Government/Politics - 346. page

On March 21, Xinhua reported that some governments openly supported the Chinese government’s “handling of violence” in Tibet, and opposed the actions of “Tibetan separatism” and the politicizing Beijing Olympic Games. Those countries include Russia, Belarus, Pakistan, Lesotho, Singapore, and Arab countries. A spokesperson for the Russian government said that Russia hoped the Chinese government would take all necessary measures to end the illegal actions, and it recognized that handling the relationship between Beijing and the Dalai Lama was China’s internal affair, according to Xinhua. The report also said that the diplomatic representatives of Arab countries to Beijing expressed “shock” after learning about the violence in Tibet, and said they stood against any “plot” to link the incident with the Beijing Olympic Games.

Source: Xinhua, March 21, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-03/21/content_7829931.htm

Minghui, the official website of Falun Gong, reported that the Political-Legal Committee of Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee issued a secret document entitled “Working Suggestions for Maintaining Social Stability, Ensuring the Security of the Beijing Olympics” on February 19, 2008. The document was sent to all the provincial “Political-Legal Committees” and the corresponding "Offices for the Prevention and Handling of Cult Issues.” The document mandates that between March and September of 2008, relevant departments should “focus the time and manpower on implementing activities solely to exclude and dissolve conflicts;” “strengthen the management of foreign journalists reporting on the Olympic Games;” and “strengthen the management of Internet and mobile phone short messages.” The document especially emphasized the need to “strictly prevent and strike hard against Falun Gong.” According to the report, kidnapping and deaths cases of Falun Gong practitioners due to persecution have increased significantly following the issuing of the document. The report listed six confirmed deaths between February 23 and March 9 of this year in addition to multiple kidnapping cases.

Source: Minghui, March 17, 2008
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/3/17/174530.html

According to Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi, the Chinese military will play a crucial role in the Beijing Olympics on issues related to construction, security, anti-terrorist operations, performances and translation services. Earlier, the Communist Party committee in the Hebei military district had listed providing security to the Olympics as one of its top five priorities for the year 2008.

Beijing Olympic Security Command Chief Tian Yixiang stated in June 2007 that the primary threats to the Games include East Turkistan terrorist groups, pro-Tibet independence groups and Falun Gong.

Sources: Xinhua, January 21, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2008-01/21/content_7463404.htm
Hebei Daily, January 14, 2008.
http://www.heb.chinanews.com.cn/news/szdt/2008-01-14/20392.shtml
Voice of America, June 29, 2007
http://www.voanews.com/chinese/archive/2007-06/w2007-06-29-voa10.cfm?CFID=28130922&CFTOKEN=57196252

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