Praise be to Allah who created the creation for his worship and commanded them to be just and permitted the wronged one to retaliate against the oppressor in kind. To proceed:
Peace be upon he who follows the guidance: People of America this talk of mine is for you and concerns the ideal way to prevent another Manhattan, and deals with the war and its causes and results.

Before I begin, I say to you that security is an indispensable pillar of human life and that free men do not forfeit their security, contrary to Bush's claim that we hate freedom.
If so, then let him explain to us why we don't strike for example - Sweden? And we know that freedom-haters don't possess defiant spirits like those of the 19 - may Allah have mercy on them.

No, we fight because we are free men who don't sleep under oppression. We want to restore freedom to our nation, just as you lay waste to our nation. So shall we lay waste to yours.

No one except a dumb thief plays with the security of others and then makes himself believe he will be secure. Whereas thinking people, when disaster strikes, make it their priority to look for its causes, in order to prevent it happening again.

But I am amazed at you. Even though we are in the fourth year after the events of September 11th, Bush is still engaged in distortion, deception and hiding from you the real causes. And thus, the reasons are still there for a repeat of what occurred.

So I shall talk to you about the story behind those events and shall tell you truthfully about the moments in which the decision was taken, for you to consider.
I say to you, Allah knows that it had never occurred to us to strike the towers. But after it became unbearable and we witnessed the oppression and tyranny of the American/Israeli coalition against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, it came to my mind.

The events that affected my soul in a direct way started in 1982 when America permitted the Israelis to invade Lebanon and the American Sixth Fleet helped them in that. This bombardment began and many were killed and injured and others were terrorised and displaced.

I couldn't forget those moving scenes, blood and severed limbs, women and children sprawled everywhere. Houses destroyed along with their occupants and high rises demolished over their residents, rockets raining down on our home without mercy.

The situation was like a crocodile meeting a helpless child, powerless except for his screams. Does the crocodile understand a conversation that doesn't include a weapon? And the whole world saw and heard but it didn't respond.

In those difficult moments many hard-to-describe ideas bubbled in my soul, but in the end they produced an intense feeling of rejection of tyranny, and gave birth to a strong resolve to punish the oppressors.

And as I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children.

And that day, it was confirmed to me that oppression and the intentional killing of innocent women and children is a deliberate American policy. Destruction is freedom and democracy, while resistance is terrorism and intolerance.

This means the oppressing and embargoing to death of millions as Bush Sr did in Iraq in the greatest mass slaughter of children mankind has ever known, and it means the throwing of millions of pounds of bombs and explosives at millions of children - also in Iraq - as Bush Jr did, in order to remove an old agent and replace him with a new puppet to assist in the pilfering of Iraq's oil and other outrages.

So with these images and their like as their background, the events of September 11th came as a reply to those great wrongs, should a man be blamed for defending his sanctuary?

Is defending oneself and punishing the aggressor in kind, objectionable terrorism? If it is such, then it is unavoidable for us.

This is the message which I sought to communicate to you in word and deed, repeatedly, for years before September 11th.

And you can read this, if you wish, in my interview with Scott in Time Magazine in 1996, or with Peter Arnett on CNN in 1997, or my meeting with John Weiner in 1998.
You can observe it practically, if you wish, in Kenya and Tanzania and in Aden. And you can read it in my interview with Abdul Bari Atwan, as well as my interviews with Robert Fisk.

The latter is one of your compatriots and co-religionists and I consider him to be neutral. So are the pretenders of freedom at the White House and the channels controlled by them able to run an interview with him? So that he may relay to the American people what he has understood from us to be the reasons for our fight against you?
If you were to avoid these reasons, you will have taken the correct path that will lead America to the security that it was in before September 11th. This concerned the causes of the war.

As for it's results, they have been, by the grace of Allah, positive and enormous, and have, by all standards, exceeded all expectations. This is due to many factors, chief among them, that we have found it difficult to deal with the Bush administration in light of the resemblance it bears to the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half which are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents.
Our experience with them is lengthy, and both types are replete with those who are characterised by pride, arrogance, greed and misappropriation of wealth. This resemblance began after the visits of Bush Sr to the region.

