling for a United Nations probe into the notice.

"The police must immediately withdraw these posters and stop legitimizing the use of torture and physical mistreatment for criminal actions that are deliberately defined in vague, loose terms, open to broad interpretation," RSF said.

RSF has also hit out at the lack of Chinese media coverage of continuing Tibetan protests in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, amid a series of self-immolation protests by Tibetans in recent months.

Thirty-three Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 as a part of stepped-up protests against Beijing's rule and a call for the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to Tibet from exile in India.

China fell six places in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index and is now ranked 174th out of 179 countries, RSF said.

Reported by Luisetta Mudie.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Translation of the notice (as translated by Tibet Post International):

Notice: Gan Lho [Kanlho] Public Security Bureau (PSB) requests the public to inform on criminals who threaten the social stability of Gan Lho.

Protect social and political stability in Gan Lho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and quickly establish a harmonious Gan Lho! Establish a better economic environment for investment! Be vigilant of and crack down on criminals who threaten Gan Lho's social stability! Directly inform on criminal lairs!

The following directives have been authorized by the security department:

I) Damage to national security, the destabilization of society, the destruction of ethnic unity.

All the following actions will be met with violent beating/torture by the PSB:

1) The disturbance of relations between ethnic groups, public agitation between ethnic groups, the destruction of national unity.

2) The corruption of the public with ideas of the splitting of the nation, through speech and the distribution of written information, cartoons, home-made materials, videos etc - all acts destructive to social discipline and stability.

3) The membership, promotion of, or the making of donations to illegal organizations - all of which harm national security and destabilize society.

4) The incitement of the public to illegal activities through websites, emails and audio files, all acts destructive to ethnic unity through websites and SMS texts, and other major criminal actions against the security of society.

5) The engagement in criminal activities such as grievous bodily harm, destruction of property, arson and looting etc, and the coercion of others into criminal acts that damage the security of society.

II) Any member of the public who informs the police about the above criminal acts or gives the police information about the perpetrators will be guaranteed personal protection by PSB officers, personal confidentiality and a reward of 5,000 Chinese Yuan.

III) This directive is to be applied with immediate effect. 0941 - 669 6271, 6696272

刘晓原所属律师楼年检受阻挠面临解散

(博讯北京时间2012年3月31日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-30报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    北京维权律师刘晓原的律师事务所，本年度考核仍未通过，即将面对解散，有机会被注销律师执照。刘晓原相信代理敏感案件，是其律师事务所未通过年检的原因。（林静报道）
   
    由去年五月至今，北京维权律师刘晓原所属的旗鉴律师事务所，还未能通过年检，他接受本台访问时指，下月中，2012年的年检又要开始，如果届时仍未能通过本年度的年检执照，刘晓原有心理准备，律师事务所将要关闭。
   
    刘晓原说：“如果年检不能过，其他律师一定要调走，那我的律师事务所就要解散，若其他事务所不愿意接收我，那我的律师执业证也会被注销。”
   
    刘晓原指，去年起，政府以办公室不合规格为由拒绝发出批文，令他无法成功通过年检。他多次向相关部门交涉，但部门都是互相推诿。
   
    刘晓原指，现在他们的律师事务所，只剩下五个律师，但由于迟迟未能通过年检，所以不符合资格代理新的案件，对律师的经济生活构成严重打击。他说：“新的案件，我根本自上年已经没得接，因为不能开发票，如果收钱不开票是为法规，但不收钱，在经济上实困难重重。免费做我没有这个经济能力。”
   
    对于为何未能通过年检，刘晓原指，虽然司法局没有正面向他表示原因，但刘晓原分析，去年他代理北京维权人士王荔蕻案，关注过艾未未案子，并写过几篇文章，接受过外地传媒采访，相信因此被中国政府视为不受眼中钉。他说：“这件事，他们一定是针对我，你看上年的事情，我被传唤被失踪，就是到年检的时候就被卡住了。朝阳区司法局曾经跟我的合夥人说过，说我代理敏感案件，为他们带来很大压力，劝他们调走。”
   
    刘晓原认为，由于政府不能明目张胆，甚至无原无故吊销他的律师牌照，唯有以间接手法藉故刁难，让他感到意兴栏栅。他说：“局方就是要故意刁难，就是局方要赶绝你的手段，就是要你听话，但我发觉他们乾脆想办法把你消灭。”
   
    刘晓原长期协助弱势群体争取合法权益，曾经为福建网民案中的被告担任辩护律师。他代理过的案件，包括福建三网民案、杨佳案及贵州青年何胜凯杀警案等。2008年，获德国之声国际博客大赛最佳中文博客奖。2010年11月28日，刘晓原受邀赴日本参加学术活动，但在北京首都国际机场遭边检人员以“出境会危害到国家安全”阻拦。

传播“军车进京、北京出事” 六人被拘留

(博讯北京时间2012年3月31日 转载)     新华网北京3月30日电记者从北京市公安局了解到，近期，有个别网民在互联网上特别是微博中编造、传播所谓“军车进京、北京出事”等谣言，产生了恶劣的社会影响。北京市公安机关迅速展开调查，依据有关法律法规，对在网上编造谣言的李某、唐某等6人依法予以拘留，对在网上传播相关谣言的其他人员进行了教育训诫。相关人员对编造、传播谣言的行为供认不讳，对自己的行为表示悔过，并作出检讨。
   
    北京市公安局有关负责人表示，利用互联网编造、传播谣言的行为严重扰乱社会秩序、影响社会稳定、危害社会诚信，公安机关对此将依法查处。希望广大网民自觉遵守法律法规，不信谣、不传谣，发现谣言及时举报，共同维护健康的网络环境和良好的社会秩序。

陈良宇狱中伙食费200 周永康也快了/李健

(博讯北京时间2009年6月17日 转载)   
     昨天看到一则新闻，《凤凰周刊》2009年6月15日的文章披露：“陈良宇在狱中享用20平方米的套间，内有单独的洗手间，其中设有坐式马桶和脚踏式冲水，并配有洗衣机。每日餐费达两百元，可读书写作，可以不穿囚服。服刑后，陈良宇曾提出用个人的资金改善伙食，并开列所需食品单，如红酒、桃仁等，但遭拒绝。陈良宇在秦城监狱编号是0702。”
     (博讯 boxun.com)
     陈良宇在狱中的餐费，每天接近两百元，一日四餐，包括晚九点半还有消夜。粗略一算，一个月餐费就是六千元，一年吃喝就是七万元！这样的就餐标准不要说普通中国百姓以目前的工资收入连想都不敢想，就是中、高级政府官员，按个人工资收入也无条件享受这样的高标准吃喝。当然，陈良宇当上海一把手时，凭他的权力，享受这样的奢华生活无人质疑。别忘了，现在他是贪污腐败分子，人民的罪人，是服刑的阶台囚！给一个犯人如此高的生活待遇，是凭哪一条法规？这笔钱是从哪个财政支出的？
   
     中国人对劳改犯的基本概念是，一个人犯法判刑入狱，是强制接受劳动改造，在劳动改造中重新作人。我们看到、听到的都是犯人在监狱管教人员的安排下，从事各种劳动生产，为社会创造财富的同时使自己思想得到改造，从中也学了一技之长。即使在“文革”动乱年代，邓小平被打倒后，同样以一个普通“囚犯”的身份流放到江西一家小工厂，由工人监督干钳工。虽然那是颠倒黑白的年代，但对囚犯改造的方式并没颠倒――仍是劳动改造。如今，虽然社会发生了巨大变化，人的思想观念也发生根本改变，但国家对罪犯的改造方式并没有质的变化，除了监狱的生活条件和环境明显改善外，改造的方式仍是以强制劳动为主。普通罪犯如此，高官犯罪入狱后难道就该享受“双重标准”吗？
   
     从文章中得知，陈良宇入狱后，“曾提出用个人的资金改善伙食，并开列所需食品单，如红酒、桃仁等。”可见，入狱后的陈良宇仍恋恋不含他那在职时的奢华生活，根本没把自己看成是阶下囚，放下他那官架子。他的过份要求虽然遭到拒绝，但监狱还是给了他优厚的生活待遇，“在狱中享用20平方米的套间，内有单独的洗手间，其中设有坐式马桶和脚踏式冲水，并配有洗衣机。每日餐费达两百元，可读书写作，可以不穿囚服。”这样的狱中生活，那些为社会创造财富而辛勒劳动的亿万中国公民，有多少能与他相比？！难道高官犯罪入狱，生活待遇还要从优吗？陈良宇高额的伙食费，如果不是他的家人提供（家人提供已遭拒绝），监狱有什么权力给他定这样高的标准？这笔钱如果是由财政支出，用纳税人的钱给罪犯高消费，更于情于理不容！
   
     如果《凤凰周刊》2009年6月15日的这篇文章属实，相关监狱应立即纠正这一不得人心的作法，如果有出入甚至无中生有，相关部门应尽快澄清，以正视听。
   
     下面摘抄一些网民的留言，我想它代表了广大公民的想法：
   
     “这些贪官在监狱里还在享福!普通囚犯就没这么好采了!所以贪官们不怕做牢,只怕像成克杰一样挨枪子!”
   
     “还是做官好”
   
     “谁说中国没有人权?!陈水扁必须和其他犯人一样穿囚衣,而陈良宇就可以不穿!
    可以看出,共产党即使犯罪了,也比人民高一等啊!!!”
   
