Commentary adapted from a rally speech, as delivered at Freedom Plaza in Washington DC, 4/11/2010
By John Kusumi
This week in Washington, President Barack Obama hosted President Hu Jintao on his visit here for the Nuclear Security Summit.
We are the rally of people who say, “Quit the Communist Party!” This is the group that has spent four or five years now informing Chinese people of the real history of the CCP, and making it possible for a growing wave of Chinese individuals to quit their association with the Chinese Communist Party.
Hu Jintao was in town and Barack Obama said to him, “Help us with addressing the issue of Iran.” And Barack Obama also said, “Please allow the value of your currency to float, so that you join the system of floating exchange rates.”
To me, these are good things in and of themselves — but perhaps misplaced priorities.
–Why isn’t Barack Obama telling Hu Jintao to end the system of Laogai slave labor camps?
–Why isn’t Barack Obama telling Hu Jintao to end the system of Laojiao that is administrative detention in China?
–Why isn’t Barack Obama insisting that Hu Jintao must immediately end the crackdown on Falun Gong?
–And Hu Jintao must immediately end the crackdown against Tibetans!
–And Hu Jintao must immediately end the crackdown against Uighur Muslims!
These are priorities that are a matter of life and death. It’s very easy for one man in the White House, who does not have to face the consequences, to ignore and to turn a blind eye to persecution, but in fact we are speaking of DEADLY persecution. These are matters of life and death!
And I believe it shows misplaced priorities on the part of Barack Obama to focus instead on–as he said–”Oh gee, help us to create some international action against Iran.”
In fact, why isn’t Barack Obama asking Hu Jintao to help on the matter of Darfur? We could use some more assistance from the international community in looking at the southern portion of Sudan, and saying to the Sundanese government–”Let’s be done with that genocide, and let’s make sure that we prosecute Omar Bashir.”
So I think that there are priorities that remain ahead of Barack Obama. He spent 2009 being very quiet on the human rights question. But now in 2010 we see a strengthening as he’s become a little bit tougher in his rhetoric with Communist China. He needs to become tougher still.
He needs to say to Hu Jintao the same things that we, in this rally, are saying to China and to Hu Jintao. We’re saying to quit from the Communist Party. In fact, perhaps the best thing that we could say to Hu Jintao is to TEAR DOWN YOUR EVIL EMPIRE!
This is a crowd that is aware of the persecution. We are awake to it. We know what is happening. We’re not fooled when there is news media that is sort of “La di da,” or that indicates, “Don’t worry, be happy.” –We don’t buy into that!
–We know that there’s killing, that there’s torture, there’s persecution, there’s administrative detention, there’s a violation of due process — the rule of law is nowhere to be found in mainland China! We know that they are off the page with their obligations to the international community — in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and, there’s a covenant on civil and political rights; and China is a signatory; and China breaks that covenant every day. Shame on China!
It is good to have Hu Jintao visiting Washington DC. This is a city where we can speak out, and say those things. We say, “Shame on Hu Jintao, if he does not end the persecution of Falun Gong.”
And in fact, the bottom line point that we really ought to say to Hu Jintao is “TEAR DOWN YOUR EVIL EMPIRE!” We’re not fooled; we’re not buying it; we insist that China must have its reform; its respect for human rights; its future of freedom and democracy and the rule of law.
That is our point that we insist upon. Thank you for taking in my speech, and I hope that you will join us in the coming days.
No comments:
Post a Comment