At a time when some of our compatriots were dazzled by America and hoping that these visits would have an effect on our countries, all of a sudden he was affected by those monarchies and military regimes, and became envious of their remaining decades in their positions, to embezzle the public wealth of the nation without supervision or accounting.
So he took dictatorship and suppression of freedoms to his son and they named it the Patriot Act, under the pretence of fighting terrorism. In addition, Bush sanctioned the installing of sons as state governors, and didn't forget to import expertise in election fraud from the region's presidents to Florida to be made use of in moments of difficulty.
All that we have mentioned has made it easy for us to provoke and bait this administration. All that we have to do is to send two mujahidin to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al-Qaida, in order to make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and political losses without their achieving for it anything of note other than some benefits for their private companies.
This is in addition to our having experience in using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers, as we, alongside the mujahidin, bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat.

All Praise is due to Allah.

So we are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah.
That being said, those who say that al-Qaida has won against the administration in the White House or that the administration has lost in this war have not been precise, because when one scrutinises the results, one cannot say that al-Qaida is the sole factor in achieving those spectacular gains.
Rather, the policy of the White House that demands the opening of war fronts to keep busy their various corporations - whether they be working in the field of arms or oil or reconstruction - has helped al-Qaida to achieve these enormous results.

And so it has appeared to some analysts and diplomats that the White House and us are playing as one team towards the economic goals of the United States, even if the intentions differ.

And it was to these sorts of notions and their like that the British diplomat and others were referring in their lectures at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. [When they pointed out that] for example, al-Qaida spent $500,000 on the event, while America, in the incident and its aftermath, lost - according to the lowest estimate - more than $500 billion.
Meaning that every dollar of al-Qaida defeated a million dollars by the permission of Allah, besides the loss of a huge number of jobs.
As for the size of the economic deficit, it has reached record astronomical numbers estimated to total more than a trillion dollars.

And even more dangerous and bitter for America is that the mujahidin recently forced Bush to resort to emergency funds to continue the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, which is evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan - with Allah's permission.
It is true that this shows that al-Qaida has gained, but on the other hand, it shows that the Bush administration has also gained, something of which anyone who looks at the size of the contracts acquired by the shady Bush administration-linked mega-corporations, like Halliburton and its kind, will be convinced. And it all shows that the real loser is ... you.
It is the American people and their economy. And for the record, we had agreed with the Commander-General Muhammad Ataa, Allah have mercy on him, that all the operations should be carried out within 20 minutes, before Bush and his administration notice.

It never occurred to us that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would abandon 50,000 of his citizens in the twin towers to face those great horrors alone, the time when they most needed him.

But because it seemed to him that occupying himself by talking to the little girl about the goat and its butting was more important than occupying himself with the planes and their butting of the skyscrapers, we were given three times the period required to execute the operations - all praise is due to Allah.
And it's no secret to you that the thinkers and perceptive ones from among the Americans warned Bush before the war and told him: "All that you want for securing America and removing the weapons of mass destruction - assuming they exist - is available to you, and the nations of the world are with you in the inspections, and it is in the interest of America that it not be thrust into an unjustified war with an unknown outcome."
But the darkness of the black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America.

So the war went ahead, the death toll rose, the American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future. He fits the saying "like the naughty she-goat who used her hoof to dig up a knife from under the earth".
So I say to you, over 15,000 of our people have been killed and tens of thousands injured, while more than a thousand of you have been killed and more than 10,000 injured. And Bush's hands are stained with the blood of all those killed from both sides, all for the sake of oil and keeping their private companies in business.

Be aware that it is the nation who punishes the weak man when he causes the killing of one of its citizens for money, while letting the powerful one get off, when he causes the killing of more than 1000 of its sons, also for money.
And the same goes for your allies in Palestine. They terrorise the women and children, and kill and capture the men as they lie sleeping with their families on the mattresses, that you may recall that for every action, there is a reaction.
Finally, it behoves you to reflect on the last wills and testaments of the thousands who left you on the 11th as they gestured in despair. They are important testaments, which should be studied and researched.