     “凭什么对贪官格外优待？法律面前，人人平等难道只是骗老百姓的鬼话？”
   
     “一年吃7万，谁掏钱？”
   
     “在中国，当官真的是太好太好了，就是成了阶下囚，仍然能享受到比普通人还要好的多的牢中生活。一天火食费就200元，顶一个普通人一个月的生活费了！”
   
     “已是罪犯了，为何还要享受如此高的待遇？？不平啊！”
   
     “这么多钱，可以喂大多少猪啊。”
   
     “做官就要做大官,坐牢也风光”
   
    
     陈良宇狱中一天伙食费200元，谁定的？
   
     昨天看到一则新闻，《凤凰周刊》2009年6月15日的文章披露：“陈良宇在狱中享用20平方米的套间，内有单独的洗手间，其中设有坐式马桶和脚踏式冲水，并配有洗衣机。每日餐费达两百元，可读书写作，可以不穿囚服。服刑后，陈良宇曾提出用个人的资金改善伙食，并开列所需食品单，如红酒、桃仁等，但遭拒绝。陈良宇在秦城监狱编号是0702。”
   
     陈良宇在狱中的餐费，每天接近两百元，一日四餐，包括晚九点半还有消夜。粗略一算，一个月餐费就是六千元，一年吃喝就是七万元！这样的就餐标准不要说普通中国百姓以目前的工资收入连想都不敢想，就是中、高级政府官员，按个人工资收入也无条件享受这样的高标准吃喝。当然，陈良宇当上海一把手时，凭他的权力，享受这样的奢华生活无人质疑。别忘了，现在他是贪污腐败分子，人民的罪人，是服刑的阶台囚！给一个犯人如此高的生活待遇，是凭哪一条法规？这笔钱是从哪个财政支出的？
   
     中国人对劳改犯的基本概念是，一个人犯法判刑入狱，是强制接受劳动改造，在劳动改造中重新作人。我们看到、听到的都是犯人在监狱管教人员的安排下，从事各种劳动生产，为社会创造财富的同时使自己思想得到改造，从中也学了一技之长。即使在“文革”动乱年代，邓小平被打倒后，同样以一个普通“囚犯”的身份流放到江西一家小工厂，由工人监督干钳工。虽然那是颠倒黑白的年代，但对囚犯改造的方式并没颠倒――仍是劳动改造。如今，虽然社会发生了巨大变化，人的思想观念也发生根本改变，但国家对罪犯的改造方式并没有质的变化，除了监狱的生活条件和环境明显改善外，改造的方式仍是以强制劳动为主。普通罪犯如此，高官犯罪入狱后难道就该享受“双重标准”吗？
   
     从文章中得知，陈良宇入狱后，“曾提出用个人的资金改善伙食，并开列所需食品单，如红酒、桃仁等。”可见，入狱后的陈良宇仍恋恋不含他那在职时的奢华生活，根本没把自己看成是阶下囚，放下他那官架子。他的过份要求虽然遭到拒绝，但监狱还是给了他优厚的生活待遇，“在狱中享用20平方米的套间，内有单独的洗手间，其中设有坐式马桶和脚踏式冲水，并配有洗衣机。每日餐费达两百元，可读书写作，可以不穿囚服。”这样的狱中生活，那些为社会创造财富而辛勒劳动的亿万中国公民，有多少能与他相比？！难道高官犯罪入狱，生活待遇还要从优吗？陈良宇高额的伙食费，如果不是他的家人提供（家人提供已遭拒绝），监狱有什么权力给他定这样高的标准？这笔钱如果是由财政支出，用纳税人的钱给罪犯高消费，更于情于理不容！
   
     如果《凤凰周刊》2009年6月15日的这篇文章属实，相关监狱应立即纠正这一不得人心的作法，如果有出入甚至无中生有，相关部门应尽快澄清，以正视听。
   
     下面摘抄一些网民的留言，我想它代表了广大公民的想法：
   
     “这些贪官在监狱里还在享福!普通囚犯就没这么好采了!所以贪官们不怕做牢,只怕像成克杰一样挨枪子!”
   
     “还是做官好”
   
     “谁说中国没有人权?!陈水扁必须和其他犯人一样穿囚衣,而陈良宇就可以不穿!
    可以看出,共产党即使犯罪了,也比人民高一等啊!!!”
   
     “凭什么对贪官格外优待？法律面前，人人平等难道只是骗老百姓的鬼话？”
   
     “一年吃7万，谁掏钱？”
   
     “在中国，当官真的是太好太好了，就是成了阶下囚，仍然能享受到比普通人还要好的多的牢中生活。一天火食费就200元，顶一个普通人一个月的生活费了！”
   
     “已是罪犯了，为何还要享受如此高的待遇？？不平啊！”
   
     “这么多钱，可以喂大多少猪啊。”
   
     “做官就要做大官,坐牢也风光”
   

“取消政法委” 茅于轼触动中共敏感神经

(博讯北京时间2012年3月30日 转载)    茅于轼更多文章请看茅于轼专栏
   
    来源：大纪元
   
    中国经济学家茅于轼近日在其新浪微博中建议，“取消共产党各级的政法委”，在发表不久后很快被删除，原定当天在一所大学的讲座也被撤销。（视频撷图）
    

    中国经济学家、天则经济研究所所长茅于轼近日在其新浪微博中建议，“取消共产党各级的政法委”。时下这个能够在公众中引起共鸣的话题，在发表不久后很快被删除，同时他原定当天在一所大学的讲座也被撤销。

直言触动敏感“神经”
   
    3月27日，经济学家、天则经济研究所所长茅于轼在其新浪微博中建议，“取消共产党各级的政法委”。他认为取消或严格限制政法委对司法的干涉，否则司法独立永远是一句空话。
   
    他说：“不是说法官都有良心，政法委就没有良心，而是因为现在的贪污犯大部份都是党员，让党管司法大家不放心。最好法官也要独立于党，可以不和党中央保持一致，可以不受牵制地完全凭自己的良心判案。”
   
    在新浪微博中有着几十万粉丝的茅于轼在发表这条博文后，受到众多关注和认同。不过 ，今天记者发现此微博已被删除。
   
    作为中国当前最有影响及敢言的经济学家，茅于轼发表了不少批评政府政策的言论。他为辛子陵着的《红太阳的陨落》作序“把毛泽东还原成人”，痛斥毛泽东为个人私欲发动文化大革命。
   
    茅于轼还认为，军队、警察，这些有武器在手的机构如掌握在某个党派手里，看似对掌权者有利，其实搞得不好也会伤着自己，这样的例子中外古今多不胜举。
   
    在“取消政法委”言论发表后不久，茅于轼原定在3月28日以《人文经济学：不用数学的经济学》为题在对外经贸大学的讲座遭到校方的阻扰，被迫撤销了。

公众对政法委存在不满
   
    如今，大陆知识界、法律界人士普遍公认，2002年周永康任公安部部长和政法委书记以来，中国的法制建设急剧倒退，社会治安急剧恶化，严重刑事案率居高不下，黑恶势力横行。
   
    据报导，中国公安、法院、检察院系统近二年被举报腐败、官黑勾结、滥权渎职等情况如下：公安系统2010年被举报37240件，处理12240件；2011年被举报32933件，处理16370件。每年处理案件约二分之一。

“墙内开花墙外红”
   
    就在北京对外经贸大学校方撤销茅于轼讲座的同时，记者获悉，经济学家茅于轼被评为2012年的卡托研究所的米尔顿•弗里德曼推进自由奖得主。这个奖是为致敬自由主义经济学大师弗里德曼而设立，两年一次，表彰世界范围内推动个人自由与市场经济有卓越贡献的人士。

任凭国内传谣海外曝料 且看薄熙来如何埋单

文章来源: 德国之声 于 2012-03-29 08:19:53 - 新闻取自各大新闻媒体，新闻内容并不代表本网立场！

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薄熙来倒台已过十天，中共总书记胡锦涛正出访国外，有关英国商人尼尔·海伍德重庆之死，世界媒体再掀报道高潮，这必将督促中共当局尽快揭示重庆事件真相，给国人以交代。
薄熙来倒台过旬，任凭国内传谣，任凭海外曝料，中共当局依旧坚守着3月15日新华社的43字公告，寸步不前。
3月15日之后，随着《中共中央办公厅王立军事件通报》的12分钟录音惊现香港商报，16日上传网络；本周一、二，《华尔街日报》连续以头版篇幅，揭开与薄熙来家庭有20余年密切关系的英国人尼尔·海伍德的死因，世界主流媒体顷刻之间对于薄王事件，又形成新一轮的穷追猛打。
这样就把中共十八大权斗的窟窿捅得越来越大。温家宝告白的"党内路线斗争"的定性："文化大革命这样的历史悲剧还有可能重新发生。"已然成为"马其顿防线"，溃不及防。
薄熙来家族涉嫌刑诉已经昭然若揭，中共权力腐败又上了新台阶，严重危及着执政的合法性。
王立军闯馆与谷开来涉案
英国人尼尔·海伍德去年11月暴死重庆一酒店，因为尼尔·海伍德大连籍的中国妻子及两个幼儿，还有在英国的母亲和姐姐，均接受"饮酒过度"、"心脏病猝死"的结论，此事影响甚小。估计有丰厚的补偿令她们封口，至今酒店地址仍旧被封锁。
王立军2月6日逃馆，8日消息公开，虽有"薄熙来妻子谷开来被抓"的传闻，但是一直属于风传性质。
直到3月15日《中共中央办公厅王立军事件通报》下达，首次有了证实："今年1月28日，王立军找薄熙来同志通报有关重要案件与薄的家人有关，由于办案人员为此感到了压力，已经接到辞职信，希望薄熙来同志予以重视，妥善处理。薄熙来同志对此十分不满，随后找市政府、市纪委、市委组织部主要负责同志商量，以多岗位全面锻炼为由，提出调整王立军工作。"《通报》认定王立军严重的涉外案件与薄熙来和其家人有关："2月2日，市委有关负责同志到市公安局宣布王立军不再担任党委书记和局长职务后，在薄熙来同志家人和身边工作人员的压力下，有关方面以各种名义违规审查王立军身边工作人员及有关重要案件的办案人员。王立军认为自己人身安全受到威胁，遂决定出走，并于6日下午在事先未按程序报批的情况下，独自进入美国驻成都总领事馆。"
《通报》披露"2月8日，国家安全部将王立军带到北京接受调查。2月9日上午，胡锦涛总书记主持召开中央政治局常委会议，听取有关情况汇报，并就事件调查处理工作做出部署。""2月9日下午，中央有关领导同志向薄熙来同志电话传达了中央政治局常委会议的有关精神，并提出了相关工作要求。"
从以上内容分析，薄熙来夫人谷开来于2月9日之后被中央来人带走，甚至刑拘都在情理之中。对正在哈佛读研的薄瓜瓜采取行动配合调查也属于正常法律程序。
当"007"也进入"入常杀局"
3月9日薄熙来在重庆团开放日对有人给重庆市和他本人及家人"泼赃水"表示"非常气愤"，大动感情，情有可原，毕竟一个权倾一方的权贵家庭一朝破碎，花甲之年成为孤家寡人。他说："甚至说到我儿子在外边学习，怎么开红色法拉利，一派胡言。我感到非常气愤。我和我夫人也没有任何个人资产。几十年就是这样下来了。我夫人本来是司法部很早以前认可的律师，在大连期间办律师所就搞得很成功。就是担心会不会有人给我们造谣说我们通过律师所挣点钱，就把她的几个分所一遭全关掉了。那是20年前的事。现在几乎在家里边给我做一些家务。对她做出的这种牺牲，我很感动的。有人说我的儿子上名校，牛津、哈佛，那些学费哪来的？全额奖学金，我得说清楚。"
薄熙来的这番话很快便被证明是经不住验证的。是他借人民代表的席位为家庭，为妻子、为儿子做了不真实的辩护，犯了中共权贵的通病，当众撒谎。
周一的《华尔街日报》报道：数名知情人士在接受采访时说，王立军称，他曾向薄熙来表示自己认为海伍德是被毒死的，之后就与薄熙来闹翻了。据其中一名知情人士说，王立军还说，薄熙来的夫人谷开来卷入了与海伍德的一起商业纠纷。
周二《华尔街日报》继续报道：牵涉中国当前最大的政治丑闻的那个在重庆神秘死亡的英国人在过去的20年里，时常为英国一家由军情六处退休人员创办的商业战略情报公司Hakluyt提供咨询。并且从北京的英国人圈子获知此人 "滴酒不沾"。
英国卫报深挖出海伍德帮助薄熙来夫妇把儿子送进哈罗公学和牛津大学。法广报道："薄熙来妻子所执掌的北京昂道律师事务所，长期在外资企业的审批、并购、融资等方面拥有大量客户。在华英国商务圈子熟悉海伍德的人，将其描述为，与薄熙来家族关系密切，经常引见并安排相关商务机会。"
更多西方报纸挖掘薄熙来所说的薄瓜瓜的"英国全额奖学金"，配以照片证明"这种说法跟这些学校的记录不符，也跟薄瓜瓜的奢侈生活方式不符。他的奢侈生活方式包括为朋友购买成箱成箱的香槟酒，用飞机运送少林寺的和尚到牛津大学的一次派对上表演武术，安排电影明星成龙举办一次讲演。"
中国的《21世纪经济报道》报道26日上午，英国外交部新闻办公室发言人向该报确认，英国政府最近已向中国提出重启调查海伍德死因的要求。
海伍德在华的生活也被揭示出来，穿着考究，在多个公开场合十分高调地驾驶着一台阿斯顿·马丁跑车。2011年11月1日尼尔·海伍德参加了由胡润公司所组织的"生活奥斯卡"活动。据公开报道，该活动由音乐、美酒、价值连城的拍卖会所组成。在出席该活动后的同月，海伍德即被发现死于重庆。但是中国传媒一律回避了海伍德的死因。
行事低调的总部设在伦敦的Hakluyt发言人表示：海伍德在重庆并不是在做Hakluyt的项目，他拒绝透露海伍德从何时开始成为该公司顾问、是否到死之前都与该公司保持商业关系。
当"007"进入薄熙来的"入常杀局"，这部现代大片则平添了莎剧《麦克白》的阴郁与恐怖。
薄熙来政治生命因谷开来而终
王立军逃馆事件发生之前，谷开来涉嫌海伍德命案一直被隐藏，薄熙来仍旧是十八大入常最有力的竞争者之一，根本没有出局迹象。去年年底所传周强接手重庆，也是薄熙来入常，周强入局的合理安排。"薄谷王"事件是中共高层暴露出的最大丑闻，仅用路线斗争根本解释不通，只能解政敌之间的一时之怨气。
中共政权六四之后，依靠暴力维稳，能够平稳经历了四届党代会，但是邓小平单纯经济发展的路线，阻止不了腐败的暴虐式发展、阻止不了政府与人民的对立、也阻止不了贫富两极的分化，重庆事变正是这条路线危机的总爆发。
值得提一下的是，西方传媒对重庆事变的报道，有两个高潮，一个是习近平出访，一个是胡锦涛出访，如用"阴谋论"，"西化、分化论"遮丑，根本不能令国人心服口服，不如解释为"好雨知时节，当春乃发生"。
谷开来与王立军事件真相揭示，定会令世人吃惊，这两个人必将受到法律严惩。作为一位有抱负的中共强势领导人薄熙来，因包庇亲属和部下犯罪，亲自干预司法，阻挠办案，从而结束自己的政治生命，也难逃恢恢法网。这种教训，不是他个人的，而是一党专政体制的。中共每一位大佬，其实都有如此宿命。

