Voice of America to move part of news division to Hong Kong
By Shane Harris


Voice of America, the international broadcasting service funded by the
U.S. government, is shutting down the overnight shift of its central
news division in Washington and replacing it with a new workforce in
Hong Kong, which will be comprised partly of contractors.

News division employees were informed of the decision last Thursday
and learned that overnight employees would take new jobs on the
daytime and evening rotations, with a considerable decrease in salary,
said Ted Iliff, the agency's associate director for central
programming.


Iliff, who oversees VOA's news operations, said the move was prompted
in part by budgetary concerns, and he bristled at the notion that the
agency was "outsourcing" jobs to China, as the America Federation of
Government Employees, the union that represents VOA, has charged.


"Outsourcing means a loss of jobs," Iliff said. "Nobody [on the news
staff] is losing a job." He said the agency was eyeing a plan to hire
10 new reporters in Hong Kong, half of whom would be contractors and
would receive no federal benefits. The remaining five would have the
status of VOA employees, but would receive fewer benefits than
full-time workers.


VOA could save at least $300,000 annually by moving the night shift to
Hong Kong, where the agency has a news center, Iliff said. The
transition also would place a contingent of reporters in an area of
the world where VOA devotes significant news coverage now, Iliff
added.


The move will likely prove unpopular with U.S.-based employees on the
night shift and others in the VOA news division. The night shift is
considered one of the toughest and least desirable slots, because of
its unusual schedule, but employees are paid a bonus of approximately
10 percent of their regular salary, Iliff said.


VOA employees are reacting "with anger," said one news division
staffer, who asked not to be identified. Of the 10 employees who will
now have to adjust to lower pay and different hours, the staffer said,
"They feel like their world has been turned upside down."


Iliff emphasized that the Hong Kong move would free up money for the
agency to invest elsewhere, perhaps to beef up VOA's online reporting
and television broadcasting. And, he said, the move was motivated in
part by the difficulty of filling slots on the overnight shift.


But the decision also has exposed the cantankerous relationship
between VOA management and employees, some of whom suspect that
officials want to scale back the agency's English news operations in
favor of other initiatives, the VOA staffer said.


"There's a perception here, and it's constantly being denied...that
the present management at VOA is trying to do away with the English
section," the staffer said. "This really shows me that nothing is
sacred."


Moving a decades-old and renowned institution such as VOA to a country
with no history of a free press and a state-run media is likely to
raise questions. "The irony of transferring our operation to a
communist country is not lost on anyone," the staffer said.


VOA is widely credited as a key instrument in the demise of communism
in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Its programs brought news and
Western entertainment to millions behind the Iron Curtain during the
Cold War. "We're concerned about the credentials of the people who
will be hired" in Hong Kong, the staffer said.


The Hong Kong writers to be hired must speak English and pass language
and writing tests to qualify for the jobs, Iliff said. Their
professional backgrounds will also figure prominently in any hiring
decisions. "They have to be experienced, talented journalists," he
said.


While he hadn't ruled out hiring Chinese journalists, Iliff said they
likely would not meet VOA's hiring standards if they'd worked only for
state-run news organizations. He suggested that a network of British,
American and Australian expatriates in China would comprise a likely
hiring pool, and he added the agency has already spoken to one of its
regular freelance reporters who is interested in working for VOA in
Hong Kong. All résumés and writing tests would be reviewed by
management in Washington, he said.


The Hong Kong staff would be supervised by two American editors, Iliff
said. One would be based in the news center and the other would work
from VOA headquarters and be present during nighttime hours, he said.
That editor would have final say on news content. VOA's "very strict
standards...will not in any way be diluted or compromised," Iliff
said.


Barring any obstacles, Iliff expects to have the new Hong Kong group
operational in July.


Regarding the animosity between management and the news division,
Iliff said he wasn't surprised by the negative reaction to the Hong
Kong move. "Any change [in VOA operations] is denounced by a core of
VOA diaspora without them knowing the details of what's being planned
and without them understanding contemporary media and business
circumstances," Iliff said.


Iliff didn't know what the reaction of the Chinese government, which
regularly jams VOA broadcasts and Internet traffic, would be to the
increased VOA presence. He said he presumed that the Chinese would
learn about VOA's new plans through the news media.

David wrote:

Voice of America to move part of news division to Hong Kong
By Shane Harris


Voice of America, the international broadcasting service funded by the
U.S. government, is shutting down the overnight shift of its central
news division in Washington and replacing it with a new workforce in
Hong Kong, which will be comprised partly of contractors.

News division employees were informed of the decision last Thursday
and learned that overnight employees would take new jobs on the
daytime and evening rotations, with a considerable decrease in salary,
said Ted Iliff, the agency's associate director for central
programming.

Iliff, who oversees VOA's news operations, said the move was prompted
in part by budgetary concerns, and he bristled at the notion that the
agency was "outsourcing" jobs to China, as the America Federation of
Government Employees, the union that represents VOA, has charged.

"Outsourcing means a loss of jobs," Iliff said. "Nobody [on the news
staff] is losing a job." He said the agency was eyeing a plan to hire
10 new reporters in Hong Kong, half of whom would be contractors and
would receive no federal benefits. The remaining five would have the
status of VOA employees, but would receive fewer benefits than
full-time workers.

VOA could save at least $300,000 annually by moving the night shift to
Hong Kong, where the agency has a news center, Iliff said. The
transition also would place a contingent of reporters in an area of
the world where VOA devotes significant news coverage now, Iliff
added.

The move will likely prove unpopular with U.S.-based employees on the
night shift and others in the VOA news division. The night shift is
considered one of the toughest and least desirable slots, because of
its unusual schedule, but employees are paid a bonus of approximately
10 percent of their regular salary, Iliff said.

VOA employees are reacting "with anger," said one news division
staffer, who asked not to be identified. Of the 10 employees who will
now have to adjust to lower pay and different hours, the staffer said,
"They feel like their world has been turned upside down."

Iliff emphasized that the Hong Kong move would free up money for the
agency to invest elsewhere, perhaps to beef up VOA's online reporting
and television broadcasting. And, he said, the move was motivated in
part by the difficulty of filling slots on the overnight shift.

But the decision also has exposed the cantankerous relationship
between VOA management and employees, some of whom suspect that
officials want to scale back the agency's English news operations in
favor of other initiatives, the VOA staffer said.

"There's a perception here, and it's constantly being denied...that
the present management at VOA is trying to do away with the English
section," the staffer said. "This really shows me that nothing is
sacred."

Moving a decades-old and renowned institution such as VOA to a country
with no history of a free press and a state-run media is likely to
raise questions. "The irony of transferring our operation to a
communist country is not lost on anyone," the staffer said.

