Ancient Chinese Wisdom vs. Modern Canadian Media

A bit of brilliance in the comments of Enik Sleastak.
Enjoy.
~O

UPDATE: CBC-TV will air a documentary chronicling the persecution of the Falun Gong movement by the Chinese government soon, with minor changes approved by its producer.

ANCIENT WISDOM: A change to appease the powerful can never serve the common good.

UPDATE: CBC-TV spokesperson Jeff Keay said an air date will be announced soon, with a tentative date set for Nov. 22 for Beyond The Red Wall: The Persecution of Falun Gong.

ANCIENT WISDOM: Time and forgetfulness may heal all wounds, but for those committed against history and art.

UPDATE: The documentary – set to air earlier this week – was postponed amid fears complaints by Chinese officials had persuaded the broadcaster to pull it from the lineup.

ANCIENT WISDOM: Some fears are well-founded, and some fearfulness is wisdom in another form.

UPDATE: But Keay insisted airing the documentary was never at issue.

ANCIENT WISDOM: Voices without integrity are incapable of truth. Those who speak from a place of enmity and deceit steal the truth from the mouths of all around them.

UPDATE: “This was never an issue of censorship. We have every intention of broadcasting the documentary,” he said, denying the postponement was linked to CBC coverage of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.

ANCIENT WISDOM: To speak to others clearly and honestly, one must first be clear and honest within oneself. Those who are conflicted and rancorous can only spread conflict and rancor with every word and deed. Such shamefulness must be banished, or else overtake all with its infection.

UPDATE: Senior network executives reviewed the documentary in light of concerns raised by Chinese officials and producer Peter Rowe agreed to minor modifications, Keay said.

ANCIENT WISDOM: To be forced to choose between several evil paths is to find one has no choice at all.

UPDATE: In an open letter, Rowe said, “it is now clear to me that CBC is not trying to either bury or censor this film.” He said two storylines are being updated and sources “clarified.”

ANCIENT WISDOM: One does not dare to whisper a tiny truth amid the roar of many larger lies.

UPDATE: “I believe that the changes and additions we are making to the film will improve the quality of the film and certainly in no way … weaken or diminish the film or the voices heard in it,” said Rowe, who worked on the film for three years.

ANCIENT WISDOM: There is no greater sacrifice than when credibility is lost, as there is nothing worse than to forever be disbelieved.

UPDATE: Rowe said he hoped the controversy ensures “many more Canadians will learn the shocking story of the persecution of the Falun Gong.”

ANCIENT WISDOM: Even the most charitable of lies and misdeeds can never serve the truth. A truthful story told with lies is a story whose meaning is lost in the telling. To tell the truth, one must be true, and resist the untruths that tear away at the soul.

9 Comments

  • bobby fletcher says:

    The torture claim is made in the film. In Dr. Ramana’s blog he also mentioned other types of mis-representations besideds the breast cancer photo highlighted.

    I just want Peter Rowe to know what kind of people he lend his credibiliy to.

    Here’s another questionable claim made in the film – the fundamental flaw in Falun Gong’s claim is the fact disciples are not put to death.

    Rather, they are sent to deprogramming centers via custodial detention laws (also known as Laogai). Is cult deprogramming torture?

    That’s debatable IMHO, but what is true is they are only dead in the sense the sect loses hold on these people after deprogramming.

    Here’s an article that speaks to the fact western anti-cult experts were consulted in the Chinese government’s effort on deprogamming Falun Gong disciples:

    http://bernie.cncfamily.com/acm/falun_gong_deprogramming.htm

    There are probably cases of abuse contrary to stated law, but if there’s no death camp, then there exists a very different reality than what’s alleged.

  • Enik Sleastak says:

    Bobby, we know you’re trying to piggyback your pet obsession–the “questionable claims”–with the changes made to the documentary.

    However, to my knowledge no one has said anything in the film about faked “sexual torture” claims and photos of breast cancer. Certainly no one has said that this is one of the changes that was proposed or implemented. If this is not in the film, it’s not really a part of this discussion, is it?

    My understanding is that the organ harvesting allegation *is* part of the film and has been adjusted to include additional supporting material for the allegation.

    I’m not a big supporter of the Falun Gong–a relatively harmless cult can still be a cult–but it would be good to stick to the subject: the documentary.

  • bobby fletcher says:

    TM, CBC’s VP Stursberg said the film was pulled due to “questions raised about its accuracy or the ability to confirm all the claims”

    http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=5e8b4ef8-e271-4443-b285-eba4da4c61e1&k=24551

    IMHO these “questionable claims” are worth reviewing, since some have only come to light recently.