涉及两岸数百人 赖昌星世纪大案开审

(博讯北京时间2012年3月30日 转载)    (联合新闻网) 被称为中共建政后最大经济犯罪案件的厦门远华桉主嫌赖昌星，将于今天在厦门中院出庭受审，这是去年七月赖昌星自加拿大引渡回大陆后，首度受审。赖昌星桉涉及两岸三地官员、艺人、情报部门数百人，被中共官方媒体称为「世纪大案」。
   
     赖昌星被中共起诉的理由是涉嫌走私、行贿犯罪。涉及走私金额据中共官方媒体的统计数字为二百五十亿元人民币，而且涉及了中共中央及地方众多官员、厦门市和福建省许多经济案件。 (博讯 boxun.com)
     赖昌星于去年七月廿三日被押回到大陆后，一直被关押在厦门市第二看守所，厦门司法检察系统官员展示出「惊人效率」-于去年十二月底，官方便宣布，该案已经侦结。比其他任何大案要案都快，可见中共希望这个桉件尽快结束。
   
     与其他案件不同的是，此案几乎在大陆学界、官方、民间舆论上达成一致判断：今年五十四岁的赖昌星号称「新中国第一经济大桉」的主犯，但最多被判处无期徒刑，绝不会被判死刑。
   
     据悉，在赖昌星被关押在厦门期间，加拿大外交官定期以领事身份探视赖昌星。一名加拿大官员近日表示，称中共官方坚守了不施予死刑，免受虐待等不公正待遇，允许加国官员定期探视的承诺。
   
     中共官方媒体放出消息：经查证，一九九六年至一九九九年，赖昌星走私犯罪集团在厦门关区大肆走私香烟、汽车、成品油、植物油、化工原料、各种设备及其他货物，赖昌星本人或指使、授意他人向数十名国家工作人员行贿，涉桉金额巨大。报导称，赖昌星本人及其他的犯罪集团骨干成员对涉嫌走私行贿犯罪事实供认不讳。
   
     而此案的唯一变数是，赖桉在审查期间是否会还牵出中共重量级人物？
   
     据悉，赖昌星出事时，福建省省长是陈明义。
   
     而根据中共官方资料贾庆林的简历称：一九九一至一九九三年曾任福建省长、一九九三至一九九四年福建省委书记、省长；一九九四至一九九六年福建省委书记、省人大常委会主任。而贾妻林幼芳，则在这段期间任福建省外贸团体党委书记，赖昌星的「远华」公司是当时福建省最大的外贸公司。

多个被封网站部分解禁 四常委名字新浪微博被禁搜索

(博讯北京时间2012年3月30日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-29报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    继中共前领导人赵紫阳以及“六四”事件在互联网上被解禁之后，又有其他被封锁的国际网站纷纷被部分解禁。
   
    根据网民反馈的信息，解禁程度与地区以及网络服务商有关。一位上海长城宽带用户表示使用Https的加密连接可以顺利访问脸书，可以正常浏览Youtube,但无法读取视频内容。
   
    一位福州电信用户则反馈脸书可以顺利登入，其余网站如推特、Youtube则无法登入。连向来网络管理更森严的北京市网民也可以浏览Youtube。
    不过，在新浪微博上，中共中央九常委中的四人胡锦涛、贾庆林、李克强和周永康的名字被禁止搜索。

薄熙來重慶勢力將肅清

要聞組綜合28日電 世界新聞網 北美華文新聞、華商資訊

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重慶的官方消息稱徐松南任中共重慶市委委員、常委，而陳存根不再擔任中共重慶市委常委職務。圖為徐松南(左)和陳存根(右)。 (中新社)

日本媒體28日報導，已被解職的重慶市委書記薄熙來目前面臨貪污和瀆職等罪名的指控，正在接受中共紀檢部門的調查，儘管結論還未作出，但薄熙來的妻子及親信已相繼以各種罪名被關押，中共中央似乎為了徹底消除薄熙來勢力開始了一系列「肅反」行動，肅反的高潮將出現在今年5月的重慶市黨代會上。 日本「產經新聞」報導，來自中共內部的消息人士說，經營律師事務所的原中共重慶市市委書記薄熙來的妻子谷開來，與薄氏在同一時期被中共中央紀檢部「雙規」。如果對薄熙來的指控成立，薄熙來的中央政治局委員資格可能在今年秋季中共18大召開前的第七次中央全會上被剝奪。
「王立軍事件」發生後尤其薄熙來被免職以來，重慶的領導班子已有多次調整。先是中共中央政治局委員、副總理張德江空降重慶接替了薄熙來，又有甘肅省委常委、公安廳長何挺接替王立軍。
而親近薄熙來的重慶市人大主任、市委常委、組織部長陳存根26日被解除該市黨委會常委資格，和重慶市黨組織部長，相信不久就會被解除人大主任一職。他的解職標誌著薄氏一派失去了對重慶人事安排的的控制權。而接替陳存根的徐松南則是跟重慶一點關係都沒有的、來自寧夏回族自治區的官員。
另據新加坡「聯合早報」報導，新任重慶市公安局局長何挺已正式接替關海祥出任重慶市公安局黨委書記，標誌著重慶公安系統順利完成第一把手的過渡交接。而在任不足50天的關海祥則成為中國直轄市公安局任期最短的黨委書記，但他隨即在28日以中共重慶市委統戰部常務副部長名義，出席九三學社重慶市江北區工作委員會成立大會。關海祥今年2月中突被委以重慶市公安局黨委書記之職，現在看來當時只是權宜做法。
報導說，中國地方大員人治特徵仍較明顯，因此薄熙來被免職後，新上任的領導人撤換前任班底的骨幹幹部，實屬意料中事，重慶市委領導班子的連鎖震盪反應應會持續發生，估計今年5月的重慶黨代會之後，重慶市委新領導班子中大約有半數將換成新面孔。
報導說，重慶38個區縣主要領導、公安系統等政府機關單位近期也將大換血，重慶官場誠惶誠恐、如坐針氈。傳聞重慶打黑的主要執行者、與薄熙來妻子谷開來過從甚密的重慶南岸區委書記夏澤良，早在21日就已被有關部門帶走協助調查。薄熙來的心腹、重慶市黨委副秘書長吳文康也在該市所有重要會議上消失，相信早已被關押。

Read more: 世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 - 薄熙來重慶勢力將肅清

Election Commission Vows Fair Vote

2012-03-28

Aung San Suu Kyi will likely win a seat in Burma’s upcoming by-election, but how fairly will it be conducted?

AFP

Election commission chairman Tin Aye (r) with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi (c) and National League for Democracy member Tin Oo (l) in Naypyidaw, Dec. 23, 2011.

As Burma gears up for weekend elections, the head of the national election commission vowed Wednesday to conduct the polls in a transparent manner according to the law, but analysts are unclear as to how far the panel will go to ensure a free and fair election.

“What I can do for my part is ensure the election law is strictly followed,” Tin Aye, head of the Union Election Commission, told reporters Wednesday in the country’s capital Naypyidaw.

“After the election, if [the parties] have filed complaints, we can have a tribunal to take action on irregularities,” he said.