VOA is widely credited as a key instrument in the demise of communism
in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Its programs brought news and
Western entertainment to millions behind the Iron Curtain during the
Cold War. "We're concerned about the credentials of the people who
will be hired" in Hong Kong, the staffer said.

The Hong Kong writers to be hired must speak English and pass language
and writing tests to qualify for the jobs, Iliff said. Their
professional backgrounds will also figure prominently in any hiring
decisions. "They have to be experienced, talented journalists," he
said.

While he hadn't ruled out hiring Chinese journalists, Iliff said they
likely would not meet VOA's hiring standards if they'd worked only for
state-run news organizations. He suggested that a network of British,
American and Australian expatriates in China would comprise a likely
hiring pool, and he added the agency has already spoken to one of its
regular freelance reporters who is interested in working for VOA in
Hong Kong. All résumés and writing tests would be reviewed by
management in Washington, he said.

The Hong Kong staff would be supervised by two American editors, Iliff
said. One would be based in the news center and the other would work
from VOA headquarters and be present during nighttime hours, he said.
That editor would have final say on news content. VOA's "very strict
standards...will not in any way be diluted or compromised," Iliff
said.

Barring any obstacles, Iliff expects to have the new Hong Kong group
operational in July.

Regarding the animosity between management and the news division,
Iliff said he wasn't surprised by the negative reaction to the Hong
Kong move. "Any change [in VOA operations] is denounced by a core of
VOA diaspora without them knowing the details of what's being planned
and without them understanding contemporary media and business
circumstances," Iliff said.

Iliff didn't know what the reaction of the Chinese government, which
regularly jams VOA broadcasts and Internet traffic, would be to the
increased VOA presence. He said he presumed that the Chinese would
learn about VOA's new plans through the news media.

Where did you originally find this article, 'tard boy?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:53:34 GMT, David wrote:

Voice of America to move part of news division to Hong Kong

Aside from location, how is this any different from the way VOA has
been managing its news divisions in the past? It's akin to operating a
news bureau outside of US borders ... something that every major news
network does on a daily basis. Heck, Peter Jennings anchored part of
the ABC evening news from London for many years -- and he was a
Canadian citizen all that time.

You must also remember that VOA news content is not meant for domestic
US consumption, i.e. VOA is not the American equivalent of the BBC.
The Hong Kong bureau newscasts will mirror US foreign policy just as
much there as they would if broadcast from Washington, D.C. Short of a
mainland invasion of Taiwan, US policy toward China is firmly directed
at maintaining the status quo with the mainland government.

Voice of America writers in Hong Kong? The Voice of America, created to
bring the truth to captive nations, may get some of its material from a
captive nation - in this case, Hong Kong. Given the state of one-country,
one-and-a-half systems, the Washington Post asks a pertinent question: "what
will be written if the Chicoms invade Taiwan. Will there be a story saying,
'One million brave Chinese volunteers, responding to desperate pleas for
help from their cousins in Taipei, crossed the Taiwan Strait this morning'"?

Voice of America by Way of Hong Kong

By Al Kamen
Friday, April 15, 2005

American corporations, fleeing high labor costs, often head overseas. Turns
out, some federal agencies may be doing the same.

The Voice of America, working with ever-tightening budgets, is planning a
little outsourcing itself -- to Communist China -- to save some taxpayer
dollars.

Ted Iliff, central news division chief, said the plan, announced at a recent
staff meeting, is to take about eight news writer jobs -- the slots of
people who work the graveyard shift from around midnight to the morning --
and move those tasks to Hong Kong. (The people will move to other shifts.)
These folks handle the late news writing, then send their stories to be
translated by VOA language services into Swahili, Spanish and so on.

VOA says the move could save at least $300,000 in salaries and benefits each
year, and would relieve people burdened by working those hours -- though we
hear most of those affected like their hours and enhanced night pay.

The idea is to use contract employees -- expatriate English-speakers in Hong
Kong, who would be supervised by a senior editor in Washington.

This didn't sit well with the rank and file, who argued that a Serbian or
Mideast or U.S. political story, for example, would be written from Hong
Kong when the expertise is in this country.

And then, of course, there's the question of what will be written if the
Chicoms invade Taiwan. Will there be a story saying, "One million brave
Chinese volunteers, responding to desperate pleas for help from their
cousins in Taipei, crossed the Taiwan Strait this morning"?

There's also the question of making sure everyone in Hong Kong has the
requisite security clearances.

Tim Shamble, president of the American Federation of Government Employees
local, notes it doesn't seem to make sense that "English news broadcasts by
the Voice of America should be written by non-Americans in a foreign
country." Then there's the notion, he said, of American taxpayer dollars
providing jobs for noncitizens overseas.

"This is all a tempest in a teapot," VOA chief David Jackson said yesterday.
"We have operated out of Hong Kong for decades" -- though, of course, the
Brits were in charge in earlier decades -- and "Radio Free Asia has operated
out of there . . . with no problem." What's more, Hong Kong "is filled with
ex-pats and good journalists" [not to mention exceptional restaurants], and
they'll be "supervised and edited by people here." This is not the beginning
of an outsourcing policy but a "unique situation" and a very important news
story. "There are no plans to do this anywhere else," he said.

Well, as they say, trust but verify.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2005Apr14.html
__________________________________________________ __

China's Attempt to Monopolize Airwaves Exposed at the U.N.

GENEVA - A New York-based independent TV network, New Tang Dynasty TV, is
just two days away from having its transmission signal to China halted.
An NTDTV representative made a plea on Wednesday at a forum during the
United Nations Human Rights Commission. Ms. Lei Xi, director of corporate
alliances and government relations, called upon all concerned civil
societies and governments to voice support for viewers in China.

"I'm here for the hundreds of millions of people inside China whose voices
cannot be heard and the countless more who cannot hear outside voices," Xi
said. "They are entitled to have access to free flow of information and be
given a chance to think and make choices independently, just like we do."

Eutelsat, the Paris-based satellite company, largest in Europe, cancelled
NTDTV's contract to transmit signals to East and Southeast Asia after a year
of pressure from the Beijing government. According to a press release from
the International Federation of Journalists, Eutelsat has been under
pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over its arrangement with
NTDTV. IFJ says that authorities have made it clear that Eutelsat's business
opportunities connected to broadcasting of the Olympic games might be at
risk.

NTDTV is licensed to broadcast in France and has been compliant with all the
contract terms. The network was established after 9-11 when a group of
Chinese Americans realized how TV broadcasts outside China were heavily
influenced, if not directly controlled, by Beijing, according to Xi.

When NTDTV and Eutelsat formed a business partnership a year ago to transmit
NTDTV's signal to Asia, a historic "open satellite window" pierced through
the great wall of information control that the Beijing government forcibly
maintains. At the time, Eutelsat CEO Giuliano Berretta personally assured
the NTD management team that his company would not bow to any outside
pressure.

