The ****trait of an Inhumanly Mean "Olympic Host" -- Beijing Olympics:
five-year sentence for speaking out
From The Times
March 25, 2008
Beijing Olympics: five-year sentence for speaking out
Jane Macartney
China has sentenced a man to five years in prison for protesting against
the Beijing Olympics. The sentence was passed only a month after the
Foreign Minister of China told David Miliband, the British Foreign
Secretary, that police would offer a cup of tea to any Chinese
protesting against the Olympics.
Yang Chunlin gathered thousands of signatures on a petition about
disputed land that read: ¡°We don¡¯t want the Olympics, we want human
rights.¡± The unemployed factory worker said that he was trying to help
local villagers, but he was detained and put on trial last month.
A court in northeastern Heilong-jiang province handed down a sentence of
five years against Yang, the maximum penalty that he faced, for
subverting the power of the State. It is a charge that the authorities
commonly use in response to dissent.
Yang, 52, had gathered more than 10,000 signatures, mostly from farmers
engaged in disputes with local authorities that were taking their land
for development. Yang Chunping, his sister, said that he was arrested
because of essays that he posted online that were critical of China¡¯s
Parliament, the ruling Communist Party and communism in general. She
said: ¡°He said he¡¯s not guilty, and he was just exercising his freedom
of speech and publication. But . . . he said there was no use in
appealing.¡±
Related Links
* China accuses Dalai Lama of being a terrorist
Prosecutors said that the petition stained China¡¯s international image
and amounted to subversion. But that is at odds with remarks made by
Yang Jiechi, the Foreign Minister, during Mr Miliband¡¯s visit last
month. Then Mr Yang said: ¡°No one will get arrested because he said that
human rights are more im****tant than the Olympics. This is impossible.¡±
Yang¡¯s case is one of two dissident trials being closely watched
overseas. The second involves Hu Jia, a prominent dissident and human
rights campaigner who went on trial in Beijing last week also for
subversion.
China said security would be tightened once the Olympic flame arrived in
Beijing on March 31, before its journey around the world. An attempt
will be made to take a second torch to the top of Mount Everest. A
Tibetan s****ts official said that the climb would go ahead under tight
security.
¡°The region¡¯s torch relay leader****p team will closely coordinate and
cooperate with all concerned units . . . guarding against disturbances
and sabotage by the Dalai clique,¡± he told the Tibet Daily newspaper.
* Have your say
Come to China,and you will konw the truth.I don't know how many of you
have came to China,but there is one Chinese adage:the truth is what you
see in body,not hear and not see from other media.l love my
country,because I know the change
of our lives.
fes, Beijing, China
Only a democratic free country can understand the the true meaning of
freedom. Communism only has brought bloodshed insecurity & disharmony in
this world. Unless China gets rid out of this Communist propoganda its
difficult for them to get respect from the western & international
community. If China wants to seek change in treatment from the world
first try to change yourself & your outlook towards society & Human
Values.Only thing that can conquer a nation is love & peace & not the
repressive brutal force the communism adopts.Its high time that Chinese
must realise the need for liberalisation.Chinese must learn to respect
religions & faiths. Its the only thing that preserves ones identity &
respect in the world community.Tolerance is a key to a nations success
peace & harmony.
Prithviraj Rathore, Mumbai, India
I wonder if David, Lihui, Zhuji and all the others who post on Western
news sites on this subject are paid to do so, or if they do so
voluntarily.
Meanwhile, when will you, and the Chinese authorities, realize that one
can criticize the Chinese government without being anti-Chinese? I lived
there for 6 years and I'm married to a PRC citizen, and it's precisely
because I admire and respect China's culture and her achievements that I
want to see freedom of speech and freedom of opinion, and the same
democratic rights that people enjoy in other countries.
I'm now living in the USA, and I strongly disagree with the policies of
the Bush government, but this doesn't make me anti-American. And I don't
hate people who do sup****t Bush, by the way.