The April 1 vote, in which pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is running for a seat in parliament for the first time since her party was blocked from taking power after winning 1990 elections, is being watched closely by foreign governments who are considering pulling back long-running sanctions.

The by-elections for 45 seats are considered a key test of the government’s commitment to recent reforms begun last year after a nominally civilian government took power following November 2010 elections that were dismissed as a sham.

Aung San Suu Kyi is widely expected to win a seat in parliament in the vote, which could bring legitimacy to President Thein Sein’s military-backed government as it allows the Nobel laureate to participate in active politics after living under house arrest for over a decade.

But Kelley Currie, a senior fellow at the Project 2049 Institute think tank in Washington, said the elections should not be judged by whether or not Aung San Suu Kyi is able to win, but how fairly they are carried out.

“They are going to let her win her constituency.  It’s what happens down the ballot with other constituencies that needs to be focused on,” she told RFA.

She said the election commission has not done all it could to address concerns about the fairness of the vote.

 “They have said that they are going to ensure a free and fair election, but they haven’t acted to do anything about a lot of these problems.”

NLD complaints

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, the main opposition party which is challenging the ruling military-backed party in 44 of the 45 parliamentary seats up for grabs, has complained of unfair obstacles in its campaign, including difficulty securing venues and a slingshot attack on one of their candidates earlier this month.

Regarding the attack, Tin Aye said, “The election commission’s role is to supervise the election, not to handle these issues. The parties concerned should report such incidents to the police.”

“This kind of thing happens not only to the NLD, it happens to all parties,” he said.

The NLD has also complained of procedural irregularities, including inaccurate voter lists containing names of dead people.

 “It’s unclear what the election commission has done … to ensure that what they have right now is an accurate complete voter roll for the 48 constituencies,” she said.

“In a by-election, when you’re only talking about 48 constituencies, it should not be difficult to deal with challenges to a voter list.”

But the biggest irregularity in the run-up to the vote has been the use of state resources to support campaigns for the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the military-backed party that will still dominate the remaining seats in parliament even if the NLD wins all those it is contesting, Currie said.

“The biggest problem is the use of state resources by the ruling party and the government to influence the election,” such as by intimidating voters, Currie said.

Between lack of attention to the complaints raised and state attention focused on the USDP, there has been “a very questionable pre-election climate where the ruling party is using every possible thing that it has to its advantage,” she said. 

Observers

In a bid to gain international legitimacy, Burma will be welcoming international observers to the vote for the first time since rejecting them in the 2010 election and the 1990 election in which the NLD won by a landslide but was prevented from taking office.

There will be 159 international observers monitoring the vote, with Japan and Canada the latest countries added to the list Wednesday.

The invitation for international observers was announced last week, and the observers were asked to arrive four days before the vote, sparking concern that observers will not have enough time or preparation to assess the credibility of the election.

After the announcement, one E.U. official said that usually six months are needed to prepare an observation mission.

“The situation for journalists and international observers has been very last-minute and limited,” Currie said.

“When the by-elections were announced … one of the things the commission should have done was make sure there were guidelines in place for domestic and international observers, and but it’s not clear that they have a set procedure that’s transparent, with due process, [and] right of appeal to another authority."

"It’s very unclear that those things are happening,” she said.

Media
The national election commission has also promised that journalists will be allowed to cover the vote freely, issuing regulations to that effect on Wednesday.

Tin Aye said, “Reporters can cover the event freely, as we have said, but they have to follow the rules and regulations laid out by the commission.”

The regulations stipulate that reporters may not disturb voters within 500 yards (460 meters) of the polling booths and that only authorized personnel, which does not include journalists, will be allowed inside the booths, in order to ensure voter privacy.

Burma’s censorship chief, Tint Swe, also gave assurances that media will be able to cover the event freely.

“Regarding by-elections, I can at least say that for the print media there will be no restrictions at all.  Nor are there orders or restrictions issued,” he told RFA’s Burmese service.

He said 400 domestic and 100 foreign journalists had been credentialed to cover the polls.

“All journalists can freely go and watch at all 45 constituencies, besides the three constituencies in which the vote is cancelled.”

Polling has been postponed in three constituencies in Kachin state in the north of Burma, where fighting with the ethnic Kachin Independence Army has escalated since the beginning of the year.

Triple count

Meanwhile, the election commission is gearing up to process and count the votes on Sunday.

Tin Aye vowed the election commission would ensure an accurate count, but emphasized that the logistics could be time-consuming.

“We don’t need to issue the results fast; the key is to get them right,” he said.

The commission has promised to have the results within one week.

Tin Aye said that counting the votes would be a time-consuming process because each voter will be submitting separate ballots for representatives in the upper house, lower house, and regional assemblies.

Voters will have to line up separately for each vote.

“It’s like holding the election three times,” he said. “A polling booth handling 3,000 voters will have to deal with 9,000 votes.”

“When the accounting process comes, it will be the same. We will have to count the votes for three separate cases,” he said.

Reported by Khin Maung Soe and Kyaw Kyaw Aung for RFA’s Burmese service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane and Win Naing. Written in English with additional reporting by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Jiangsu Eviction Activists 'Disappear'

2012-03-29

Chinese authorities detain victims of land grabs in eastern China petitioning in Beijing.

Courtesy of a Tongan resident

Villagers confront police in Tongan township, Suzhou, in an undated photo obtained July 2010.

Three activists from the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu who were campaigning for compensation following their forced eviction from their land and homes have "disappeared,"  Sichuan-based website reported.

Xia Kunxiang, Mao Jianzhong and Gu Xingzhen detained by officials from their hometown of Suzhou, Jiangsu, after they joined a group of 12 activists who traveled to Beijing to petition the central government over evictions and land grabs in Tongan township.

"They went to Beijing to petition, and they were brought back by Suzhou officials in charge of petitioners on March 6," fellow petitioner Yu Genyuan told RFA's Mandarin service. "They haven't returned home yet."

The dispute sparked a standoff between villagers and police in July 2010.

"I don't know where they are," Yu added. "At the time there were about 12 of us who were brought back here, and the others have all gradually been released."

"There are three people still locked up inside that black jail," he said.

He said some petitioners from Tongan had been held in such unofficial detention centers for those who complain against the government for as long as 300 days.

Calls to the Huqiu district government in Suzhou, Jiangsu, and the Tongan township government offices went unanswered during office hours on Wednesday.
Petitioners
China’s army of petitioners say they are repeatedly stonewalled, detained in “black jails,” beaten, and harassed by authorities if they try to take complaints against local government actions to higher levels of government.

Many have been trying to win redress for alleged cases of official wrongdoing—including forced evictions, beatings in custody, and corruption linked to lucrative land sales—for decades.

Activists say this year's crackdown around the annual parliamentary sessions earlier this month was stricter than in previous years, as the authorities seek to curb public displays of discontent ahead of a key leadership transition at the highest ranks of the ruling Communist Party.

Rights groups have also warned of the growing use of extrajudical detention by Chinese police and officials, with central government earmarking more funds for domestic security than for defense last year.

In a report issued earlier this month, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group said it had documented 3,833 incidences of individuals arbitrarily detained for their work in defense of human rights and 159 incidences of torture during such detentions in 2011.

"Common abuses included beatings, being forced to remain in stress positions for long periods of time, sleep deprivation, and denial of access to medical treatment," CHRD said.
Local officials
Sichuan-based rights activist Huang Qi, whose Tianwang website first reported the Jiangsu petitioners' "disappearance," said the authorities had punished a number of local officials in the wake of the Tongan clashes, but had continued their harassment of activists who sought redress.

"On the surface it seemed they had dealt with the matter, but they still haven't properly compensated local people for [the loss of their homes and land,]" Huang said. "So there are still a large number of people pursuing legal complaints through official channels."

"The authorities have subjected them to severe oppression, which in turn has hardened the popular mood and provoked a backlash among the local people," he said.

"They have been detaining them and locking them up, and relations between officials and local residents have got worse and worse."
Compensation
Tongan villagers have calculated that each household should have received compensation in the region of 40,000 yuan for their lost homes and farmland, according to current guidelines, and have accused local officials of embezzling it.

"The residential land, the farmland held in the responsibility system and the collective farmland have all been confiscated by them," Yu said.

"The Tongan township Party secretary was removed from his post, as was the [Huqiu] district Party secretary, but he is now working as a government official instead," he said.

"The issue of the the land lost by the entire population [of Tongan] hasn't been resolved," Yu added. "Nothing has changed."

Reported by Gao Shan for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Kirti Monk Self-Immolates, Dies

2012-03-28

A 20-year-old monk becomes the 31st Tibetan in China to self-immolate in protest against Beijing's rule.

AFP

A Tibetan monk outside the Kirti monastery in the Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, March 11, 2012.

A Tibetan monk from a restive monastery in China's Sichuan province set himself on fire and died Wednesday in protest against Chinese rule, exile sources said, quoting local contacts.

Twenty-year-old Lobsang Sherab shouted slogans to highlight Beijing's "discriminatory" policies on Tibetans as he self-immolated in Cha township in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, India-based exiled Tibetan monk Kanyag Tsering told RFA.    

"The self-immolation occurred at 7.10 p.m. along the main road in the township," he said. "The exact words he uttered as he burned were not immediately clear, but what was clear was that Sherab was protesting against the ruthless policies imposed by the Chinese authorities."

"He died on the spot," Tsering said. "The Tibetans who were in the area tried to take his body away, but the Chinese security forces intervened, prevented them from doing so, and took the body, much to the anger of the Tibetans."

"The Chinese security forces also ordered shops at the township to close following the self-immolation, apparently as a precautionary move," Tsering said.

Kirti

Sherab was from the Kirti monastery in Ngaba, from which hundreds of monks were taken away by Chinese security forces after a monk from the institution self-immolated in March last year, triggering an unstoppable wave of burning protests.

"Sherab went back to his Raruwa village in Ngaba county two days earlier" apparently to prepare himself for the self-immolation, Tsering said.

Sherab, who left behind his parents and three siblings, is the 31st Tibetan to self-immolate since 2009 as Tibetans stepped up their protests against Beijing's rule and called for the return of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

The protests resulted in a Chinese security clampdown in Sichuan and the other Tibetan-populated provinces of Qinghai and Ganzi, as well as in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Sherab, whose father's name was Sodon and mother's name was Nyima, first joined the Genden Tenpel Ling monastery, a small institution with 31 monks, when he was nine years old before graduating to the mammoth Kirti monastery.

Fatal

Meanwhile, a Tibetan died on Wednesday two days after setting himself on fire in India—the second fatal self-immolation protest by a Tibetan living outside China.