In her speech, Xi gave the example of how it took one retired surgeon's
courage to break the silence of SARS to the world and pointed out that the
lack of free press in China does impact everyone's life.

Xi said, "Resolutely standing on the principles of human rights and freedom,
free commerce and free flow of information is the fundamental guarantee for
advancing democracy."

A representative from the Association of Mothers of Tiananmen praised NTDTV
at the forum for producing excellent documentaries on the June 4th massacre
where she lost her cousin and she forwarded her aunt's gratitude to the
station for letting their voice be heard.

When asked what will happen on April 15 in the event that Eutelsat does not
change their position, Xi said that at least the incident has exposed the
severe lack of free flow of information in China and that the CCP is able to
control Western businesses in repressing freedom and democracy. She is
optimistic that the matter will come to a full resolution.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-4-14/27843.html
__________________________________________________ __

TORONTO - New Tang Dynasty Television Toronto Branch received a suspicious
letter containing white powder on April 11.

At about 9:30 a.m., Mr. Tompkin, NTDTV director, received an anonymous
letter. Upon opening it, a white powder inside the envelope blew onto his
face. The owner of the property saw the incident and reported it to police
right away. Eight police vans, ambulances and "HAZMAT" fire vehicles
responded. Armed security guards with gas masks accompanied police, who
isolated the building.

Mr. Tompkin was taken into a police van and kept under observation for
two-and-a-half hours. A police spokesman from the No. 12 Division of Toronto
Police Service said that police were proceeding with a criminal
investigation.

According to NTDTV Toronto President Wang Shaojiu, since broadcasting began,
the Chinese Communist Party has used numerous means to attack the station.
For example, he said, the CCP attempted to interfere with the NTDTV Chinese
New Year Global Gala, cancelled the visas of reporters who were to accompany
Canada's prime minister on a visit to China and has recently attempted to
prevent satellite broadcasts over China.

Mr. Wang, who called the incident a terrorist act, said that he believes it
to be a systematic attack on NTDTV by the same group of people. "We will
never be threatened. We'll continue to do what we should do; to spread the
truth to the Chinese people."

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-14/27851.html
__________________________________________________ ___

Powder burns TV station worker

By KIM BRADLEY, TORONTO SUN
April 13, 2005

AN EMPLOYEE at the Chinese TV station New Tang Dynasty suffered burns to his
hands after opening an envelope at the station that had white powder inside.
It's the fourth attack on the station since two of its reporters had their
visas revoked by Chinese authorities while following Prime Minister Paul
Martin to China in January.

Danielle Zhu, one of the reporters denied entry into China, believes
supporters of the Chinese government are trying to intimidate the station
out of business because of critical coverage of the Communist regime. Over
the past three weeks, locks at the station have been vandalized, she said.

The man who opened the envelope had a reaction to the powder when he tried
to wash it off and it also irritated his eyes and throat, she said.

Police are investigating what the powder is and its origin.

In February, NTDTV was asked to tear down its booth at the Lunar New Year
2005 festival at Exhibition Place.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Toront...94588-sun.html
__________________________________________________ ___

The NTDTV Incident and Western Pacifism

New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) station's contract with the European
satellite company Eutelsat will end on April 15. NTDTV's viewers in China
and abroad who depend on satellite dishes, will all feel disappointed and
indignant. Despite its CEO's promise to champion free flow of information,
Eutelsat finally succumbed to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) pressure
and economic incentives. Eutelsat sacrificed the freedom of information and
made a concession to the Chinese totalitarian authority. This is a sad
reality.

During the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to
China earlier this year, the CCP released the long incarcerated Re Biya, a
human rights activist in Xinjiang province. In return, the U.S. promised not
to mention China's notorious human rights record during the United Nations'
meeting in Geneva. Several European nations, Germany and France especially,
have pursued lifting the arms embargo on China due to economic interests. We
must be reminded of the Munich Treaty in which England and France pledged to
pacifist terms with the powerful Nazi Germany. The English and French
ignored Czechoslovakia's protest for their own interest. Hitler promised to
"move the troubled water to the east" and started taking over Europe.

Although the European and American appeasements to Chinese Communist Party
will not stir a world war, the consequences will be just as dire. The CCP
has introduced the Anti-Secession law to threaten Taiwan. The CCP controls
all Chinese media, tramples on the freedom of speech and persecutes
dissidents. The CCP uses money and other economic incentives to control
almost all Chinese language media overseas. If the international community
upholds its appeasement, NTDTV will become a new victim of Communist
suppression.

The most fearful thing for the CCP is not how strong the military power
America has; it is actually the freedom of the media, the spreading of the
truth into China that it fears. NTDTV had broadcasted through satellite TV
to China in the past. Whoever installed satellite receivers and watched
NTDTV programs all understood the Chinese political current situations and
much other information from outside. This has made CCP authorities
tremendously frightened. This is especially so for broadcasts carrying the
voice of Falun Gong, which is something the authorities cannot stand. In
Guandong province, the TV programs from Hong Kong are completely controlled
and kept close watched; any program could be terminated at any time. The
truth is forbidden for people to know. Even the programs from pro-communist-
the Hong Kong Phoenix TV station- is monitored to prevent different voices
from appearing. China is such a country full of lies and deceptions. Even
so, it seems not enough. The CCP are even learning from North Korea to
further execute its violence and terrorist regime.

If it were not for the wave of democracy that has risen in China lately,
fascism would have dominated. Facing the wave of the "color revolution" in
eastern Europe, and middle Asia getting rid of the control of communism, the
CCP is so much more terrified about the spread of democracy. Nevertheless,
Europe and America have not taken the initiative to influence China to
reform its political system. Instead, Europe and America have made a series
of concessions. This was just like in the past, like the pacifism used to
treat Hitler. Because of this pacifism, Sudeten were ceded to German as a
result. Today, because of pacifism, the strength of freedom might be
suppressed even more.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-13/27817.html
__________________________________________________ ___

Chinese Journalism Prof Faces China's Silent Treatment

Wednesday, April 13, 2005
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

WASHINGTON - Jiao Guobiao may not be the only Chinese academic who abhors
the state-run media system in communist China, but he is one of the recent
few who have dared to write about it.

For his troubles, when - and if - the 42-year-old journalism professor
returns to China after a six-month fellowship at the National Endowment for
Democracy in Washington, he won't have a job and may face a punishment much
more severe than a lost paycheck.

"It may be even worse since he's talked to the media," said Lucie Morillon,
the Washington representative of Reporters Without Borders, an international
advocacy group for journalists. "I think he might be seen as a troublesome
guy and they might do everything they can to silence him."