    In addition to US government and Chinese dissident’s undercover investigation (ref: US embassy CRS report cited earlier, page CRS-7), there are also balant mis-representation of gory medical artifacts by FLG.

    The fact some of the “atrocity” photos are medical in nature, was only recently broght to light by a physician blogger in India:

    http://rambodoc.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/is-the-falun-gong-going-wrong/

    Dr. Ramana noticed the photo used in Falun Gong’™s ’œsexual torture’ story is in reality photo of breast cancer.

  • bobby fletcher says:

    Of course, when Asian-American community activists like myself stand up to Falun Gong’s propaganda, we are labeled “Chinese spies”.

    Gladly to say I ain’t the only one Falun Gong has try to slander:

    http://falungongpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/04/epoch-times-reporters-gone-wild.html

  • Kevin says:

    Teamakers is blocked in China already – what’s he gonna do, call up Communications? I’d like to be a fly on the wall for that one.

  • Anonymous says:

    Careful, Ouimet. Speculation has been ramplant for years as to whether “bobby fletcher”/”Charles Liu” is a spy for the Chinese government in the USA, or maybe an agent working in China.

    Either way, you just appeared on the radar of the Chinese communist government. Not sure if you should be proud or worried.

  • Anonymous says:

    Neither of those things sound like “minor changes”, which is what the Ceeb is claiming were necessary to make the film acceptable for broadcast.

    Also, there seemed to be quite a bit of confusion in how this was described in the press. First, the documentary was pulled a few hours before it was to air (for the second time on the network, apparently) after calls and/or visits from representatives of the Chinese government; then the Ceeb claims that the film is being substituted with a Musharraf bio because of events in Pakistan…and, besides, the documentary needs to be ‘looked at’ once again as the filmmaker may need to make some edits.

    While all this is happening, the filmmaker is apparently outraged, saying that his film is being changed against his will, and then he says that he is unavailable for edits. Then suddenly the edits are minor and the filmmaker is fine with the changes and thinks the publicity from all this will get him a bigger audience. What a mess. First Prairie Giant and now this? Maybe News and corporate and the filmmaker and the spokesguy should get their stories straight before anyone opens their mouths in the first place.

    Meanwhile the new CBC News head says he’s happy the doc was pulled and it was the right journalistic decision. Maybe yes, maybe no…but he and Stursburg and the Ottawa mob can’t be too happy with the way this has played out in the media?

    By the way, am I the only one who misses Ruthanne Soles?

  • MaKina says:

    Dear Tea Makers: Thanks for posting the CBC Falun Gong story on your blog. I hope that the edited version will not disappoint anyone. But, I’m not one bit surprised at Liu’s comment. He’s well known to most people who have embraced the Falun Gong cause. I apologize for this long post. So go to this link to get some insights on the inner works of Mr. Liu and this CBC debacle.
    http://boycott2008games.blogspot.com/2007/11/cbc-division-of-china-central.html

    And some of the points brought up by Liu are addressed below. But first check this piece from the Western Standard magazine who interviewed Liu a few months ago about his hidden agenda.

    Western Standard: Sowing Confusion; Embarrassed by reports of live organ harvesting, China’s sympathizers launch a high-tech disinformation campaign

    http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/index.cfm?page=article&article_id=2436
    http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/article.php?id=2436
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/media/WesternStandard_040907.htm

    Below are points responding to Liu’™s allegations:

    A. Charles Liu claimed: ’œ’“ US State Department’s undercover investigation found Falun Gong’s Sujiatun/Auschwitz allegation not credible. [1]’

    Response:
    · There is no ’˜undercover investigation’™ as we know of. The US state Department sent the US consular officers attend the show tour of the Sujiatun hospital escorted by the hospital authorities, weeks after the witness testimony about the organ harvesting was made public.

    · The witness said that her husband was conducting organ harvesting operations for two years ending in October 2003, more than two and a half years before the US State Department consular officials visited the hospital. What the officials saw in April 2006 tells us nothing about what was going on in 2002 and 2003 at that hospital.

    · Matas and Kilgour were well aware of the US state department ’˜findings’™, ie. they did not see/find anything. That proves nothing. Kilgour and Matas made their own conclusion based on the 33 kinds of evidence and all of them are verifiable.

    · The US state department, since the Kilgour/Matas report came out, did not comment on the Kilgour/Matas report and has certainly not expressed any doubt about it.