"We do recognize that his sacrifice will help in boosting the morale of other Tibetans and contribute in repelling the dark clouds of Chinese occupation over Tibet,” said Dhondup Lhadar, the vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress

The group said a grand funeral "deserving of a martyr" is being planned for Jamphel Yeshi in the Tibetan exiled community's headquarters of Dharamsala, the northern Indian hilltown where Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in living in exile.

“We have decided to take his body to Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan exile government. All the necessary approval was obtained from the authorities for us to move his body, and we are making all the necessary arrangements,” Lhadar said.

Jamphel Yeshi poured fuel over himself, set himself ablaze, and ran screaming down a road engulfed in flames in India's capital New Delhi on Monday in protest against a visit to India by China's President Hu Jintao.

Hu is in New Delhi for the BRICS summit that includes India, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.

Photos showing Yeshi running in flames past other protesters have been carried by newspapers and websites across the world, and Tibetans in the Indian capital have vowed to step up protests and highlight the Tibetan cause during the summit on Thursday.

Another Tibetan, Thupten Ngodup, had self-immolated and died in India in 1998.

Yeshi lived in the Majnu Ka Tila refugee enclave in the north of the city, where thousands of Tibetan exiles have been based for decades after fleeing from China.

Call

The wave of self-immolations had prompted a call recently from well-known Tibetan blogger Woeser and senior Tibetan religious leader Arjia Rinpoche to end the fiery protests, saying that Tibetans opposed to Chinese rule should instead "stay alive to struggle and push forward" their goals.

Lobsang Sangay, the head of Tibet's exile government in Dharamsala, said that while he strongly discouraged self-immolations, the "fault lies squarely with the hardline leaders in Beijing."

He accused Beijing of attempting over the last half-century "to annihilate the Tibetan people and its culture."

The Chinese government however blamed the Dalai Lama for the self-immolations, accusing the 76-year-old Buddhist leader and his followers of plotting to create "turmoil" in Tibetan-inhabited areas.

Reported by Yangdon Demo and Ugyen Tenzin. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

重庆人事地震未了 黄奇帆博鳌缺席

(博讯北京时间2012年3月29日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-29报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    原订参加博鳌亚洲论坛的重庆市市长黄奇帆，已从官网名单中消失。中共重庆市公安局党委书记也再传换人，原书记关海祥调任市委统战部副部长。
   
    今年2月王立军事件发生后，关海祥由重庆市江津区委书记调任重庆市公安局党委书记。近日，重庆市公安局党委书记的职务由副市长、公安局长何挺兼任。
   
    除了重庆公安局党委书记人事变动外，中共重庆市组织部部长也在最近改由徐松南担任。
   
    本文来源：自由亚洲电台

宋永毅评薄案即红卫兵内斗

(博讯北京时间2012年3月30日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-29报导
   
    目前在美国加州州立大学任职，中国文革史学者宋永毅，把薄熙来被免职一案视为 “红卫兵内斗”的闹剧。宋永毅根据薄熙来在文革期间策动“红海洋”等事件，和近几年在重庆高调唱红打黑，展现出多年未变的政治性格，最终把自己推向倒台之境。
   
    图片：宋永毅在洛接受本台访问,指薄熙来犯中共”抢班夺权”之大忌 (记者萧融拍摄)
    
    旅美中国文革史专家宋永毅，在洛杉矶接受本台访问，引述马克思说过的话，视薄熙来遭免职事件为中共党内一场闹剧。
   
    宋永毅表示：“广义来说，现在中共在位政治局委员都是红卫兵，胡锦涛和温家宝是‘大学红卫兵'，薄熙来和习近平那批人是‘中学红卫兵'，李克强是红小兵，所以，现在中共是由红卫兵掌权。我把薄熙来的悲剧定位成红卫兵内斗，用马克思说的话即是‘革命事件第一次在历史上出现时，常常是悲剧;当悲剧第二次被模仿和重复时，常常是闹剧，在薄熙来身上，这闹剧成份非常清楚。”最近几年，薄熙来在重庆高调唱红，强力打黑，宋永毅说，薄熙来旗帜鲜明的极左路线可追溯到文革期间，他还是一名高中红卫兵当时的诸多作为。
   
    宋永毅指出：“文革初期有一批高干子女创立了红卫兵，他们当时有两个‘杀手锏'，其中之一是高喊‘老子英雄儿好汉，老子反动儿混蛋，老子打江山，我们要坐江山'，换言之，这些高干子女想要掌权。当年薄熙来在北京四中积极参加红卫兵活动，高唱所谓 ‘毛泽东主义'和造反精神，这就是唱红。当时有所谓‘红海洋'，他们上街张贴毛泽东像，戴起红袖章，把北京城搞得像红色海洋一样，这就是薄熙来等人搞出来的事。”
   
    宋永毅再以薄熙来与同学之间真实发生的故事，突显薄熙来数十年来政治性格并无改变。宋永毅说：“我认识一个薄熙来的同学，这人后来毕业自美国耶鲁大学，这位同学出身并非资产阶级，而是出身党员干部家庭。当年他俩是同校学习，也是薄熙来提倡‘老子反动儿混蛋'血统论之时。薄熙来曾经当众打了这位同学两耳光，指他是‘狗崽子'，可是，薄熙来明明知道他出身是好的，为何又要打他骂他呢?那是因为薄熙来要建立一个专政的红色恐怖，就像后来在重庆打黑一样，当年薄熙来打人两耳光，不是为了‘打黑'，而是‘黑打'，他明知这位同学不是黑五类子女。

    今日在重庆也是一样，他在那里不是打黑，是黑打!我为薄熙来感到悲哀，他几十年来没有进步。”
   
    当外界普遍认为薄熙来被免职，是为他的极左作风，但宋永毅有不同见解。宋永毅表示：“我并不认为薄熙来的‘左'是导致倒台最主要因素，他之所以倒台和1966年12月老红卫兵倒台一样，就是挟持中央抢班夺权。当年老红卫兵以为已得到毛泽东支持，就想借着唱红打黑挟持中央，结果把毛泽东惹火了，不再用中学红卫兵，把他们全数打成反革命。 ”
   
    宋永毅分析，薄熙来高捧毛思想并大声唱红，令熟悉文革历史，已知他父亲薄一波与毛泽东宿有积怨的一代人深感矛盾和讽刺。此外，薄熙来对权位的意图高调外显，都是走到今日境地主要原因。
   
    宋永毅说：“首先，薄熙来近年在重庆表现出文革时期的行动模式，是对第一次悲剧性革命事件闹剧性的重复。第二，他的问题不在于 ‘左'，而是自以为自己的革命干劲可以挟持他其实撼动不了的中央，这一点和老红卫兵当年犯了相同错误，自以为可以挟持毛泽东。最后一个问题即是红卫兵内斗，薄熙来野心之大，想成为‘薄泽东'，想要一人专政，甚至想把习近平搞掉，最后被搞掉的人当然是自己!”
   
    本文来源：自由亚洲电台

大陆有组织的网络诈骗已延伸到北美

(博讯北京时间2012年3月29日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-28报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    几位加拿大公民接连受到来自中国大陆的网络诈骗，有知情者认为，中国大陆的网络诈骗已经形成有组织犯罪活动，并已经延伸到北美。
   
    居住在加拿大多伦多的董先生告诉记者，几天前，一位在德国的朋友向他核实，是否需要一大笔钱，是否前一天夜里要求他立即向中国大陆的一个账户汇款。他听后莫名其妙。对方将前一天夜里两人的QQ对话记录发过来。董先生才意识到，有人登录他的QQ账户，向他在德国的朋友诈骗：“有人冒充我，在QQ上跟我在德国的一个朋友要钱。我也不知道，这个人怎么能把我的QQ密码弄到，跟人家骗十六万人民币。这事太无耻了。”
    
    他说，登录他QQ的人，不仅知道如何联系他的朋友，甚至知道一些自己生活的具体安排：“我就不知道他究竟用什么手段能掌握我和我的朋友平时聊天的那种口气来蒙骗我的朋友。他居然让我德国的朋友把钱汇到中国去，而且他知道我现在一些非常具体详细的信息。”
    
    居住在多伦多的边先生也刚刚遇到类似的诈骗行为：“有一天我和北京公司的员工聊天，我自己开了视频。聊完天后我就下线了。我下线之后十多分钟，我的QQ号就又上线了，向公司的经理要求汇款。公司经理说，刚才你都没有说，十多分钟前。什么事呀，我们都很忙。公司经理还挺不耐烦的。这时候，我的QQ号码要求公司经理视频。公司经理肯定要跟老板视频的嘛，很无奈打开视频了。看见我在视频里面很生气的样子：我安排你工作，怎么不去呢？赶紧汇款去呀。”
    
    边先生介绍说，自己平时是一位行事谨慎的人，出门也很注意照看好自己的财务。没有想到，被网络诈骗盯上了：“这时经理就认为是真的了，马上从财务支了钱，就要汇款去。虽然这事后来没有得逞。我真的不知道什么原因进入我的电脑，什么原因进入我的QQ。”
    
    抵达加拿大不到一年的梁咏春，是电脑网络专家。他介绍说，事实上，网络诈骗行为在中国已经形成有组织犯罪活动，由于北美地区人士对此缺乏警惕，因此，此类犯罪活动显然已经将触角伸到了北美：“这其实证明了在北美的华人对于电脑安全防范知识的缺乏和安全意识的缺乏。其实黑客这个东西在目前的中国大陆已经形成了一个完整的产业链，已经从以前那种散兵游勇式的个人行为，已经发展成为高度密集型，分工有序的有组织犯罪。”
    
    梁先生警告加拿大华人要注意防范，避免成为网络诈骗的牺牲品：“像‘灰鸽子’呀、‘肉鸡’呀、‘木马’呀这些专业的词语，在中国已经为很多人所知道，和成为受害者。而在北美，很多华人对此还是鲜有寡闻。其实，像刚才那两位先生碰到的事情，就是很典型的，国内的黑客那种有组织犯罪的操作。”

Behind the Scenes of a Rebellion

2012-03-28

A new film documents the efforts of southern Chinese villagers to rid their local government of corruption.

RFA

A Wukan villager scolds the camera in a YouTube screengrab from the film 'Three Days in Wukan.'

Guangzhou-based documentary maker Ai Xiaoming on Wednesday released a full-length film about the struggle by villagers in the rebel Guangdong village of Wukan to remove their local village chief amid allegations of decades of graft and illegal land sales.

Ai said she had made "Three Days in Wukan," a chronicle of three crucial days in the villagers' attempts to have their demands met, out of a sense of "shame."

"We thought, all those foreigners are getting in [to Wukan], we would be ashamed if we didn't even go there when we are already right here in Guangzhou," Ai said in an interview on Wednesday.