In an exclusive interview with FOXNews.com on Monday, Jiao said simply about
his safety, "I don't care."

As a writer for the Chinese Cultural Newspaper from 1996 to 2001, Jiao had
written often and apparently below the radar about China's media, which the
2005 U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights Practices details as
closed, punitive and overwhelmingly regulated by the ruling Chinese
Communist Party.

But in February, he was told that he was to leave his post at Beijing
University's College of Journalism and Communications, where he had been for
the last three years. His crime, he said, was writing an essay last fall
that boldly criticized the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of
the CCP, which controls the news in China. The article appeared online.

Jiao said the university caved in to government pressure and sent him over
to the university's Center for Ancient Chinese Classics and Archives, which
he described as a salvage yard for wayward professors. Jiao flatly refused
to be transferred, and instead accepted an invitation for the NED fellowship
in the United States. Despite warnings from the president of the university,
he left for the states in March.

"If I had accepted the university's offer, there would have been no way for
me (to continue my work)," he said. "(The president of the university) said
if I did not move to the center, then maybe I would be kicked out. So I came
to the United States."

The day after he left, March 17, Jiao said his family in China received
documentation in the mail that Jiao had left the university "voluntarily"
and was no longer a member of the faculty.

His case is the latest example of journalists being harassed, jailed or
otherwise silenced - several of them in the last year, say outside monitors.

"China is now the world's largest prison for journalists. We now have 27
journalists jailed in China" as well as 60 "cyber-dissidents" jailed for
breaking the tough restrictions on Internet use, Morillon said.

All published stories are run through the propaganda department's review.
Punishment for breaking the rules could be anything from a demotion and
harassment to a rough visit by government "henchmen," and an extended
detention, she added.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 42 journalists are
currently in jail in China - five of them imprisoned in the last year alone.
One, Lin Youping, has been in prison since 1983 for publishing a
"counter-revolutionary pamphlet." She was initially sentenced to death but
at the time was given a reprieve.

Morillon said the differing numbers of jailed writers in China may come from
her group's decision to exclude "freelancers" in their listings since they
could be connected to political groups. In either case, China's treatment of
the press doesn't compare to other nations, particularly the United States,
she said, where even the dozen or so journalists currently fighting jail
time here for not revealing sources do not have to worry about the daily
risks they would face in China for writing something negative about the
government.

"The U.S. is one of the best places in the world to be a journalist. It's a
democracy," she said. In China, "they are at risk of being arrested,
tortured, and harassed every day."

The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not return a request to comment
on this story.

Jiao said he is not surprised at the reaction to his essay. He was told not
to write about sensitive Chinese politics and he did. He was told not to
give interviews to foreign journalists and he did that, too. When he
traveled on his first trip to the United States last year for a conference,
he "expressed some opinions" and no doubt the "spies" sent over to keep tabs
on Jiao reported back "every word," he said.

"I didn't avoid them - I expressed myself freely and openly and I don't
care," he added.

Jiao said he taught his students in Beijing about the power of a free press,
one that he had hoped the state-run system in China would someday become. In
China today, he explained, editorial boards mostly self-censor, eliminating
and editing stories to the government's specifications and incorporating the
official spin.

"So far, the course of democratic reform following on the heels of the
reforms in economic development has not occurred," Dick D'Amato, chairman of
the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, told FOXNews.com.

D'Amato's organization, which was established by Congress in October 2000 to
"monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the
national security implications" of the United States' relationship with
China, is holding a hearing on Thursday to review press freedom in China.

D'Amato said he hopes the hearing will raise awareness of the continued
political and human rights problems in China despite market reforms there
and will convince members to think about what the United States might do to
put pressure on the system in the future. One of those efforts could be to
convince American companies not to provide China with the technology to
create advanced Internet filters, firewalls and surveillance tools, he said.

At the hearing, Jiao and other experts will testify on the media, Internet
and political speech in China. The hearing coincides with the release of the
OpenNet Initiative report, "Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005."

The report says China has the most elaborate and sophisticated system of
government Internet controls in the world. With an "Internet police" force
in every major city employing the most advanced surveillance and filtering
capabilities, the government has managed to block even the simplest Internet
searches - like trying to research the Tiananmen Square crackdown of
dissidents in 1989 - and has jailed people for passing along banned content
or looking at pornography.

"It's not 100 percent effective," said Xiao Qiang, director of the China
Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley (search), who
will also be testifying on Thursday. "The growing influence of the
(Internet) technology can get around this - but it's good enough in a sense
that the authorities can still manipulate and control people online."

To Jiao, the crackdown on the Internet is just an extension of the
government's controlling hand and heavy boot on all forms of expression in
China that seem to threaten the power structure politically and socially.
While China has embraced free market reforms for the better of its economy
over the last two decades, it has nonetheless kept speech on a tight leash,
he said.

Jiao, who is working on a paper about the Chinese media, past and present,
said he is using his time in the United States to talk to people sympathetic
to his cause and to continue to write and publish his critiques.

Asked why go home if he faces an uncertain fate in China, Jiao said he
misses his 12-year-old son. Secondly, "I want justice," he added.

Of his future, Jiao said, "Hopefully, I can work as a freelancer. It is
possible I will be arrested by the government if I go back to China because
the practice in China is they really don't need a reason to arrest anybody."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153258,00.html

This is a brave man.

Dissident Harry Wu: Communist leadership as tyrannical as ever

April 14, 2005

Editor's note: Harry Wu survived 19 years in the slave labor laogai gulag
system of mainland China (1960 - 1979) and has since become the world's
foremost human-rights dissident.
Wu is the executive director of the Laogai Research Foundation and a
research fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. He has
testified before various United States congressional committees, as well as
the British, German and Australian parliaments, the European Parliament and
the United Nations.

Wu is the author of three books. "Laogai: The Chinese Gulag," published in
1991, is the first book to address the systematic abuses of the laogai.
"Bitter Winds," published in 1994, is his memoirs of his time in the camps.
His latest book, "Troublemaker," was published in 1996. It tells of his
clandestine trips back into China to gather evidence on the laogai and his
detention by the Chinese government in the summer of 1995.

By Anthony C. LoBaido
WorldNetDaily.com

VIENNA, Va. - Famed human-rights dissident Harry Wu, in an exclusive
interview with WorldNetDaily, says China's newfound patriotism is an ancient
ethos fueled by a 3,000 year history of dynasty-ism, state-control and
tyranny.

"The majority of the Chinese nation has historically been dominated by the
idea of rule by emperors," Wu told WND. "If you opposed the emperor then you
were considered a traitor and condemned by everyone. The emperor was the
nation.