Tolerance of other people's views is the mark of a mature and confident
society.
Simon Buckland, Wa****ngton DC, USA
Before China was granted the 2008 Olympics and World Trade Organization
member****p, certain promises were extracted by Western powers from
China's communist leader****p for improvement in Chinaa^'s human rights
practices-specifically, the rights of its citizens to express grievances
and protest unfair government policies. Unfortunately, those promises
have not been kept even though China is preparing this summer to
showcase the 'successes' of its Marxist political system to the world
and has prospered by 'gaming' the free world's open market trading
system to the advantage and profit of the West's transnational
cor****ations.
It was assumed that if enough of China's massive population began to
enjoy the benefits of free trade and economic prosperity, China's
self-appointed leaders would loosen their exclusive, iron-grip of power
and allow individual and minority rights of free expression.
Unfortunately, that strategy has proven to be a colossal failure.
Tiger, Kunming, PRC
As Chinese I enjoyed the touching and warm feeling during last Special
Olympic in Shanghai while meeting people from everywhere, this is what I
am expecting from Beijing Olympic. Please give Chinese a break, stop get
the politics involving into this great party. We have been suffering
from politics; now all we want is enjoying life. I was one of the
students in Tiananmen Square at the night of June 4; no media tells the
truth including China and Western, and also Hu Jia. Now all I want is
forgetting and forgiving, and enjoy what I have now. I am so happy to
see the great changing in China.
Yajuan, shanghai, China
i sup****t chinese goverment.
cyuanxin, shantou, china
To Tim in Kolkata, India:
You are forgetting one im****tant detail: the people in Irag have guns
and an etire arsenal of ammunition at their disposal.
vic, Kennesaw, GA, USA
Hey Eric, I sup****t your outrage against the suppression of human
rights. I just want to know, have you written similar opinion pieces
about what your own country has done and is continuing to do in Iraq? If
you have your heart in the right place I'm sure you'd protest tyranny
anywhere on earth.
Tim, Kolkata, India
I'm a 17-year-old student in China so my English is not very good.But I
have to say that the picture showed "Crisis in Tibet as Chinese Army
cracks down" just made a big mistake!The soldiers in the picture are not
Chinese but Nepalis.At last I must tell everyone here that Beijing
welcomes you!
Zhuji, Wuxi, China
Everyone should respect the truth,especially the western media.You shoud
be resposile for what you have said and have no right to insult our
government and people by these distorted news.
If you have time to do nothing,you should do something useful to the
relation****p between the west and China.
lihui , NanJing, China
I find it completely mind-boggling the ways in which the Chinese
government continually brainwash their countrymen into believing that
the Dalai Lama is a terrorist, and that by placing "tighter security"
around China they will be able to keep those of us overseas who live in
freedom from understanding what they are actually doing to their citizens.
Sick.
BOYCOTT THE OLYMPICS
ThamasD
ThamasD, Denver, Colorado
Other news stories have mentioned that Yang was shocked with electric
batons after the verdict was announced.
The fact that this country will be hosting the Olympics in a few months
is becoming nearly intolerable. More than a year ago, I vowed not to
watch a single minute of the Beijing Games on television. While I oppose
a national boycott because it would be unfair to the athletes, I hope a
few prominent athletes choose to individually boycott the Games. Best of
all would be for a star Chinese athlete to refuse to compete (as dozens
of nations line up to grant asylum to him/her).
Yang Chunlin, Hu Jia, the Tibet situation...I almost hope that something
even worse happens, something that will cause China immense shame and
humiliation as its Olympic dreams come cra****ng down. At some point,
cor****ate sponsors will realize the Beijing Olympics are bad for
business. When that happens, it'll be Games Over.
Eric, Takoma Park, Maryland, USA
He committed the crime of endangering national security, was sentenced
to five years.
Not because of what he said, but because of what he did.
He fully deserved.
David, China, Heilongjiang
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