Government/Politics - 341. page

On March 11, 2008, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang stated that Dalai Lama continues to distort the facts in an attempt to politicize the Beijing Olympic Games and that the attempt is unwise and will not succeed.

Qin made the remarks in response to a question at the daily briefing pertaining to the Dalai Lama’s statement on March 10, 2008 criticizing China for its tight control of Tibet in violation of human rights along with lack of freedom of speech and religion in Tibet.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 11, 2008 http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/xwfw/fyrth/t413853.htm

On March 11, 2008, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang rejected the claim of an Uyghur dissident that Chinese authorities are trying to use the Olympics Games as a pretext to suppress the Uyghurs. Qin said that the dissidents are sowing discord between the Han and Uyghur people to incite ethnic conflicts and that they will not succeed. Earlier, Xinhua reported that the Uyghurs allegedly had attempted two air attacks directed at the Olympic Games.

"The real goal of the Chinese government is to organize a terrorist attack so that it can increase its crackdown on the Uyghur people," Rebiya Kadeer, the 61-year-old head of the Uyghur American Association said.

Source, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 11, 2008.
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/xwfw/fyrth/t413853.htm

Chinese nationals attending the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games must submit their photo IDs and other required personal information in order to qualify for tickets, according to an announcement made by the official Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games on March 7. The announcement stated that this procedure was put in place in order to boost security, eliminate ticket scalping, and protect the rights of legitimate ticket buyers. The announcement applies to Chinese nationals only and the required materials must be submitted in person with true and accurate information or the tickets will be revoked.

Source: Xinhua, March 7, 2008 h
http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2008-03/07/content_7739560.htm

According the official website for the 2008 Olympics, two state-run Christian organizations issued a joint resolution in support of the Olympics. The resolution states that the event will show the steady increase in China’s national power and that the Christians share the joy. The two organizations are the National Committee of Three Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China and the Chinese Christian Council. Their mission is to ensure that all Christians in China comply with the law and support the government and Chinese Communist Party.

Sources: Official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, March 6, 2008 http://www.beijing2008.cn/news/dynamics/headlines/n214262486.shtml Chinese Protestant Church, http://www.chineseprotestantchurch.org.cn/other/about.htm

A group of pro-democracy student leaders asked in a joint statement that China allow free travel. They and many others have had their Chinese passports revoked or renewal denied, effectively banning them from returning to China. Their joint statement says that the Olympic Charter prohibits any country from denying anyone the right to attend the Olympic Game on the basis of political or religious affiliation, and that China engages in political persecution via its passport administration, thus violating the Olympic Charter.

Source: Asian Times, March 6, 2008 reprinted by Boxun http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/intl/2008/03/200803070458.shtml

On March 5, the 11th National People’s Congress opened with Premier Wen Jiaobao’s two-and-half-hour report of government work. According to Radio Free Asia, in the transcript of Wen’s speech posted on the website of Xinhua New Agency, some of his words were missing. For example, in the part where Wen addressed  “strengthening the construction of socialistic democracy and the rule of law, facilitating social justice”, Xinhua’s report skipped the following words of Wen’s: “conduct democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management, democratic supervision, and protect people’s rights to know, to participate, to express, and to supervise.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, March 5, 2008
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shenrubaodao/2008/03/05/jiang_zhemin/

This commentary article praised the speech given by General Secretary Hu Jintao regarding the path of the political reform in the Second Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China as "the intellectual foundation and political guarantee" for the two congressional conferences currently being held in Beijing. "Developing a socialist political system with Chinese characteristics is the correct path for achieving socialist democracy", the article cited the view emphasized by Hu. The perseverance of the Party’s leadership is the fundamental guarantee that the people are the masters of the country and that the country is ruled by law. In the end, the article states that China shall learn from the positive results of other forms of political culture, but shall never model the political system of the west, nor shall China abandon the essence of the country’s current political system.

Source: People’s Daily, March 2, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2008-03/02/content_7698743.htm

The Epoch Times reports that General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC)’s public security department issued a “Notice on Reporting the Administrative Work of Purifying the Internal and Airport’s Controlled Area Pass.” The “Notice” demands to have a background check on those people with airline crew boarding pass and airport controlled area pass. The scope of the check includes the involved person, spouse, parents, parents-in-law, and children above 18 years old, investigating whether these people have criminal records, their behavior during “Cultural Revolution,” actions during “6.4” (1989 student-led democratic movement), whether or not practicing “Falun Gong,” and whether or not having overseas connections.

Source：The Epoch Times, March 4, 2008
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/8/3/4/n2031337.htm