"After the communist system was installed in China the people thought that
socialism was the best system for everyone - with no private ownership. The
Communist leaders used the emperors of old as an example. They (the new
elite) were the new 'gods,' so to say. (The people were told that) they only
needed one brand."

Continued Wu: "The greatest-selling book in the world is the Bible. The
second-greatest-selling book is 'The Red Book' of Chairman Mao. If you have
problems with a difficult birth or a harvest, all of the answers are to be
found in 'The Red Book.' Here we see emperor-ism and communism mixing with
nationalism at the core. Back at the time of the formation of communism in
China, socialism sought to control all of life's sources. You would obey or
die. But after 30 years, the people of China learned that communism could
not bring them anything - like in the Soviet Union or North Korea.

"Deng Xiaoping allowed for capitalism to come back along with foreign
capital. He thought capitalism would allow people to have rice and
vegetables. This would be better than a family starving on the street."

Capitalist changes were seen as a part of the new nationalism in a new
dispensation, "along with Taiwan, birth control and other issues," said Wu.

"The idea was, 'You have to be loyal. You have to love the country. If you
love the country and you are loyal (to the regime) then you fall in line (on
the major issues of the day).'"

Harry Wu would not fall in line, however.

"I received the title of 'traitor.' (Yes) I am a traitor. What am I a
traitor of? I am betraying communism, and everyone in China should join me
in this. The country of China belongs to the people of China, not to the
Communist government."

Like many Americans, Wu is puzzled by the cozy relationship the U.S. and the
Western transnational elite have with the harsh rulers of Beijing.

"Think of Americans protesting Castro and Ho Chi Min (of North Vietnam
fame)," said Wu, who pointed to the anti-communism and anti-Marxist-Leninism
of the average American during the Cold War.

"Former President Bill Clinton welcomed the Communist Chinese leadership
with open arms. Chinese-Americans also welcomed the Communist Chinese
leaders when they visited the U.S. They thought, 'China is my native land,
whether this guy (the visiting dignitary) is a good guy or a bad guy.'

"So you had the blood-stained dictator of China ringing the opening bell of
the stock market on Wall Street, standing next to the Republican governor of
New York, George Pataki."

Wu was referring to former President Jiang Zemin, who in 1997 took Wall
Street by storm. During this trip, Jiang made a special pilgrimage to IBM's
Madison Avenue offices to view that company's most advanced technology. It
was there that IBM CEO Louis Gerstner, a devote Catholic and graduate of
Chaminade High School on Long Island, N.Y, greeted Jiang in perfect
Mandarin.

"Lao pengyou, ni hao," Gerstner said, meaning in English, "Old friend, how
are you?"

Continued Wu, who is also a devout Catholic, "(Historically) America hasn't
rolled out the red carpet or held banquets to honor Communist dictators. So
then why (now) single out China? The answer, of course, rests in China's
huge market and cheap labor force."

"When I testified before the U.S. Senate, I said to Senator Hollingsworth,
'Why do you want to move (China) from PNTR (Permanent Normal Trade
Relations) status to MFN (Most Favored Nation) status? Do you think China is
a normal country?'

"American business is comfortable in China because there is (strong) control
by the Chinese government. There are no unions allowed. There are no strikes
allowed. The workers are told in effect, 'You don't need unions, the
government will care for you.'"

Wu said that in the 1980s Chinese workers who worked for American companies
weren't allowed to disclose that seemingly innocuous information.

"But by the 1990s there were so many Chinese working for U.S. companies that
it was impossible to keep this a secret. The government then told the
workers to identify themselves as Communists and that would be fine. By
2005, Communist Party (CP) regulations stated that anywhere there are three
members of the CP you have to set up a CP branch. Now, think about how many
CP members work for General Motors. They are supported by their managers.
They have offices to hold meetings, and they can use the computers."

Wu questioned the role of American business interests in China.

"There's a real problem here," he said. "Is the Chinese government using all
of its newly gained money to improve the lives of human beings? Is it
opening up to democracy? No, rather it is upgrading its nuclear submarine
capability - three new nuclear subs and one new aircraft carrier. New
fighter jets purchased from Russia. China has huge U.S. cash reserves. They
own a large portion of America's debt.

"Think of the KGB before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Were we working to
give the old Soviet Union MFN status? Why are we preserving the tyranny in
mainland China today? They are not using their wealth toward the goal of
freedom. I am not sure that 'prosperity' will open the door to freedom in
China. But freedom will open the door to prosperity. China being a
tyrannical country is not good for the people of China. It is not good for
the world. North Korea would collapse tomorrow if only China were to
withdraw support."

Wu repeated his long-standing call for sanctions against the regime in
Beijing.

"When I bring up this subject people tell me, 'This is going to hurt the
common Chinese person and/or worker. You (Harry) are a traitor.' But think
of South Africa. Bishop (Desmond) Tutu spoke of anti-apartheid sanctions and
said, 'I know (sanctions) will hurt (black South Africans). There will be no
milk or bread, but long-term we have to do it.'"

Wu nevertheless questioned the logic of sanctions against the formerly
pro-West apartheid regime while embracing the dictatorship of mainland
China.

"Why embargo Cuba? Why embargo the Soviet Union? China sees the Marxist
regime in South Africa as 'one of them.' South African President Thabo Mbeki
is a Soviet trained communist. South Africa abandoned Taiwan and has
embraced mainland China."

"The State Department recently reported that human rights are worsening in
China," said Wu. According to the Associated Press, the most recent State
Department report on China criticized the regime for suppressing political,
social and religious groups, as well as individuals. On the bright side,
China has amended its constitution to protect human rights and has adopted
legal reforms for monitoring the government. Yet the report also said, "It
is unclear how or to what extent the constitutional amendment and other
legal reforms will be enforced." Wu counters that all the true state of
China is crystal clear.

"There are more public executions in China than ever before. And more organ
harvesting," he said.

"Recently, North Korea had a public execution and it was big news in the
U.S. media. Well, China has public executions all the time! Again, what
about the organ harvesting of Chinese prisoners? Where are the New York
Times and Washington Post on that?

"In 1996, China had 4,763 public executions. That was 80 percent of the
world total for that year, which was 6,000. The nation with the next largest
amount had 200. In 1999, I met with the Italians about abolishing the death
penalty globally. I read over their materials but was disappointed to learn
that much of their rhetoric focused on the U.S. Yes, the U.S. has some
executions. But individual states in the U.S. usually decide on this. The
total number of executions in the U.S. is relatively small. But who knows
about the great number of state sanctioned executions in Mainland China?

"And what about population control? When you get married in China you need a
certificate from the government in order to have a child. A second pregnancy
is illegal. Have you ever heard of 'an illegal pregnancy' anywhere else in
the world? Think of gendercide of the females in China. (It is also a
problem in South Korea.) Think of forced abortion. And what do we do in
America about all of this darkness? We welcome the Chinese leadership into
the White House"

Wu says he believes that President Bush is concerned about free trade and
capitalism when it comes to dealing with China.