    B. Charles Liu claimed: – – ’œA US Congressional brief critical of China questioned the veracity of Falun Gong’s claim of genocide and credibility of Kilgour/Matas report. [2]<>“

    Response:
    · This reference [2] does not exist. Kilgour and Matas were aware that there was an anonymous blog (no author name, no identification of the owner, no contact of any kind) which questioned the Kilgour/Matas report, but we believe nobody could rely on it as a credible source and the blog has been deleted some time ago. It no longer exists. It cannot be used as a reference at all.

    · On the contrary, a US Congressional hearing, Falun Gong: Organ Harvesting and China’s Ongoing War on Human Rights , was held on September 27 2006 at the Subcommittee on the Oversight and Investigation of the Committee on International Relations. Please find the whole hearing transcript at: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/oihear.htm or
    http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/109/30146.pdf
    Hon. David Kilgour and David Matas have presented to various Congress/Parliament hearings in different countries, including European Parliament.

    · Following the Kilgour/Matas investigation report, the only studies or investigations which have looked at the matter are those of Dr. Kirk Allison of the University of Minnesota and Dr. Tom Treasure, a UK transplant surgeon, writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Both have come to the same conclusion as Kilgour and Matas, ie, that this practice is happening.
    Please note Kirk Allison’™s testimony at a US Congressional hearing:
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/events/allison-092906-to-us-congress.pdf
    Tom Treasure: https://www.dafoh.org/Article_by_Dr.php

    · Worth mentioning is a Belgian Senator Patrik Vankrunkelsven, who made phone call to two hospitals in China last fall in an effort to investigate organ harvesting. He called hospitals in Beijing in mid-November and presented himself as a patient in need of a kidney transplant. He says he was invited to come for the operation and was told that the waiting time would be only a few weeks. The hospital staff told the senator that the price of a kidney would be 50,000 Euros and one of the hospitals also offered to register him under a Chinese name and address. The senator presented his findings at a seminar in Brussels (December 2006) sponsored by the Belgian Transplant Association. Vankrunkelsven also proposed passing legislation to ban all forms of “organ transplant tourism” to countries where the transplants are performed in violation of fundamental ethical principles.

    C. Charles Liu’™s claim: ’œIndependent investigation by long time Chinese dissident Harry Wu found Falun Gong’s witness unverifiable.’

    Response:
    · David Kilgour interviewed Harry Wu during their investigation on the organ harvesting allegation and was well aware of Wu’™s stance before they made the final conclusion. Kilgour/Matas made a response to Hurry Wu’™s claims in appendix 16 of their revised report. http://organharvestinvestigation.net/report0701/report20070131.htm#_Toc158023109

    · Falun Dafa Informatin Centre also made a statement on Harry Wu’™s conduct on the organ harvesting issue. Please see: http://faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9452

    D. Charles Wu’™s claim: ’œThe hospital Falun Gong accused is partly owned by a Malaysian health care company’¦.’

    Response:
    · In Charles Liu’s reference, there is such a paragraph:
    “In spite of which, a Malaysian company (Country Heights Health Sanctuary) has recently (year 2004) invested in Liaoning Thrombus Medical Treatment Center,Shenyang China’¦..’That indicates that the Malaysians involvement started in 2004. However, the witness said that her husband involved the organ harvesting from late 2001 to October 2003. What happened in 2004 and after is not relevant.

    · The witness said that very few people in the hospital knew about it while the organ harvesting was going on in the hospital. She herself worked in the hospital and her husband had been doing operations in it for two years, but she did not know it until her husband became abnormal and could not hold his terrible secret any longer.

    · Those who had been involved in the organ harvesting are unlikely to inform the Malaysian authority about their killings. If they could conceal it from most of the Chinese employees for years, could they not hide it from foreigners.

    · In addition, Kilgour and Matas’s conclusion was not based on witness testimony in Sujiatun, but upon evidence collected across China, including phone admissions from doctors and other personnel in more than ten provinces.

    E. Charles Liu’™s claim: ’œThe gory photo admitted as evidence by Mr. Kilgour is not evidence of vivisection’¦..’

    Response:
    The issue was well addressed in the Kilgour/Matas revised report as follows:
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/
    “In the first version of our report, appendix twelve had a photo of a person with stitches after his body was cut open to remove organs. One comment we received back is that the stitches the photos show are consistent with an autopsy.

    ’œWe observe that organs may indeed be removed for autopsies in order to determine the cause of death. A corpse which has been autopsied may well have stitches similar to those shown in the photo. Outside of China, except for organ donors, that is likely the reason why organs would be removed from a corpse. Similarly, outside of China, when people are blood tested, typically, the test is done for their own health. However, the suggestion that Falun Gong practitioners who are tortured to the point of death are blood tested for their health or that practitioners who are tortured to death are autopsied to determine the cause of death belies the torture experience.

