Menu
close
Anonymous.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWDespite China's incredible economic growth, the PRC's government has not reformed politically. One of the biggest problems has been in the area of civil liberties, where the Freedom House Foundation has ranked China a 6.5 out of 7 on the freedom scale, (The USA is a 1.0).
I found this shocking news story the other day about the sale of internal organs from executed criminals in China.
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-11-27/48589.html
Louis H
AnonymousLouis,
Disturbing news. I was surprised that organ harvesting and marketing is done in China. I don't think Japan allows organ transplants. I never knew about the Epoch Times. Has the information on this topic that appears in the Epoch Times appeared in other Chinese publications (I read that the Epoch Times publishes in China but I was wondering about other Chinese publications).
Aileen Willoughby
AnonymousThere is no freedom of the press in China, so I doubt if the Epoch Times is available.
Illegal organ harvesting is nothing new I found out. The US Senate made a investigation in 1995. Here's the US Senate report:
"China, Illegal trade in human body parts : Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations", United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, May 4, 1995.
by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations.
Publisher: Washington, DC : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, 1995.
ISBN: 0160475260 OCLC: 33310708
The San Francisco Chronicle also ran a story in 2001 about illegal organ and skin harvesting in China.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/27/MN205577.DTL
clay dubeHi Folks,
In advance of the trip, you may find the current Economist cover story ("China's next revolution") interesting and worthy of discussion. I've attached a copy of it, but it's also available at the Economist website.
AnonymousChina fires official for having too many children
China Daily, Apr. 9, 2007 - China's Communist Party has fired a local official for having too many children -- both with his wife and a mistress -- in violation of strict family planning policies, a state newspaper said on Monday. Qin Huaiwen, who headed a construction bureau in Yulin in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, had three daughters with his wife and a son and a daughter by his mistress, who was almost 20 years his junior, the Beijing News said. Most urban Chinese couples are only allowed to have one child. One of his daughters by his wife was registered as being his wife's sister's, while the two children he had with his mistress took their mother's surname and lived with their grandparents, the report said. The family ties only came to light after the mistress began complaining about a lack of child support and her second-rate position to Qin's wife, the newspaper added. Qin denied his mistress' children were related to him, but DNA tests proved otherwise, it said. Qin was also charged with adultery, and was expelled from the party as well as losing his job, it said.
AnonymousLouis, there was a program a few nights ago that discussed the fact that China is
becoming the largest exporter in the world on the backs of their population. The Chinese interviewed indicated that their “bosses” made them lie to the visiting dignitaries about their wages and working conditions. The “bosses” went to great lengths to purport that the working conditions, hours, and wages are much improved while the workers input to the work place is now encouraged. I found the program an interesting presentation of the changes in China. Are we really seeing what we think we are seeing?
AnonymousOne observation I made while in China is that there are many poor people there yet the government has so much money. They have been a "closed" government and have hidden things for decades and time will tell what we are really seeing. As the relationship between the US, the world and China grows, it will be interesting to see what surfaces about the government. I'm surprised that this government official thought he could hide the fact that he has so many children and a mistress. The government still controls a lot of the daily lives of the Chinese people. When we signed the immigration forms, there was also a place to sign saying that we were not bringing in any literature or Bibles to disperse.
AnonymousAnother observation while in China - many students continue to wear red scarves as a sign they are in the Communist Party. It is considered prestigious to wear a red scarf. I wonder what this truly means for the children and their families? Many Chinese people are very loyal to the government and it seems like this type of government is still very much alive.