Among the most important of what I read in them was some prose in their gestures before the collapse, where they say: "How mistaken we were to have allowed the White House to implement its aggressive foreign policies against the weak without supervision."
It is as if they were telling you, the people of America: "Hold to account those who have caused us to be killed, and happy is he who learns from others' mistakes."
And among that which I read in their gestures is a verse of poetry. "Injustice chases its people, and how unhealthy the bed of tyranny."

As has been said: "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure."
And know that: "It is better to return to the truth than persist in error." And that the wise man doesn't squander his security, wealth and children for the sake of the liar in the White House.
In conclusion, I tell you in truth, that your security is not in the hands of Kerry, nor Bush, nor al-Qaida. No.

Your security is in your own hands. And every state that doesn't play with our security has automatically guaranteed its own security.
And Allah is our Guardian and Helper, while you have no Guardian or Helper. All peace be upon he who follows the Guidance.

"I don't think we ought to judge the whole People's Liberation Army by that terrible incident,"

"Whether a cat is black or white makes no difference. As long as it catches mice, it is a good cat."

"...we have found it difficult to deal with the Bush administration in light of the resemblance it bears to the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half which are ruled by the sons of kings and presidents.
Our experience with them is lengthy, and both types are replete with those who are characterized by pride, arrogance, greed and misappropriation of wealth. This resemblance began after the visits of Bush Sr to the region. [/b]

In the former Soviet Union the means of production were in fact owned by the state… Should this factory produce shoes? we must ask society. Society votes yes, let them produce shoes. Factory produces 1 million shoes all size 7 .

America is Running Out of Time
by Paul Craig Roberts

The Bush administration is churning out red ink in excess of $1 trillion annually. The federal budget deficit is approaching $500 billion. The US trade deficit is approaching $700 billion.

The budget deficit is being financed by foreigners, primarily Asians who now hold enough US government debt to exercise power over US interest rates and the value of the dollar whenever they decide to use the power that Bush has placed in their hands.
The trade deficit is being financed by turning over the ownership of US assets and future income streams to foreigners, making Americans forever poorer from the loss of accumulated wealth.

For the time being, China is willing to accumulate US assets as a way of taking over our consumer markets, attracting US manufacturing industry with cheap labor subsidized by artificial currency values, and gaining our technology. China's strategy is to over-value the US dollar in order to encourage the transfer of US economic capabilities to China. China's strategy gives artificial value to the dollar and keeps US interest rates at an artificial low.
The values of US stocks, bonds, and real estate depend on the support that Asians' economic strategies provide the dollar and US interest rates. As Asia achieves its goal of preeminence in manufacturing, innovation, and product development, the strategy will change. Once China completes its acquisition of US capabilities, it will no longer have a reason to support the dollar.

When the dollar goes, it will affect costs, profits, interest rates and living standards in dramatic ways. Costs and interest rates will soar, and profits, living standards, equity values, bond prices and real estate will plummet.

These unpleasant events await only Asia's decision to curtail its support for US red ink. That will happen when this support no longer serves Asia's interest.

When Asia pulls the plug on the dollar, the US government will find that monetary and fiscal policy are powerless to offset the consequences.

Compared to US budget and trade deficits, terrorists are a minor concern. The greatest danger that the US faces is the dollar's loss of reserve currency role. This would be an impoverishing event, one from which the US would not recover.

Paul Craig Roberts

The US "superpower" is dependent on China for the advanced technology products that the US is no longer able to produce. China is America's second most important banker after Japan. China can destroy the US in a few minutes just by dumping its holdings of US dollar-denominated assets.

China is presently concluding a $100 billion investment in the development of an Iranian oil field. In its insane determination to attack Iran and seize the Iranian oil fields, the Bush regime is going against the interests of China. China holds all the cards, not the Moron in the White House.