The film shows how Ai managed to evade armed police roadblocks encircling Wukan on Dec. 19 last year and gain entrance to a village that considered itself under siege.

Her camera captures the first reactions of Xue Jinwan, daughter of Xue Jinbo who died while in police custody earlier in December, after she was permitted to see his body but not allowed to take photographs.

"My father's body had already begun to stink, so I can't see how the time of death could have been correct," she tells Ai.

Ai follows nervous and angry villagers through a dark maze of alleyways festooned with defiant banners and crisscrossed only by scooters to interview the key members of the "temporary committee" at the heart of Wukan's rebellion.

One Wukan villager points accusingly at the camera, mistaking the film crew for journalists from Guangzhou's Nanfang Daily.

"I am going to scold you Nanfang journalists," said the man, the father of detained protester Zhuang Liehong.

"You don't work for the people; you work for corrupt officials, and you are cheating the people," he said.

Citizen video

Ai's footage is supplemented by cellphone video provided by the villagers themselves, detailing their trips to nearby Lufeng city to protest the sale of their land by local officials.

It records long-running strategic meetings in activists' smoke-filled living rooms, against an ever present background of hardline rhetoric from Party officials on the local satellite channel.

It reveals how villagers believed themselves to be under a very real threat of an armed crackdown by police and military forces, and how they planned carefully to avoid such an outcome.

"If we run into armed forces we will sit down," former protest leader Lin Zuluan tells reporters on the eve of a major demonstration.

"We will stage a silent sit-in lasting one hour and then we will regroup and return to the village, so as to avoid tangling with the army or the police, and to avoid bloodshed," said Lin who was recently elected as Wukan's new Party secretary following a direct ballot earlier this month.

The film also reveals the depth of social cohesion during those days in Wukan, where a population of more than 10,000 shares just a few dozen surnames.

Youth groups compose a special rock ballad in honor of their homeland, roaring off in leather jackets on groups of motorbikes and scooters to reinforce the barricades protecting their village.

Another swiftly formed group mobilizes the village's women, with shouts of "We are [powerful]" at a female-only rally.

Reporter presence

While police roadblocks often prevented journalists from slipping through the net and entering the village, a surprising number appear to have made it, many of them from Hong Kong.

In the film, they take up lodgings, paying villagers to house them, rather than advertising their presence on nationwide security networks by registering at a hotel.

They buy their own food, and the villagers cook it for them.

Chinese reporters are also present at the news conferences held by the leaders of the rebellion, with one chain-smoking reporter from Beijing confessing to dashing past a roadblock on a motorbike in order to make it to the village.

"This story is pretty strange," he confesses. "Not many domestic media are covering it ... and they are mostly using official copy from Xinhua."

"But my bosses said I could go, so I came."

Ai has faced repercussions ever since she returned from Wukan with her candid and highly atmospheric footage.

"The security officers from my university have been pursuing me ... That's why I have turned off my cellphone," she said.

"They would come to my door and leave a note every day, right up until Lunar New Year, asking me not to make anything public online relating to the Wukan incident."

But for Ai, transparency is always better than confusion.

"Of course, as everyone can now see, things actually turned out rather well," she said. "I think the government underwent a change in its thinking, and that is very meaningful."

Reported by Xin Yu for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Dissident Gao Gets Rare Jail Visit

2012-03-27

A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer is seen by his family for the first time in two years.

AFP

Gao Zhisheng during an interview at his office in Beijing, Nov. 2, 2005.

The brother and father-in-law of Gao Zhisheng, one of China's highest-profile dissidents, have met him in jail in a remote Chinese region for the first time in two years, allaying concerns that he may have died.

Gao's wife, Geng He, said he received a visit from her father, Geng Yundi, and Gao's eldest brother, Gao Zhiyi, at the Shaya county prison in China's northwestern Xinjiang region on March 24.

“The meeting lasted half an hour. They spoke on the telephone through a glass window," Geng He, who is living in exile in the United States, told RFA's Mandarin service.

"He looked pale, probably because he had not been in the sun. He did not look bad; nor did he look well. Judging from the way he walked, he was okay. He did not seem to have lost or gained weight."

The prison meeting offered a ray of hope to Gao's family members as they were concerned about his safety after he had disappeared for lengthy periods and re-emerged to say he had been tortured.

Gao Zhiyi confirmed with RFA about his meeting with his brother but declined to provide details.

"I saw him. I saw him," he said. "I will talk to you more in a few days. It is not convenient to talk now."

Custody

Before the latest jail visit, Gao Zhiyi last saw his brother in April 2010 in the custody of public security officers.

When he traveled to the Shaya county jail after being informed in December 2011 that Gao was being held there, prison authorities told him that Gao was not allowed visitors and did not want to see his family.

Following the failed meeting, Geng He had expressed concern over her husband's life.

While she is glad that her father and brother-in-law managed to meet Gao three days ago, Geng He remains worried.

“My heart is heavy. Even though Gao Zhisheng has been visited by family, my heart is still heavy. I have many questions. Why was he sent to Xinjiang? What did he do? When will he be let go? So many questions are unanswered.”

She called for his immediate release.

"Gao Zhisheng did not do anything wrong. He should be freed immediately."

Fallen afoul

Once a prominent lawyer lauded by China's ruling Communist Party, Gao fell afoul of the government after he defended some of China's most vulnerable people, including Christians, coal miners, and followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.

In 2006, authorities arrested Gao and handed him a sentence for “inciting subversion” that was later suspended. But over the next five years, Gao repeatedly suffered forced disappearances and torture, Geng said.

In December, China’s official Xinhua news agency said in a terse announcement that Gao had been imprisoned for three years for repeatedly violating his terms of probation.

Geng He said her father managed to speak to Gao for about 10 minutes.

"He asked how my dad was, and how my elder and younger sisters were. He asked about my dad’s health," Geng He said.

"My dad said, ‘I am fine now that I’ve seen you.’ Gao Zhisheng wept upon hearing it. My dad asked if he needed money. Gao Zhisheng said yes but that they only allowed 600 yuan (U.S. $95) per month.

"So my dad left 600 yuan for him. Then Gao Zhisheng’s eldest brother spoke to him for 20 minutes. My dad was not able to say what they talked about. [Gao Zhisheng’s] eldest brother was weeping ... The police were present. But I don’t know how many ...."

Geng He said Gao Zhiyi told her that her husband "looked okay" but that the authorities had warned him not to say anything about the visit, otherwise he would not be allowed to visit him again.

Reported by Zhang Min for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated by Jennifer Chou. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

House Church Publications Raided

2012-03-28

China's underground Christians are 'feeling the pressure.'

RFA

A screenshot of the Kernel of Wheat magazine website.

Police in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu have raided two underground Protestant publications, detaining four people, a U.S.-based Christian rights group said Tuesday.
The raids were carried out Monday on the offices and warehouse of the Kernel of Wheat and A Foreign Land magazines in Wenzhou, the Texas-based ChinaAid said in a statement on its website.
"Four of the magazines' most important personnel were taken into police custody," it said. "There has been no further word about them."
The publications are part of China's growing house church movement, a community of Christians who meet in private homes because they cannot register for worship in larger spaces.
Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, who heads the Beijing-based Chinese House Church Alliance said he had also heard the news, but currently lacked details about the arrests.
"I heard ... yesterday that their publications had been searched," Zhang said. "There are a lot of house churches in the Wenzhou area, and I don't yet know which one [the detained people came from]."
"The political atmosphere is very tense right now and the house churches are feeling the pressure, too," he said.

Members of the unofficial Protestant house churches say they continue to be targeted by authorities with detentions, house arrest, and other forms of official harassment.
Hundreds of members of the Shouwang Protestant church have repeatedly been detained by police in Beijing for attending open-air prayer gatherings after the government blocked access to the church's own premises.
Large-scale gatherings for worship in other locations have met with similar harassment from the authorities.
Pastor detained
Earlier this week, authorities in the eastern province of Jiangsu detained a Protestant pastor after he was approached by a foreign journalist for an interview.
Zeng Zhengliang, pastor of the Zhongzhuangjia house church in Jianhu county, coastal Jiangsu province, and a member of the Chinese House Church Alliance, was taken away by Jianhu police on March 22, and was not released until Tuesday afternoon.
"A British journalist wanted to interview me, but my phone was being tapped by [police] and they took me away and wouldn't let me stay at home," Zeng said in an interview on Wednesday.
"[They told me that] if I didn't leave with them, they would take me to the place where they lock up petitioners," said Zeng, in a reference to one of China's network of unofficial detention centers known as "black jails."
"They took me to [the popular tourist destination of] Huangshan in Anhui province and a place near Hangzhou in Zhejiang province," he said. "We left on Thursday and I got back home on Monday afternoon."
An officer who answered the phone at the Zhongzhuangjia police station near Zeng's home declined to comment on the incident, although he didn't deny it.
"Zeng Zhengliang's at home, isn't he," the officer said. "As for him being taken somewhere on a trip, I don't know. You'll have to ask around."
"You'll have to ask our leaders," he said.
ChinaAid said it "strongly condemned" both police actions.
Unofficial worship
While leaders of China's unofficial churches, which overseas groups estimate as having some 40 million followers, say their activities have little to do with politics or human rights, raids on unofficial worship have been stepped up in a recent nationwide security clampdown.
Protestant worshipers in Sichuan have recently come under heavy pressure from local officials to register with China's official Protestant body, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.
House churches, which operate without official registration documents and without the involvement of the local religious affairs bureaus, come in for surveillance and repeated raids, especially in the more rural areas of the country, according to overseas rights groups.
Officially an atheist country, China nonetheless has an army of officials whose job is to watch over faith-based activities, which have spread rapidly in the wake of massive social change and economic uncertainty since economic reforms began 30 years ago.
Party officials are put in charge of Catholics, Buddhists, Taoists, Muslims, and Protestants. Judaism isn't recognized, and worship in nonrecognized temples, churches, or mosques is against the law.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

海伍德与薄熙来家关系密切 真实身分仍是个谜

请看博讯热点：王立军、薄熙来事件
(博讯北京时间2012年3月29日 转载)    (明报) 　在重庆离奇死亡的英国人海伍德（Neil Heywood）被爆曾为一家战略情报公司工作，该公司由英国前情报人员创办。海伍德近日成为窥探薄熙来下台内幕的重要线索，但其真实身分仍是个谜，与他扯上关系的公司均称与他无直接雇佣关系。在重庆为数不多的英国商人中，很多人也没听说过此人。
   
     《华尔街日报》报道，英国战略情报公司Hakluyt & Co.发言人说，海伍德生前曾为该公司提供咨询服务，但并非全职员工，也未提供任何有关重庆的咨询服务。Hakluyt & Co.由曾供职于英国军情六处（MI6）的人员创办。该发言人说，海伍德长期向西方公司提供中国相关的咨询服务，他们只是请海伍德提供建议的其中一间公司。 (博讯 boxun.com)
   
