Once again, we are having a lot to say all at once. Therefore, today's update will link to separate blog posts that go into detail.
Hu Jintao comes under criticism
The tenth anniversary of Falun Gong persecution was on Monday this week. A series of conferences, vigils, marches, and rallies occurred throughout last week. The China Support Network co-sponsored a 'Freedom For Falun Gong' rally and concert Sunday on the National Mall in Washington DC.
Something was qualitatively different in the speech making of Sunday. Before, we would decry the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) regime and its former leader Jiang Zemin, who began the persecution of Falun Gong. We would largely spare the current administration of Hu Jintao from the most direct criticism. That was before -- no more. Sunday's speech making suggested that Hu Jintao belongs in the International Criminal Court, on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The blog post with the complete CSN speech of Sunday is at URL:
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/07/full-text-of-july-19-speech-by-csns.html
Tang Baiqiao holds press conference
Tang Baiqaio is a prominent figure in Chinese dissident and Falun Gong communities, with roles as an officer and spokesman for the China Interim Government.
In recent news, Tang was assaulted, punched in the face, and had his hand broken in Flushing, New York. (Flushing is a Chinatown section of Queens in New York City, with a high concentration of pro-democracy Chinese dissidents and organization headquarters in this cause.)
Communist thuggery is suspected as the cause of the assault in this case, which occurred at the Hollywood Karaoke Bar in Flushing. According to a report by Secret China web site, Tang went there at a friend's invitation. In the words of Secret China,
"As soon as he arrived there, he was urged to leave immediately by a guest. There were two men with northern Chinese accents who began to push him as soon as he sat down. Tang decided to leave when he found that polite protests were ignored, however, he was punched in the face and the other man threw beer bottles at him as he tried to leave, fracturing Tang's hand."
This brought condemnation from Wu Fan, the President of the China Interim Government. Wu Fan said,
"This is a replay of the Flushing incidents last year when CCP thugs attacked Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP tries to transform its internal contradictions to overseas countries. And it may be a sign that the CCP is beginning to disintegrate."
Tang has long been a supporter of Falun Gong and of the Tuidang (Quit the CCP) campaign. Recently, he has spoken out against the Chinese government's crackdown against Uyghur Muslims. He was quoted as saying,
"I had publicly expressed that I am against the CCP persecuting Chinese Uyghurs and Chinese Han people; I call for Chinese people not to be fooled by the communists, I raised a valid point: In today's Xinjiang, today's China, there is no difference between Uyghur and Han; only rulers and the ruled, the oppressor and the oppressed. All the killings and disasters in China have been created by the CCP.
"We, the oppressed, shall stand together in order to prevent the atrocities committed by the CCP; in order to put an end to suffering and killings."
Of course, the China Interim Government is fully hardline in its stance with the Chinese government. Tang explained,
"The goal of the Chinese Transitional Government is to overthrow the Chinese Communist dictatorship; to establish a democratic society. Because only the overthrow of the Chinese Communist tyranny can solve all the problems in China."
Perhaps these factors motivated Communist thuggery, the suspected cause of the July 6 assault on Tang Baiqiao in Flushing.
Today (Tuesday, July 21), Tang Baiqiao will hold a 1PM press conference at the office of the China Democracy Party World Union (CDPWU), near the public library in the middle of Flushing. CDPWU is an organization run by Wang Jun, another prominent Chinese dissident.
Can hip-hop Save Falun Gong?
The China Support Network was very impressed by meeting Joe L. Da Vessel, a performer of Gospel Rap / Hip-Hop, on the program at Sunday's rally for freedom of Falun Gong. There is a first-person account in a lengthy blog post by CSN's John Kusumi at the URL below. It says in part,
"Can a Falun Gong rally be turned into a hip hop revival? If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would not have thought it plausible."
See http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/07/gospel-hip-hop-meets-falun-gong-rips-hu.html
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