Nuclear China Good, Nuclear Iran Bad?
by Paul Craig Roberts

Meanwhile, the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that the commission will approve Westinghouse's sale of two nuclear reactors to China.
Conservatives and Republicans think this is a good idea. Vice President Cheney has lobbied in behalf of the sale. It is good for private business. It means $2.4 billion in revenues for Westinghouse Electric Company.
Iran will never again be a world power, even if it has a few nukes. Persia was a power in ancient times, not today. If we don't bother Iran, Iran won't bother us.
China is a different matter. China already is a world power. China holds enough U.S. government debt to have the dollar and U.S. interest rates in its hand. Last month in an official briefing, a top Chinese general, Zhu Chenghu, said that if the United States messes around with China or tries to interfere with China's reunification with Taiwan, China will nuke the United States: "If the Americans are determined to interfere, then we will be determined to respond. We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all the cities east of Xian. Of course, the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese."
VP Cheney and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission want to make sure China has what it takes to do the job.
The moronic Bush administration is all concerned about "weapons of mass destruction" where they aren't, not where they are. Why in the world is the Bush administration using up the U.S. military and its weapons systems in Iraq, a country that was no threat whatsoever to the United States, while aiding and abetting China's rapidly growing economic and military power?

The US Navy...Made in China
by Paul Craig Roberts

…The money is being lent to us mainly by Asians, especially the Chinese. China has so many dollars to lend to us because we send so many dollars to China to pay for the goods and services that patriotic American corporations have decided to supply to us from China instead of from America.

US corporations decided that the way to get rich was to destroy their American consumer base by closing their American factories, throwing their US employees out of work and hiring Chinese instead. The Chinese work for less, you see, and free trade economists say lowering costs makes us better off.

What US corporations and the free trade economists overlook is that giving Americans' jobs to foreigners raises foreign incomes and lowers American incomes. When credit cards and home equity lines are maxed out, there will be nothing to support the US consumer market. The American corporations who moved their capital and technology to China will have to find new customers.

Maybe the Chinese government will let the relocated US firms sell to Chinese customers, or maybe the Chinese government will let the US firms go bankrupt. The latter favors China's strategic interest. Chinese businessmen will purchase the bankrupt firms, and Chinese businesses will sell to Chinese customers.
Americans are pouring so much money into China that China can finance our wars while it buys up our companies.

Everyone was shocked that a Chinese company could outbid Chevron for Unocal. China has already purchased IBM's personal computer business, and is now after US appliance maker Maytag (whose appliances are made in Mexico).

The outsourcing mania has hit the Pentagon, and China will soon be supplying the ships for the US Navy. The Pentagon, seeking lowest cost, is pushing defense contractors to outsource offshore for more materials, components and systems.

This means the end of US shipbuilding capability. Component suppliers to American shipbuilding are already skeletal thin, with most components only having sole suppliers. For example, Manufacturing & Technology News (July 8) reports that 80% of the components for the Virginia Class submarine come from sole sources.

With not enough US Navy ships being built to support even an industry of sole suppliers, Asia is fast becoming the only source for US Navy ships.

… Meanwhile China is on a rip. China is now the third largest shipbuilder after South Korea and Japan. In five years China's submarine fleet will be twice the size of America's. In 10 years China's navy will be larger than the American fleet.
This is amazing performance for a country that as recently as 1989 had essentially no shipbuilding industry.

This year the US is producing 6 ships, one-tenth of South Korea's output. In 2006 the US is scheduled to produce only 4 ships, because China has outbid us for the steel. The US "superpower" can no longer afford to compete against China for essential materials.
Cynthia Brown, president of the American Shipbuilding Association says that "the manufacture of entire components and systems will migrate to China in the next several years under current Department of Defense policy with respect to outsourcing.

China Set To Reduce Exposure To Dollar
Move Would Probably Push Currency Down
By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, January 10, 2006

SHANGHAI, Jan. 9 -- China has resolved to shift some of its foreign exchange reserves -- now in excess of $800 billion -- away from the U.S. dollar and into other world currencies in a move likely to push down the value of the greenback, a high-level state economist who advises the nation's economic policymakers said in an interview Monday.
As China's manufacturing industries flood the world with cheap goods, the Chinese central bank has invested roughly three-fourths of its growing foreign currency reserves in U.S. Treasury bills and other dollar-denominated assets. The new policy reflects China's fears that too much of its savings is tied up in the dollar, a currency widely expected to drop in value as the U.S. trade and fiscal deficits climb.