"I know what I would say to President Bush. I would ask that America adhere
to (its traditional) moral standards," said Wu.

"We will have big problems with China in the future in terms of the issues
of peace and national security. China's economic status will make her a
political and military giant in due course. And still, China will be a
dictatorship."

Advised Wu: "We need international relations to be based on principles of
freedom, liberty, equality and fraternity. At the very core of this, of
course, is Christianity. Every Sunday we go to church. But we are supposed
to turn a blind eye to the human-rights abuses in China. There are 40
million in the underground church in China. About 25 million in the
above-ground church. That is only a small percentage of the total
population - about 8 percent. Roman Catholicism is illegal. Pope John Paul
II visited Cuba, but he could not go to China. The presidents of the U.S.
and France should say to China, 'Why did you forbid the pope to visit
China?' The government of China puts Christians in jail and in slave labor
camps where they make our Christmas toys, stained with the blood and tears
of the saints."

Wu once again questioned the morality of MFN status for China.

"During the MFN debate in the U.S. concerning China, 68 percent of Americans
said they were against giving China MFN status because of the communism and
tyranny of its government. Bill Clinton campaigned against President Bush
Sr. in 1992 by saying Bush Sr. coddled Beijing after the Tiananmen Square
Massacre. Many people voted for Clinton based on his statements about China
and human rights.

"However, by 1993 Clinton signed a presidential directive setting out
conditions for China to achieve MFN status within one year. They included
stopping the laogai production, releasing religious leaders from jail and
Tibet-related issues. Of course, Bill Clinton then just decided to roll out
the red carpet for the Chinese leadership."

Wu told WorldNetDaily he was stunned when Clinton, through the LORAL
corporation, armed the Communist regime in Beijing with sensitive missile
and satellite technology that enabled the PLA to more accurately target U.S.
cities with ICBMs.

Then in 1996 Clinton campaigned for re-election by continually repeating the
phrase that nuclear weapons were no longer pointed at American cities or at
American children.

"When Clinton came back from China in 1998 he said, 'I have an agreement
that we won't target one another's cities anymore with nuclear weapons.' But
think about this. Ten years before was such an agreement even necessary? No.
Why? Because China did not have that kind of nuclear capability. India has
nuclear weapons and ICBMs, but America doesn't see that as a problem. A
possible nuclear exchange with China is a problem, however. The CIA said in
1998 that we shouldn't worry because America had a couple of thousand
nuclear weapons and China only had 10 or so. But what will happen in the
future? How many nuclear weapons will China have in 10 or 20 more years?"

Said Wu: "What LORAL did was against the law. The Clinton administration
gave a green light for this deal to go ahead."

Oversight for the deal was moved to the Commerce Department from the
Pentagon to enable the transfer to be completed.

"But what angers me more is CISCO Systems. Since 2000, they have helped
China's police state with a project called 'Golden Shield.' This is a
control mechanism in which state security inside China was upgraded. We are
talking about public security, helping China's police to save manpower, to
equip the Chinese police with new software, fingerprint technology, a new
data base . everything right down to more efficiently dispensing their
patrol cars all around the nation. Though this is not machinery or
biotechnology, it is direct cooperation with the Chinese Police Ministry.

"I want to go to court and sue CISCO Systems for aiding the Chinese police
state. There is a joke that under former American sanctions against China
you couldn't sell them metal handcuffs. Well, now we've sold them electronic
handcuffs."

Said Wu: "Consider the Internet in China. People are put in jail for posting
articles critical of the government. There is a branch of the police devoted
solely to monitoring the Internet. In Shanghai, all the Internet cafes have
to have a certain kind of software when they open up. This software allows
the government to monitor what sites on the Web are being used."

New alliances

Wu pointed to the recent split between the EU and U.S. in terms of the EU
selling arms to the regime in Beijing. The U.S. has successfully pushed
Israel to cease selling high-tech, people-monitoring equipment to China. Now
the U.S. is asking the EU to refrain from weapons sales to China.

"France and Germany are willing to sell China advanced military hardware,"
said Wu.

"The French have always has this kind of idea that 'We (France) are still
kind of a superpower.' That's a part of French tradition. France and Germany
have had economic problems, high unemployment. Their presidents want to
upgrade their economic systems and sell more products anywhere in the world.
They know that China is a huge market. The leaders of France and Germany try
to tell themselves that China is not communist. Yet the power of the state
in China remains (absolute).

"The European Parliament has lifted its ban on the sale of weapons to China.
If we don't focus on this issue, China will become even more powerful while
Europe reaps the economic benefit. Remember, we have 100,000 soldiers in the
Far East. So don't tell me about the new hotels in China or the new
highways. Yes, things have changed on a certain level. But how much has the
political system changed? How much has the issue of democracy been
advanced?"

Wu also spoke of the new political, military and defense paradigm emerging
in North Asia.

Wen Jiaba, the prime minister of China traveled to India and announced those
two nations of 1 billion people each would become the "two pagodas" of
financial and economic dominance in the coming "Asian Century."

The new strategic alliance deals with issues such as trade, a
techno-military alliance, collaboration against Islamic incursion, joint
space exploration and especially border security. India claims its new
agreement with China will "reshape" the world order.

Russia and China have signed multiple defense pacts and treaties seeking to
limit American hegemony and call for a "multi-polar world." The two nations
share a long and contentious border. China has unofficially begun colonizing
in some parts of Siberia.

Japan "is stopping financial support for China. And Japan feels threatened
by North Korea," said Wu, once again citing the linkage between China and
"The Hermit Kingdom" in Pyongyang.

Many North and South Koreans loathe Japan because of the war crimes Japan
committed in Korea during the first half of the 20th century. Deforestation
and forced prostitution were chief amongst them. The voluntary gendercide in
South Korea of females (the men want sons to carry on the family name) means
that in the future to preserve the Korean race, South Korean boys may have
to marry North Korean girls. (Abortion is still officially illegal in South
Korea but it is rampant nonetheless).

The West, including the U.S., is concerned that a reunited Korea would have
an army of 2 million well-trained troops, cultural and racial unity as well
as a vast array of biological, biochemical and nuclear weapons.

This fact has not been lost on the Japanese who have only begun to apologize
to China, Korea and the rest of Asia for the actions of the Imperial Army
before and during World War II.

In 1998, North Korea shocked the world by launching an ICBM over Japan.
According to Wu, it is now believed that China and North Korea have the
capability to strike at the heart of America with nuclear warheads, reaching
everywhere "except the state of Florida."