    ’œThe corpse whose photo we reproduced was that of Wang Bin. Beatings caused the artery in Mr. Wang’s neck and major blood vessels to break. As a result, his tonsils were injured, his lymph nodes were crushed, and several bones were fractured. He had cigarette burns on the backs of his hands and inside his nostrils. There were bruises all over his body. Even though he was already close to death, he was tortured again at night. He finally lost consciousness. On the night of October 4, 2000, Mr. Wang died from his injuries.

    ’œThe purpose of an autopsy report is to determine the cause of death when the cause is otherwise unknown. But in the case of Wang Bin, the cause of death was known before his organs were removed. The suggestion that Wang bin would be autopsied to determine the cause of death after he was tortured to death is not plausible. There was no indication that the family of Wang Bin was asked for consent before the organs of the victim were removed nor provided an autopsy report afterwards. The suggestion of an autopsy is not a tenable explanation for the stitches on Wang Bin’s body. “

    An article in the Western Standard magazine provided information about Liu’™s real intentions:
    Western Standard: Sowing Confusion; Embarrassed by reports of live organ harvesting, China’s sympathizers launch a high-tech disinformation campaign

    http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/index.cfm?page=article&article_id=2436
    http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/article.php?id=2436
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/media/WesternStandard_040907.htm

    Below are points responding to Liu’™s allegations:

    A. Charles Liu claimed: ’œ’“ US State Department’s undercover investigation found Falun Gong’s Sujiatun/Auschwitz allegation not credible. [1]’

    Response:
    · There is no ’˜undercover investigation’™ as we know of. The US state Department sent the US consular officers attend the show tour of the Sujiatun hospital escorted by the hospital authorities, weeks after the witness testimony about the organ harvesting was made public.

    · The witness said that her husband was conducting organ harvesting operations for two years ending in October 2003, more than two and a half years before the US State Department consular officials visited the hospital. What the officials saw in April 2006 tells us nothing about what was going on in 2002 and 2003 at that hospital.

    · Matas and Kilgour were well aware of the US state department ’˜findings’™, ie. they did not see/find anything. That proves nothing. Kilgour and Matas made their own conclusion based on the 33 kinds of evidence and all of them are verifiable.

    · The US state department, since the Kilgour/Matas report came out, did not comment on the Kilgour/Matas report and has certainly not expressed any doubt about it.

    B. Charles Liu claimed: – – ’œA US Congressional brief critical of China questioned the veracity of Falun Gong’s claim of genocide and credibility of Kilgour/Matas report. [2]<>“

    Response:
    · This reference [2] does not exist. Kilgour and Matas were aware that there was an anonymous blog (no author name, no identification of the owner, no contact of any kind) which questioned the Kilgour/Matas report, but we believe nobody could rely on it as a credible source and the blog has been deleted some time ago. It no longer exists. It cannot be used as a reference at all.

    · On the contrary, a US Congressional hearing, Falun Gong: Organ Harvesting and China’s Ongoing War on Human Rights , was held on September 27 2006 at the Subcommittee on the Oversight and Investigation of the Committee on International Relations. Please find the whole hearing transcript at: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/oihear.htm or
    http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/109/30146.pdf
    Hon. David Kilgour and David Matas have presented to various Congress/Parliament hearings in different countries, including European Parliament.

    · Following the Kilgour/Matas investigation report, the only studies or investigations which have looked at the matter are those of Dr. Kirk Allison of the University of Minnesota and Dr. Tom Treasure, a UK transplant surgeon, writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Both have come to the same conclusion as Kilgour and Matas, ie, that this practice is happening.
    Please note Kirk Allison’™s testimony at a US Congressional hearing:
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/events/allison-092906-to-us-congress.pdf
    Tom Treasure: https://www.dafoh.org/Article_by_Dr.php

    · Worth mentioning is a Belgian Senator Patrik Vankrunkelsven, who made phone call to two hospitals in China last fall in an effort to investigate organ harvesting. He called hospitals in Beijing in mid-November and presented himself as a patient in need of a kidney transplant. He says he was invited to come for the operation and was told that the waiting time would be only a few weeks. The hospital staff told the senator that the price of a kidney would be 50,000 Euros and one of the hospitals also offered to register him under a Chinese name and address. The senator presented his findings at a seminar in Brussels (December 2006) sponsored by the Belgian Transplant Association. Vankrunkelsven also proposed passing legislation to ban all forms of “organ transplant tourism” to countries where the transplants are performed in violation of fundamental ethical principles.