China now boasts the world's second-largest cache of foreign exchange -- behind only Japan -- and is on pace to see its reserves climb past $1 trillion later this year. Even a slight diminishing of the dollar as a percentage of those holdings could exert significant pressure on the U.S. currency, many economists assert.

In recent years, the value of the dollar has been buoyed by major purchases of U.S. Treasury bills by Japan, China and oil-exporting countries -- a flow of capital that has kept interests rates relatively low in the United States and allowed Americans to keep spending even as debts mount. Some economists have long warned that if foreigners lose their appetite for American debt, the dollar would fall, interest rates would rise and the housing boom could burst, sending real estate prices lower.

The comments of the Chinese senior economist, made on the condition of anonymity because the government disciplines those who speak to the press without express authorization, confirmed an analysis in Monday's Shanghai Securities News stating that China is inclined to shift some its savings into other currencies such as the euro and the yen, or into major purchases of commodities such as oil for a long-discussed strategic energy reserve.

Lockheed Martin Dewells in Beijing
By Liu Wei
Space.cetin

The well-known aerospace giant Lockheed Martin opened and office in Beijing April 12, 1996, with Thomas J. Dwyer being the Chief Representative. This move suggests that Lockheed is getting aggressive in China, a country with great potential market. Russell T. McFall, President of Lockheed Martin Astrc Space Commercial, presided over the ceremony, which was attended by Bai Baier, Vice President of China Aerospace Corporation(CASC), and other space officials in China.

Before the ceremony, McFall had met with Bai at the headquarters of CASC, focusing on establishing a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership. Both acknowledged the need to improve and continue the positive existing relationship, evidenced by the successful launches of Lockheed Martin-built AsiaSat-2 and EchoStar-1 atop Long March 2E and the purchase of two Lockheed Martin A2100 spacecraft by China Orient Telecommunications Satellite Coo. To this end, both sides reviewed the possibilities for cooperation in the following areas:

Lockheed's global telecommunications business project called AstroLink. The spacecraft works in the Ka band, transmitting wide band data. CASC' s possible role could either be the hardware equipment supplier or be the regional manager for the project. A Lockheed team is to be dispatched in the near future to discuss with the Chinese counterparts in detail in this matter.

Communications satellite. After acquiring 95% of Loral Corporation, Lockheed is undergoing a consolidation stage, which results in some extra equipment such as test facilities and vibration table. Therefore, CASC could send its people to be trained at Lockheed's facilities, while working with Lockheed on one or two communications satellites at their facilities using the extra equipment. In this way Lockheed would gradually transfer the equipment and technology to CASC so that eventually CASC would be able to build the fifth and the sixth such satellites in China.

Telecommunications hardware. Both could share the expertise and products in this field in such a way as joint manufacture of the set-top boxes for TV users and Lockheed's purchase of CASC-made satellite components--Ni-Cd battery, for example.

Launch service. Lockheed believed that China would overcome the difficulties with the Long March 3B failure and showed its confidence in the Chinese launch vehicles by discussing with the Great Wall Corp. on a bulk buy of multiple Long March launchers in 1998. Lockheed would also join the Great Wall Corp. working with the insurance companies to achieve competitive insurance. Back in the States Lockheed has done a substantial amount of work in lobbying the U.S. Government to issue export licenses for commercial satellites. And recently the paperwork for license issue has been transferred from the State Department to the Commerce Department, which suggests a trend of less hindrance from the Government in such issues.

RadarSat for China. With Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) as its principal payload, the satellite would serve the disaster-mitigation purpose for China plagued with constant natural disasters exemplified by floods, droughts, forest fires, earthquakes and insects.

Meteorological satellite. China is developing a polar-orbit MetSat called FY-1, slated for launch around the turn of 1996 and 1997 and a subsequent FY-2, a GEO satellite due for launch a year later.

Direct broadcasting satellite(DBS). Lockheed enjoys the rich experience of developing a Direct-to-Home (DTH) system and building a direct broadcasting satellite EchoStar-1. And China is committed to setting up its own DBS system in the future, particularly to serve the need of entertainment and education for people in remote areas; hence there may be opportunities for Lockheed and CASC working together.

At this point Bai and McFall have agreed that both would be happy enough if some of the above items could be identified for cooperation. And Bai assured McFall that Lockheed Martin remains one of the most important candidates for CASC to select the partner to work with in space.