One Japanese legislator stood up in the Diet and suggested Japan might well
build scores of nuclear weapons to deter North Korea and mainland China from
a potential attack.

In spite of the animosity Japan faces in most of Asia, the yen has been
proposed as a regional currency while China would head up a regional free
trade zone. One such sub-zone, known as the "Greater Mekong Development
Scheme," seeks to unite all of Southeast Asia from Vietnam to Burma by air,
sea, rail and land.

Burma, pushed into the arms of mainland China by sanctions promoted by the
U.S. and UK, is a de facto colony of Beijing. The rightist junta in Rangoon
sends China hardwood, rice, jade and opium for further processing and/or
export. In the years prior of World War II, Burma was the third-leading
exporter of oil in Asia. Several years ago, the United Nations offered the
Burmese junta $1 billion to turn over control of the country to an interim
government. That offer was refused.

However, the Burmese junta has announced that drug activity in the Golden
Triangle will cease by 2015. This indicates that normal economic activity is
on the agenda for the region. Drug wars, land mines and mercenaries rule the
day on the Burma-Thai border as the Wa State Army, the world's largest
private military force, has turned that part of the world into a no-go zone.
Caught in the middle are the Karen hill tribes, many of them Christians, who
were strong British allies during the darkest days of World War II.

Wu told WorldNetDaily: "America will build a new military base in Australia.
America has forces in South Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan." He
says the U.S. and the West have sought to check or contain China's influence
in the region. Wu also pointed to Thailand and Taiwan as nations outside
China's orbit. Countries like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma are now all
closer with China than with the West.

Final frontier

Wu said China's newfound patriotism received a boost from its recent manned
space flight that made global headlines. China has also set up a space
tracking facility in Marxist Namibia, whose ruling, terrorist SWAPO regime
was assisted by China during its national liberation struggle from the now
defunct apartheid regime in South Africa.

According to some analysts, this tracking station probably contains duel-use
technology that could be used in a future anti-satellite battle in outer
space. With this in mind, the U.S. has recently sought to beef up its
anti-satellite warfare capability.

"China's space program serves to show the masses that the ruling regime is
powerful," said Wu.

"In effect, the Communist government is saying, 'We're in good shape. We
have intercontinental ballistic missiles. We have nuclear submarines. We
will be hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Don't challenge our rule.' The
message to the masses is not to take any advantage and try to change the
country to a democracy (or a republic)."

Continued Wu: "China tells the world and America that they see the U.S. as
their No. 1 enemy. That is what they tell the Chinese people. Chinese
students studying in America need not officially be government agents.
Because of patriotic feelings they want to master American technology and
bring it back home to the motherland."

A look back

"I feel more stable and confident now as a free man," Wu explained when
asked if he forgives those who tortured and imprisoned him back in the days
of the laogai.

"At my age, 68, I could be looking to take it easy. I have recovered from my
nightmare in the laogai. I have a 6 and a half-year-old son now. I want to
spend time with him. I want to be comfortable, travel, to go to Africa and
see the wild animals. I want to enjoy life. But then I think that I must
still press forward to address the issue of human rights in China."

Concluded Wu: "I want to tell ordinary Americans they must know the truth
about China and then in turn tell others the truth. We must address the
human-rights situation. Write letters to the media and to your congressmen
and senators. I think of Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and how she is
on the board of directors for Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart were a nation it would
be China's fifth-largest trading partner. Other issues like China
controlling the Panama Canal and her oceangoing merchant fleet, COSCO,
should also be studied. Boycott products made in China by slave labor,
especially at Christmastime. Start workshops on Chinese issues at your
church. Most of all, pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters inside
China."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=43789
__________________________________________________ _________

Self-censorship among overseas and local Chinese academics, foreign and
domestic reporters, is increasing in recent years. As a negative side
effect, fabricated reports in the media have become rampant due to fierce
competition among publications and a lack of supervision of freelance
reporters.

Foreign broadcasters (Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings, Star TV, Time
Warner, CETV) operating in China, mostly in Guangdong Province, are not
allowed to carryout their bid to beam its news channel into China. On the
other hand, the illegal market for pirated satellite television technology
is thriving as never before, and both the state regulator and approved
foreign broadcasters are losing business.

The Communist Party has always seen propaganda as vital to its success. The
Communist Party rose on propaganda, and really believes that power comes
from controlling guns and pens. That is especially true now, since today's
leaders lack confidence in their ability to maintain control.

In China, the mission of English-language publications aimed at foreigners,
such as the official China Daily, is to give an impression of pragmatic
government - that distortion can lead foreigners to misconstrue the country.
State run articles are part of a broader effort to portray the US as a
hegemonic enemy despite the latter's positive contributions in investment
and aid. Some analysts argue that Beijing systematically represents the US
as an "overbearing bully" and a "declining military power with important
vulnerabilities that can be exploited".

Rupert Murdoch has used his media ownership to influence what information is
made available to the public in order to protect his business interests
(especially in China):

Murdoch removed the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) World Service
Television from the Star Television package of television channels broadcast
in China. The Chinese government had complained about the BBC's coverage of
human rights in China. Shortly afterwards Murdoch signed a deal with the
government's mouthpiece newspaper, the Peoples' Daily. He produced a
documentary on his Star TV eulogizing the Chinese ruler, Deng Xiaoping who
had been in charge when Chinese troops killed thousands of pro-democracy
demonstrators in Beijing's Tienanmen Square.

The last UK governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, was due to have a book
published by the Murdoch owned Harper Collins. This book was critical of the
Chinese government. Publication was stopped. Instead a biography of Deng
Xiaoping (written by his daughter) was published.

The Sun and The Times newspapers are frequently publishing articles critical
of the BBC (the UK's major television channels) and praising Sky Television
(which he also owns). These newspapers are also very anti-Europe. Closer
ties between the UK and Europe could affect the small amount of taxes that
Murdoch's companies pay.

In 2004, the USA documentary film maker, Michael Moore, had problems with
having his film distributed in the USA. The distributor was Miramax, owned
by Disney. The latter did not want a controversial film criticizing the USA
president in an election year. However, just prior to Michael Moore's film
release Miramax struck a deal with the Chinese and for the first time in
Communist Chinese history the first western documentary(?) was allowed to be
distributed in China. That's right, the entire Communist Chinese nation was
allowed to watch Michael Moore's bull**** propaganda film.

Xinhua Financial Network, owner of China's official news agency, had
announced plans to buy U.S.-based Market News. The deal had many China
observers concerned that Mainland China is attempting to export its
Communist-style information control to the United States and manipulate
investor opinion.