    C. Charles Liu’™s claim: ’œIndependent investigation by long time Chinese dissident Harry Wu found Falun Gong’s witness unverifiable.’

    Response:
    · David Kilgour interviewed Harry Wu during their investigation on the organ harvesting allegation and was well aware of Wu’™s stance before they made the final conclusion. Kilgour/Matas made a response to Hurry Wu’™s claims in appendix 16 of their revised report. http://organharvestinvestigation.net/report0701/report20070131.htm#_Toc158023109

    · Falun Dafa Informatin Centre also made a statement on Harry Wu’™s conduct on the organ harvesting issue. Please see: http://faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=9452

    D. Charles Wu’™s claim: ’œThe hospital Falun Gong accused is partly owned by a Malaysian health care company’¦.’

    Response:
    · In Charles Liu’s reference, there is such a paragraph:
    “In spite of which, a Malaysian company (Country Heights Health Sanctuary) has recently (year 2004) invested in Liaoning Thrombus Medical Treatment Center,Shenyang China’¦..’That indicates that the Malaysians involvement started in 2004. However, the witness said that her husband involved the organ harvesting from late 2001 to October 2003. What happened in 2004 and after is not relevant.

    · The witness said that very few people in the hospital knew about it while the organ harvesting was going on in the hospital. She herself worked in the hospital and her husband had been doing operations in it for two years, but she did not know it until her husband became abnormal and could not hold his terrible secret any longer.

    · Those who had been involved in the organ harvesting are unlikely to inform the Malaysian authority about their killings. If they could conceal it from most of the Chinese employees for years, could they not hide it from foreigners.

    · In addition, Kilgour and Matas’s conclusion was not based on witness testimony in Sujiatun, but upon evidence collected across China, including phone admissions from doctors and other personnel in more than ten provinces.

    E. Charles Liu’™s claim: ’œThe gory photo admitted as evidence by Mr. Kilgour is not evidence of vivisection’¦..’

    Response:
    The issue was well addressed in the Kilgour/Matas revised report as follows:
    http://organharvestinvestigation.net/
    “In the first version of our report, appendix twelve had a photo of a person with stitches after his body was cut open to remove organs. One comment we received back is that the stitches the photos show are consistent with an autopsy.

    ’œWe observe that organs may indeed be removed for autopsies in order to determine the cause of death. A corpse which has been autopsied may well have stitches similar to those shown in the photo. Outside of China, except for organ donors, that is likely the reason why organs would be removed from a corpse. Similarly, outside of China, when people are blood tested, typically, the test is done for their own health. However, the suggestion that Falun Gong practitioners who are tortured to the point of death are blood tested for their health or that practitioners who are tortured to death are autopsied to determine the cause of death belies the torture experience.

    ’œThe corpse whose photo we reproduced was that of Wang Bin. Beatings caused the artery in Mr. Wang’s neck and major blood vessels to break. As a result, his tonsils were injured, his lymph nodes were crushed, and several bones were fractured. He had cigarette burns on the backs of his hands and inside his nostrils. There were bruises all over his body. Even though he was already close to death, he was tortured again at night. He finally lost consciousness. On the night of October 4, 2000, Mr. Wang died from his injuries.

    ’œThe purpose of an autopsy report is to determine the cause of death when the cause is otherwise unknown. But in the case of Wang Bin, the cause of death was known before his organs were removed. The suggestion that Wang bin would be autopsied to determine the cause of death after he was tortured to death is not plausible. There was no indication that the family of Wang Bin was asked for consent before the organs of the victim were removed nor provided an autopsy report afterwards. The suggestion of an autopsy is not a tenable explanation for the stitches on Wang Bin’s body. “

  • bobby fletcher says:

    The documentary got pulled due to inaccuracies:

    – Falun Gong passes off “gory” medical artifacts and misrepresent them as evidence of torture. For example here they used a photo of breast cancer to fake a “sexual torture” claim:

    http://rambodoc.wordpress.com/2007/09/17/is-the-falun-gong-going-wrong/

    – The “organ harvesting” allegation David Kilgour is promoting has been discredited by multiple undercover investigation.

    Here’s the conclusion from US State Deparment and Chinese dissident Harry Wu:

    http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=April&x=20060416141157uhyggep0.5443231&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html

    http://www.usembassy.it/pdf/other/RL33437.pdf (section CRS-7)

    http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20060806_1.htm

    http://www.cicus.org/info_eng/artshow.asp?ID=6491

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