Canada and Tibet

Kudos go to Conservative MP David Sweet and all members of the House of Commons for their motion to grant honourary Canadian citizenship to the Dalai Lama. Prime Minister Stephen Harper must heed to his promise of promoting democratic ideals and human rights on the international stage, and increase ties with the Dalai Lama and his representatives.

The Dalai Lama is the true representative of the interests of the Tibetan people. Canada must clearly state its objection to the continuing occupation of Tibet by the Chinese communists, and Mr. Harper must show that he will stand up for the right of the Tibetan people.

China's arms exports threaten world peace

The following is an Amnesty International Press Release:

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: ASA 17/033/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 143
11 June 2006

Embargo Date: 11 June 2006 21:00 GMT

China: Secretive arms exports stoking conflict and repression

China is fast emerging as one of the world’s biggest, most secretive and irresponsible arms exporters, according to a new report issued today by Amnesty International.

The report shows how Chinese weapons have helped sustain brutal conflicts, criminal violence and other grave human rights violations in countries such as Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and South Africa. It also reveals the possible involvement of Western companies in the manufacture of some of these weapons.

“China describes its approach to arms export licensing as `cautious and responsible`, yet the reality couldn‘t be further from the truth. China is the only major arms exporting power that has not signed up to any multilateral agreements with criteria to prevent arms exports likely to be used for serious human rights violations,” said Helen Hughes, Amnesty International’s arms control researcher.

China’s arms exports, estimated to be in excess of US$1 billion a year, often involve the exchange of weapons for raw materials to fuel the country’s rapid economic growth. But it is a trade shrouded in secrecy; Beijing does not publish any information about arms transfers abroad and hasn’t submitted any data to the UN Register on Conventional Arms in the last eight years.

Amnesty Internationals report, China: Sustaining conflict and human rights abuses, includes several examples of irresponsible Chinese arms exports.

The report’s main findings include:

• More than 200 Chinese military trucks -- normally fitted with US Cummins diesel engines -- shipped to Sudan in August 2005, despite a US arms embargo on both countries and the involvement of similar vehicles in the killing and abduction of civilians in Darfur;
• Regular Chinese military shipments to Myanmar, including the supply in August 2005 of 400 military trucks to the Burmese army despite its involvement in the torture, killing and forced eviction of hundreds of thousands of civilians;
• Chinese military exports to Nepal in 2005 and early 2006, including a deal to supply nearly 25 thousand Chinese-made rifles and 18,000 grenades to Nepalese security forces, at the time involved in the brutal repression of thousands of civilian demonstrators;
• An increasingly illicit trade in Chinese-made Norinco pistols in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and particularly South Africa, where they are commonly used for robbery, rape and other crimes.

“As a major arms exporter and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it is high time that the Chinese authorities live up to their obligations under international law. They must introduce effective laws and regulations banning all arms transfers that could be used for serious human rights violations or breaches in international humanitarian law,” said Helen Hughes

Amnesty International is also calling on China to report annually and publicly on all arms export licences and deliveries and to support a tough, comprehensive and enforceable international Arms Trade Treaty.

As long as China continues to allow arms supplies to the perpetrators of gross human rights violations, the international community must redouble its regulation of joint ventures involving military and dual-use technology in China and must strengthen the application of arms embargoes on China such as those imposed by the European Union and the USA.

For after copy of the report, China: Sustaining conflict and human rights abuses,please see: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa170302006

In memory of the Tiananmen Square Massacre victims

A very nice song by Joan Baez commemorating the victims of June 4, 1989 (Tiananmen Square Massacre). Let us never forget the self-sacrifice of those who fight for freedom against tyranny.

CHINA
(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

In the month of May, in the glory of the day
Came the descendants of a hundred flowers
And their fight it did begin with the aging Mandarin
And they fought with an extraordinary power
Everyone was smiling, their hearts were one
In Tiananmen Square

But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China

There's peace in the emerald fields, there's mist upon the lakes
But something is afoot in the People's Hall
The spirit of Chu Ping is alive in young Chai Ling
And the Emperor has his back against the wall
Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square
Over Tiananmen Square

But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China

In the month of June, in the darkness of the moon
Went the descendants of a hundred flowers
And time may never tell how many of them fell
Like the petals of a rose in some satanic shower
Everyone was weeping in all of China
And Tiananmen Square

But it seems that the Spring this year in Beijing
Came just before the Fall
There was no summer at all
In Tiananmen Square
China... China

And even the moon on the fourth day of June
Hid her face and did not see
Black sun rising over Tiananmen Square

And Wang Wei Lin, you remember him
All alone he stood before the tanks
A shadow of forgotten ancestors in Tiananmen Square

And my blue-eyed son, you had no one
You could call a hero of your age
You have the rainbow warriors of Tiananmen Square, singing
China Shall Be Free
China Shall Be Free
China Shall Be Free

Lu Decheng and other Democracy Pioneers

Canada is honoured to have Lu Decheng on our soil.

Here is a great quote from him:
"In a repressive dictatorship, if no one has a spirit of sacrifice, we will never achieve democracy. This is China's tragedy."

So true, so true.

Those that sacrificed their own well-being, their own safety, their own careers for the betterment of all need to be saluted. Lu Decheng is a true hero, and may his spirit live with current democracy pioneers that are striving to confront a brutal dictatorship. Cheers to you Mr. Lu, and also to people like Wang Dan who showed courage in the face of brutality.

Taiwan has its own heroes as well who need to be saluted:
Huang Hsin-Chieh
Lin Yi-Hsiung
Annette Lu
and their Tangwai/Formosa Magazine colleagues.

Taiwan owes you a great debt for helping create a free, democratic, and prosperous society.

And we all need to remember that "freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."