New York-based Market News International is one of the top providers of
real-time market news, with offices throughout the United States and Europe.
The purchase would give Xinhua Financial control of a well established and
trusted source of market information.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua is the majority stakeholder in Xinhua
Financial. Sophie Beach, with the Committee to Protect Journalists, calls
Xinhua "the most firmly centralized, controlled media in China, it's the
mouth piece for the Communist party."

She points out that smaller local media are told to follow Xinhua's lead,
particularly on sensitive political issues or stories of industrial
accidents or government corruption.

Xinhua has also faced heavy international criticism for its slander campaign
against Falun Gong in China. Many have compared it to Hitler's propaganda
ministry during WWII, which painted Jews as monsters that ate Christian
babies. Chinese media in the U.S. and Canada have been sued for
rebroadcasting Xinhua's reports which were considered hate propaganda with
no factual basis.

While China has begun to reform its media system to reduce the number of
state-owned media, most China experts agree that this kind of policy change
will do little to alter China's history of repressing free speech. They
believe that privately owned newspapers will simply exercise
self-censorship.

According to media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, journalists in China
are now required to submit to tests on their knowledge of Communist
ideology. The group ranks China 248th on a list of 249 for press freedom and
the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has declared that "there is so far
no press freedom in China." The Committee to Protect Journalists has also
declared China has "the world's most elaborate system of media control."

Although Market News is China's most notable purchase of non-Chinese media,
the Chinese government began an aggressive campaign to dominate Chinese
media around the world after Hong Kong was receded in 1997.

The Jamestown Foundation, a non-partisan think-tank specializing in
identifying governments or countries that pose a threat to democracy and
freedom, carried out a detailed analysis of China's influence on overseas
Chinese media in 2001. It found that three of the four major Chinese
newspapers published in the U.S. are either directly or indirectly
controlled by the government of Mainland China. The fourth is run out of
Taiwan and has increasingly given in to pressure from Mainland China. A
similar situation exists within overseas Chinese television stations, which
often run CCTV-4 programming that is offered free of charge on an uncoded
satellite signal and carries what Jamestown calls Mainland China's "slanted
news, or propaganda."

The Jamestown report detailed that eighty percent of all Chinese-Americans
live in twelve major U.S. cities and said these overseas Chinese "are
targeted by the Chinese government with misinformation and propaganda."

"The 'outside world' and current events are filtered and presented through a
limited number of media, the majority of which are influenced-or even
run...by Beijing's communist government."

Shiyu Zhou of the Association For Asia Research, a think tank specializing
in Asian affairs, points out that this is another way the PRC attempts to
control Chinese people within and beyond China's borders.

"Overseas Chinese have close communications with Mainland China, so a lot of
information will be passed to Mainland China through this communication. So
that is why they want to control, or at least heavily influence, the opinion
of overseas Chinese.

"For the Western media and the financial news, their intention is somehow
clear or obvious. They still need a lot of foreign investment to sustain the
regime and all the economic problems they have in China.

"Over the past few years more and more overseas economists began to realize
problems with the Chinese economic system and more and more voices can be
heard in the media, talking about...what's really going on behind the mirage
of the economic development in China. The Chinese government is very afraid
of this kind of discussion, these opinions, because this would affect
foreign investment, which is kind of key now to what they call the
'development of the Chinese economy,' which is very unhealthy and has much
dependence on this kind of investment.

"It's kind of obvious, or at least reasonable to think that they will try to
control or influence this kind of opinion...The purchase of this news outlet
could be part of such an effort."

Zhou suggests that Western countries like the United States should be
concerned over the purchase and should take a stronger stand on China's
abuse of human rights. He pointed out that Mainland China's ownership of
Western media could also be used to hide those abuses from the international
community.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-2-8/19552.html

http://www.ncuscr.org/Publications/conferen.htm

First is the attempt to directly control newspapers, television stations,
and radio stations through complete ownership or owning major shares. Second
is the government's use of economic ties to influence independent media who
have business relations with China. This leverage has had major effects on
the contents of broadcasting and publishing, effectively removing all
material deemed "unfavorable" by the Chinese government. Third is the
purchasing of broadcast time and advertising space (or more) from existing
independent media. Closely related to this is the government's providing
free, ready-to-go programming and contents. Fourth is the deployment of
government personnel to work in independent media, achieving influence from
within their ranks.

....their "true boss" is none other than the Chinese Consulate [in New York],
and that they are obligated to do whatever the Consulate asks.

Beijing's Communist government has thus penetrated U.S. markets to no small
extent, having effectively infiltrated all major U.S. cities home to
Chinese-Americans.

AOL Time Warner had closed a major deal with the Beijing government that
would bring CCTV programming to the United States on a much larger scale,
via Time Warner's cable operations. The U.S. government, by comparison,
continues to have broadcasting rights in China flatly denied, instead
finding its Radio Free Asia and Voice of America radio networks constantly
jammed. Similarly, all major U.S. newspapers are banned in China and their
websites blocked.

http://www.jamestown.org/publication...e_id=17&iss u
e_id=638&article_id=4587

http://www.freechina.net/2004/comment/00057.htm


The CCP economic influence over the international media.
....
During the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to
China earlier this year, the CCP released the long incarcerated Re Biya, a
human rights activist in Xinjiang province. In return, the U.S. promised not
to mention China's notorious human rights record during the United Nations'
meeting in Geneva. Several European nations, Germany and France especially,
have pursued lifting the arms embargo on China due to economic interests. We
must be reminded of the Munich Treaty in which England and France pledged to
pacifist terms with the powerful Nazi Germany. The English and French
ignored Czechoslovakia's protest for their own interest. Hitler promised to
"move the troubled water to the east" and started taking over Europe.
Although the European and American appeasements to Chinese Communist Party
will not stir a world war, the consequences will be just as dire. The CCP
has introduced the Anti-Secession law to threaten Taiwan. The CCP controls
all Chinese media, tramples on the freedom of speech and persecutes
dissidents. The CCP uses money and other economic incentives to control
almost all Chinese language media overseas. If the international community
upholds its appeasement, NTDTV will become a new victim of Communist
suppression.
....
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-4-13/27817.html

Li Changchun wrote:

Given the state of one-country,
one-and-a-half systems, the Washington Post asks a pertinent question: "what
will be written if the Chicoms invade Taiwan.


Chinese troops seek out terrorists? That's the deal the US made with Russia over
their Chechen atrocities. The deal was the Russians wouldn't get on the US back
very much over it's Iraq invasion if the US stopped supporting Chechnya. That's
how gangster governments work.

With the amount of US money involved in China now, the powers that be will sell
out Taiwan in a heartbeat. If a Chinese attack against Japan happens, there may
even be a 'censure' in the UN and little else. Greed has overcome the
corporation lead US administration and morals only get in the way. Dollars over
allegiances...and it's getting worse rapidly.





mike