     　MI6人员创办公司否认雇佣
    
    　　Hakluyt行事低调，总部设于伦敦对畄基金云集的地区，官方网页除联系方式和公司标志外，没有其它信息。海伍德的前同事说，不清楚他去年11月死前在重庆到底做什么。也有人称海伍德是薄熙来家的「低级别办事员」，暗示他为薄家充当中间人，协助安排与商界人士会面，并就如何与外国人打交道给薄家提供建议。
   
    　《21世纪经济报道》报道，海伍德还是阿斯顿马丁（Aston Martin）跑车的兼职经销商，也是中国咨询公司华灵四方的非执行董事，但两家公司均指他不是全职员工。华灵四方的总裁沉伟称，与海伍德曾有合作意愿，海伍德本人建议挂职「非执行董事」，但并未为公司做过任何案子，「我们跟他只是存在一种松散的合作模式，他跟我们也没有劳动关系」。
   
     海伍德还最少参加过两次胡润公司组织的活动，包括去年的「中国高端人群洞察系列交流会」。当时他是以「阿斯顿马丁北京非执行董事」的身分，但据一名接近海伍德的在华英国人表示，这个头衔或被夸大。
   
     英国《每日电讯报》报道，海伍德在为数不多的重庆英国商人圈中同样神秘，甚至连阿斯顿马丁在重庆的经销商也不认识他。海伍德去年11月在重庆一家酒店的房内死亡，但重庆主要酒店都没有他的入住纪录，其死讯当时也未出现在任何当地媒体上。
   
     家人称心脏病死拒回应
   
    英国多个传媒引述消息人士称，海伍德能说流利普通话，终年41岁。他在英国的母亲与姊妹均称，他是死于心脏病，家人均拒绝进一步评论关于他的最新传闻。重庆官方称，海伍德死于摄入过量酒精。

胡润发布白皮书称中国九成亿万富豪拟送子女出国

(博讯北京时间2012年3月29日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-28报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    胡润研究院与兴业银行星期二联合发布《2012中国高净值人群消费需求白皮书》，显示目前中国个人资产在600万元以上的高净值人群达到270万人，旅游、养生保健、子女教育是他们最关注的服务内容。报告称，中国90%的亿万富翁都打算送子女出国留学。
   
    这份白皮书的问卷调查在中国29个城市的高净值人群中进行。调查显示，目前中国个人资产在600万元以上的高净值人群达270万人，平均年令39岁。亿万资产以上的高净值人群约6.35万人，平均年令41岁。白皮书显示，在高净值人群中，85%的人有计划送孩子出国，这一比例在亿万富豪中达到90%。
   
    白皮书称，中国高净值人群的主要消费需求集中在教育培训、旅游、收藏、公务机、私人医生等领域。该人群每人每年的赠礼花费约15万，手表和红酒是最常见的礼品。香港成为中国高净值人群购买奢侈品或高端消费品的绝对首选。白皮书中还提到，半数高净值人士有宗教信仰。

大陆司法不公四川两告官案均受阻

(博讯北京时间2012年3月29日 转载)   
    自由亚洲电台2012-03-28报导
     (博讯 boxun.com)
    四川省成都市有访民，分别就拆迁和非法拘留控告政府部门，但两起案件开审时，均遇到法院无理阻挠，令庭审无法在公平、公正下进行。（文宇晴报道）
   
    访民干兴艳不满地对本台表示，她控告双流县公安分局在去年非法拘留她的案件，已进入二审阶段，不过原定于周二在市中院开庭，结果在开庭前1天才通知她更改为县的法院举行。此外，闻讯陆续赶来支持的30多名访民，打算旁听也受阻，全被拒诸门外。法院内外也派出70多名警察进行戒备。
   
    她说︰“很多很多，至才有70、80人，穿制服和便衣的有很多，因为本来案件就是起诉公安局的。法院限制我们亲戚朋友的旁听，全部挡在法院的大门外。我提出异议，他说这是公开开庭，不存在这方面的问题。”
   
    另外在开庭时，干兴艳和代理人向法官提出的申请复议，和延期开审遭到拒绝，也多次在发言时被打断。干兴艳说，法庭里坐满了政府人员和维稳人员，由于合法的权利受到剥削，于是要求离庭，不过也同样遭到阻止。她一气之下冲出法庭。
   
    她说︰“前一段时间被他们打，现在还很晕，而且当时在很气忿的情况下没有反应。我当时要求延期审理，他们不同意；申请复议，他们也拒绝了，就连我们说话都打断。他们是限制我出去，后来我强行出去的。到现在笔录都没签字。”
   
    另一宗同样在周二开审的案件，也遭到法院多番阻挠无法成功开审。成都市锦江区访民李廷惠对记者表示，她和家人十人控告区政府及国土局拆迁赔偿一案，周二早上在高新区法院开庭审理。不过期间法院禁止代理人罗福元出庭，理由是无法核实他的身份。交涉一个上午无果下，法院在下午打算强行开庭时被李廷惠为代表的十名当事人拒绝。
   
    李廷惠说，为抗议法院的做法，她和家属以及声援的访民约20多人，在法院外举牌抗议。她说︰“把我们的代理人拉下去，不让他代理我们的案子，一天都没有开成。就是把我们拒诸门外，我们也报了案。举著牌子全体在抗议，法院剥夺我们十个人的代理人的权利。”
   
    李廷惠的侄女周女士也说，区内因拆迁或其他问题走上上访路的访民多不胜数，周三她和李廷惠就其中一名访民被非法关押的案件，到法院旁听。可是法院方面还是不作为。周女士说，目前法院没有通知李廷惠的案件何时再开庭，他们也相信还会遭到各方阻挠，让他们合理诉求无法尽快得到处理。不过他们不会气馁，还会继续上访，敦促当局公平和公开地处理他们事情。

Popular Tibetan Singer Detained

2012-03-26

The singer is taken into custody soon after he dedicates his songs to the Dalai Lama.

RFA

A Tibetan music concert on the sidelines of the Kalachakra Buddhist festival in India in January 2012.

Chinese authorities have detained a popular Tibetan singer after he released an album of songs dedicated to Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, sources said Monday.

The 25-year-old singer, Ugyen Tenzin, was detained last month soon after the release of his album titled, “An Unending Flow of My Heart’s Blood,” the sources said. Information flow has been severely restricted from troubled Tibetan-populated areas in recent months.
 
Unconfirmed reports said that Ugyen Tenzin has been beaten in custody and is disabled.

“He released the album about a month ago, and he was arrested soon after that,” said a source in New York who recently traveled to Tibet.

On the album, he had dedicated songs to the Dalai Lama as well as the third highest ranking Buddhist leader the Karmapa, and the Kalon Tripa, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

“It has thirteen songs, and some of songs are dedicated or in praise of the Dalai Lama, Karmapa, and [Kalon Tripa] Lobsang Sangay,” the source said.

Wave of protests

Ugyen Tenzin is from Sugma in Nangchen (in Chinese, Nangqian) county in Yulshul (Yushu) prefecture of China's northwestern Qinghai province, among three key Tibetan-populated provinces where tensions have risen in recent months following a wave of protests challenging Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.

There have been 30 Tibetan self-immolations in protest against Beijing's rule in the Tibetan-populated areas of Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai, triggering ramped-up security across the areas as well as in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Another Tibetan, Duldak Nyima, who is originally from the same county and now lives in New York, said that he heard from a friend back home that Ugyen Tenzin had been arrested because of the album.

“A friend of mine received the letter from Tibet few days ago, stating the singer was arrested. I believe the arrest was connected to the release of the album.”

“Before the release of the album, [other Tibetans were worried about] the album’s consequences and advised the singer against distributing it,” Duldak Nyima said.

“The singer also said in the DVD that he is doing this for the religious and political cause of Tibet; he was … discussing the Tibet issue and Tibetan identity,” he said.
  
In one song on the album, part of which was posted on YouTube, the singer alludes to Tibetan independence and repression: “The unity of the three provinces of Tibet, that is what I have repressed in my heart for 50 years and what I am now going to share through songs, until I breathe my last,” he says.

Maltreatment

A letter sent by an anonymous source in Tibet said that Ugyen Tenzin is being mistreated in prison and is in ill health.

“None of his relatives or friends are allowed to reach him,” according to a copy of the letter.

“We learned from the police sources that he was so severely tortured under detention that his body and faculties are disabled. He was recovering from surgery prior to his detention and the torture made it worse,” it said.

China has jailed scores of Tibetan writers, artists, singers, and educators for asserting Tibetan national identity and civil rights since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.

Another popular Tibetan singer, Tashi Dhondup, was released from jail last year after serving most of a 15-month sentence for recording songs calling for Tibetan independence.

The singer was convicted for violating laws by singing songs in support of Tibetan independence and the Dalai Lama.

Reported by Norbu Damdul for RFA’s Tibetan service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.

Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Independent Candidate Stripped, Beaten

2012-03-27

Authorities in Beijing detain a woman running in a district election in southern China's Jiangxi province.

Photo courtesy of Li Zhiyong

Liu Ping (l) with lawyer Li Zhiyong (r) in Wukan, Guangdong province, in an undated photo.

A Jiangxi-based laid-off worker who gained the backing of more than 30 people for her nomination in district elections has been strip-searched and beaten during several weeks' detention in an unofficial detention center, or "black jail," a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Tuesday.

Liu Ping was detained at the Beijing West Railway Station on March 6 by security personnel from her former employers, the state-owned Xinyu City Steel Group, and forced to return to the eastern province of Jiangxi, the China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said in an e-mailed statement.

"Her belongings were confiscated, and she was held temporarily in a black jail," CHRD said. "Her captors then forced Liu into a car and drove her back to Jiangxi."

The next day, Liu was blindfolded before being driven to a secret location, the group said.

"[There,] three women then strip-searched Liu, damaging her clothes so badly that she was left virtually naked and completely disheveled," the statement, adding that the guards had refused Liu food during the daytime.

"When Liu confronted them about her mistreatment, the women beat and kicked her until she fell on the ground," CHRD said.

Liu was detained in "a windowless padded room equipped with surveillance cameras and monitored daily by three women and three men working in two shifts," CHRD said, adding that Liu was tied up and returned home on March 19 after she got sick.

"At the time of writing, none of Liu’s possessions have been returned to her," the group said, adding that this was only the most recent example of harassment against the grassroots activist.

"Besides this recent horrendous incident, Liu has faced myriad forms of harassment since running as an independent candidate in her local election," CHRD said.

"Authorities installed surveillance cameras at the entrance to her home, and her family members have also been negatively affected by authorities’ retaliation against her."

Independent candidate

Before her candidacy for district People's Congress in Xinyu city was rejected, Liu had mustered a strong following among laid-off and retired workers, as well as existing workers who complained of poor conditions in their jobs.

In her declaration to her constituents that accompanied her application for candidacy, Liu promised, if elected, to "do everything in my power to reflect the voice of ordinary people."

"I am not an official, but I am wholeheartedly for the people," she wrote in the document, which has since been circulated online by Chinese netizens. "I have fought on the front line of rights defense work for a very long time, and while my powers are limited, I have never stopped trying!"

The Chinese authorities have warned that there is "no such thing" as an independent candidate, and that anyone hoping to stand for elections this year to the People's Congresses will first have to clear "due legal procedures," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Apart from a token group of "democratic parties" which never oppose or criticize the ruling Communist Party, opposition political parties are banned in China, and those who set them up are frequently handed lengthy jail terms.

More than two million lawmakers at the county and township levels will be elected during nationwide elections, held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships from May 7, 2011 through December 2012.

Officials Close to Bo Probed

2012-03-27

Authorities are bringing associates of the former Chinese princeling in for questioning.

AFP

Bo Xilai attends the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress in Beijing, March 14, 2012.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing have taken disciplinary action against officials linked to ousted municipal Party chief Bo Xilai, amid an unfolding political scandal which threatens to mar a key leadership transition at the highest ranks of the ruling Communist Party this year.

Investigators working for Bo's successor Zhang Dejiang are questioning a number of trusted former aides of Bo and his former graft-busting police chief Wang Lijun, whose Feb. 6 flight to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu was the first public sign of the scandal, official media reported.

Among them are Bo's former aide Wu Wenkang, who had also worked under Bo during his time as Party secretary of the northern port city of Dalian, and who followed him to Chongqing.

Also summoned was Nan'an district Party secretary Xia Zeliang, the first relatively high-ranking official to be questioned openly about Bo's rule in Chongqing, the Chongqing Daily newspaper reported.

An official who answered the phone at the Nan'an district government said "I don't know, I don't know," before hanging up, when contacted by RFA's Cantonese service on Tuesday.

Xia has been incommunicado since Bo's ouster on March 15.

Officials detained

The Economic Observer newspaper reported this week that the 51-year-old Xia was known to have a close relationship with Bo, and was taken away for questioning last Wednesday.

Other news sites reported that Yubei district police chief Wang Pengfei was also recently called in for questioning by Party investigators after he supplied the car in which Wang Lijun made his dash for the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, nearly four hours' drive away.

An officer who answered the phone at Wang's district police office was in the middle of speaking when the line was cut off. "No," she said, before the phone was hung up.

Chongqing-based labor activist Liang Mingyuan said the reports of Xia's detention were entirely credible, as they were published in Chongqing's press, which is entirely controlled by Bo's successor, Zhang.

"It's not surprising in China that a new leader would arrive and then take action against some officials from the previous era," Liang said. "What changes exactly are taking place we can't be sure."

"All we can do is be silent spectators, and wait to see what they do."

Changing leadership

A Chongqing resident surnamed Zhang said that many people in the city were grateful to Bo for cleaning up the city, although the lives of ordinary people hadn't changed much during his rule.

"Speaking personally from my own life experience, I would give him 60 percent, because our wages have fallen while the cost of living has continued to rise, and property prices are much higher," Zhang said.

"I hope the new leader can govern a bit more transparently," she added.

However, Chongqing-based petitioner Jia Changxin said that he and four other activists had recently climbed a cellphone mast in the capital Beijing to protest land grabs by local officials and a lack of justice for ordinary people.

He said he had scant hope that a change of leadership would greatly change the behavior of city officials.

"One organization rests on the back of another," Jia said. "They never do anything about the ones with official backing."

Scaling back

Meanwhile, Chongqing's local broadcasting company has changed its coverage of "red songs," a cultural feature of Bo's time in Chongqing harking back to the socialist morality of the Mao era, from a daily program to a weekly one, a spokesman said.

Retired Seton Hall University professor Yang Liyu said the incoming government in Chongqing appears keen to avoid the impression of a total break with Bo Xilai's adminstration, however.

"Revolutionary songs are in praise of Mao Zedong, who is the founding father of the nation and one of the creators of the Party," Yang said. "They can't just eliminate them totally ... and to do that would be to deny Mao Zedong."

He said the authorities would likely proceed slowly with Bo's case.

"I suspect that Bo's freedom is under threat right now, and the authorities won't announce his detention or trial all at once, either," Yang said.

Cai Yongmei, acting editor of the Hong Kong-based political magazine Kaifang, said Bo's revolutionary song campaigns didn't equate to a desire to return to the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), however, and were more of a political gimmick.

"It's the leftist, Maoist faction that wants to go back to the Mao era," Cai said. "I don't think that this was necessarily what Bo wanted to do."

"Bo and his entire family were the victims of the Cultural Revolution ... He just wanted to make use of a certain popular mood to gather people together and make some political capital out of it."

Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese service, and by Yang Jiadai for the Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Pastor Jailed, Visas Revoked

2012-03-27

Vietnamese authorities throw a Mennonite clergyman in jail and cancel visas of three Vatican officials.

AFP

A man walks past a Catholic church decorated with lighting for Christmas in downtown Hanoi, Dec. 22, 2011.

Vietnam has sentenced a pastor of a banned church to 11 years in prison for "undermining unity" by having ties with antigovernment groups and writing and distributing material that slandered government authorities, state media reported Tuesday.

The one-party communist state has also revoked the visas of three Rome-based representatives of the Roman Catholic church seeking to hold talks about the possible beatification of a late cardinal who was forced into exile, according to church officials.

Mennonite clergyman Nguyen Cong Chinh, 43, was found guilty of writing and spreading material that slandered government authorities.

"He distorted the domestic situation, calumniating the government, the state and the army in interviews with the foreign media," the English-language Vietnam News daily said, quoting the court.

The Mennonite clergyman's one-day court hearing was held on Monday in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, where he was arrested nearly a year ago.

Visas

In a separate development, Vietnam has revoked the visas of a three-man Roman Catholic church delegation from Rome that was set to arrive in the country on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

The delegation was sent by the diocese of Rome, which is considering pushing ahead with a cause for the beatification of the late Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, who was appointed deputy archbishop of Saigon days before the South Vietnamese capital fell to the communist North in 1975.

A Vatican official in Rome, who has followed the case but spoke on condition of anonymity because of its sensitivity, told the Associated Press that the three were traveling on tourist visas. He said he had no additional information.

The cancellation of the visas was done through the Vietnamese embassy in Italy, some reports said.

Thuan was a nephew of Ngo Dinh Diem, president of U.S.-backed South Vietnam who was assassinated in 1963 during the Vietnam War.

In 1991, Thuan was forced into exile in Rome after spending 13 years in a communist reeducation camp. He died in 2002, one year after being appointed cardinal.

Vietnam and the Vatican held talks last month in Hanoi, but the two sides did not reach a breakthrough in establishing formal ties.

There are six million Roman Catholics in Vietnam, the second-largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia after the Philippines.

Religious activity is closely monitored in the communist Vietnamese state.

Controls

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a congressional watchdog, said the Vietnamese government controls all religious communities, severely restricts and penalizes independent religious practice, and represses individuals and groups viewed as challenging its authority.

Vietnam continues to imprison and detain individuals for religious activity and for advocacy of religious freedom, the commission said, adding that independent religious activity remains illegal while legal protections for government-approved religious organizations are vague.

Even registered religious organizations such as the Redemptorist churches in Vietnam's capital Hanoi and its largest city Ho Chi Minh City have been harassed repeatedly, Human Rights Watch said.

Reported by RFA's Vietnamese service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.

Exile Group Slams Death Sentence

2012-03-27

A rights group says the sentenced Uyghur was likely forced to confess.

Photo: RFA

Authorities in China’s troubled Xinjiang region have sentenced a Uyghur to death in connection with a deadly knife attack, drawing condemnation from an exile group which doubted “the legitimacy” of his trial.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported Monday that the Intermediate People’s Court in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s Kashgar prefecture sentenced Abdukerem Mamut to death for “organizing and leading a terrorist group and committing murder” during a Feb. 28 stabbing spree in Kargilik (in Chinese, Yecheng) county.

According to the court’s verdict, Mamut “spread religion extremism and violent terrorism and formed a terrorist group of nine between last July and February this year,” Xinhua reported, adding that he had “confessed to the crime.”

But Rebiya Kadeer, head of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), said Mamut’s alleged admission of guilt “causes serious concerns on how these confessions have been obtained,” adding that ill-treatment and torture in detention are “widespread” in China.

“We fear that Mr. Mamut has been subjected to torture to confess crimes that he has not committed,” the Washington-based Kadeer wrote in a press release.

“His speedy conviction casts serious doubts on the legitimacy of the trial, and we do not believe that it met international legal standards.”

Conflicting reports

On Feb. 28, Chinese state media reported that nine Uyghur “attackers” armed with knives killed 15 people in Kargilik and injured another 14. During the clash, the report said, one security guard was killed.

Police “shot eight of the assailants dead” and arrested Abdukerem Mamut at the scene, state media said.

But the WUC quoted local sources as saying that 12 people had been killed in the incident, seven of whom were members of the Chinese security forces, and that the police had shot and killed 10 Uyghurs, while injuring a further 11.

Some of the injured were passers-by, and at least one of them was left in a life-threatening condition, the WUC said.

Immediately following the incident, the exile group said, Chinese security forces mobilized a large number of armed personnel to enforce martial law in the city, prohibiting inhabitants from leaving the city. Authorities are also reportedly censoring information on the incident in the Chinese media and on the Internet.

Since March 1, Chinese security forces have detained an estimated 100 Uyghurs in Kargilik, it said.

Authorities quickly labeled the incident a “terrorist attack” masterminded by the WUC, which the exile group strongly denied.

‘Second class citizens’

Several residents of Kargilik county interviewed by RFA in the aftermath of the attack said the violence stemmed from a massive influx of Han Chinese, resulting in fewer economic opportunities for the Uyghur community, and that Uyghurs were “fed up” with being treated like second class citizens in their traditional homeland.

Xinjiang has been gripped for years by persistent ethnic tensions between the Muslim Uyghurs and the rapidly growing Han Chinese migrant population, leading to riots in the regional capital Urumqi on July 5, 2009 which left 200 dead and 1,700 injured, according to state media.

Uyghurs, who form a distinct, Turkic-speaking minority in Xinjiang, say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness, even as Beijing pursued ambitious programs to develop its vast northwestern frontier.