At the meeting Bai Baier was accompanied by Zhang Xinxia, Chief Economist of CASC, and officials form relevant departments of CASC.

Lockheed Martin Charged With Sharing Rocket Data With China
Wade Boese
Armscontrol.org

ON APRIL 4, the State Department accused Lockheed Martin of violating arms export control laws by supplying sensitive rocket information to a company partially owned by the Chinese government. Lockheed Martin allegedly provided Asia Satellite Telecommunications Corporation (Asiasat) with a technical assessment of a solid-fueled kick motor that was later used in the launch of the Asiasat-2 communications satellite, which had been purchased from the U.S. aerospace firm.

The satellite was launched in 1995 on a Chinese Long March rocket, a model that had failed twice in 1992 to deliver satellites to their targets. In 1994, at the behest of Asiasat, a Lockheed Martin team visited a test-launch facility in China and conducted an examination of the rocket's kick motor. The State Department contends that the transfer of the technical assessment produced as a result of the visit violated prohibitions on transfers of such information to the Chinese government.

The United States is concerned that the Lockheed report may have identified weaknesses that could help China's ballistic missile development and testing program. "We would be concerned at any…access to technology that we feel could be used against the United States," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral Craig Quigley explained April 6.

Lockheed Martin claims that Commerce and State Department licenses specifically allowed the transfer of its report to the respective parties. "The actions taken in 1994 were consistent with the licenses in place at that time," said James Fetig, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson.

The State Department maintains that additional licenses were required for technical details contained in the assessment and that Lockheed Martin released the report to Asiasat before the Defense Department had edited it to remove sensitive material. (Pentagon officials reportedly blacked out 45 pages of the 50-page document.) Lockheed Martin is also charged with sharing the edited version of the report with the state-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation, which produces ballistic missiles for the Chinese military.

A China Great Wall Industry Corporation spokesman denied April 12 that the corporation had received any help from Lockheed Martin. "China has developed the satellite perigee kick motor entirely by relying on its own efforts. We have never acquired from Lockheed Martin or any other party technical assistance of whatever form in this regard," he said.

The State Department action was praised by Representatives Christopher Cox (R-CA) and Norman Dicks (D-WA), who headed a bipartisan select committee in 1998 to investigate similar allegations against two other U.S. companies, Hughes Space and International, Inc. and Space Systems/Loral. The committee's January 1999 report, known as the "Cox Report," argued for stronger controls on satellite exports to China. (See ACT, April/May 1999.)

Unlike the allegations involving Hughes and Loral, the State Department is seeking civil penalties, not criminal sanctions, against Lockheed Martin. The company could face fines of up to $15 million and lose the right to export satellite technology for up to three years. Lockheed Martin has 30 days, until May 4, to formally respond to the charges.

Top Chinese general warns US over attack
By Alexandra Harney in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward Alden in Washington
Published: July 14 2005

China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.

?If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,? said General Zhu Chenghu.

Gen Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's definition of its territory included warships and aircraft.

?If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond,? said Gen Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence University.

?We . . . will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds . . . of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.?

Gen Zhu is a self-acknowledged ?hawk? who has warned that China could strike the US with long-range missiles. But his threat to use nuclear weapons in a conflict over Taiwan is the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.

However, some US-based China experts cautioned that Gen Zhu probably did not represent the mainstream People's Liberation Army view.

?He is running way beyond his brief on what China might do in relation to the US if push comes to shove,? said one expert with knowledge of Gen Zhu. ?Nobody who is cleared for information on Chinese war scenarios is going to talk like this,? he added.

Gen Zhu's comments come as the Pentagon prepares to brief Congress next Monday on its annual report on the Chinese military, which is expected to take a harder line than previous years. They are also likely to fuel the mounting anti-China sentiment on Capitol Hill.

In recent months, a string of US officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, have raised concerns about China's military rise. The Pentagon on Thursday declined to comment on ?hypothetical scenarios?.

Rick Fisher, a former senior US congressional official and an authority on the Chinese military, said the specific nature of the threat ?is a new addition to China's public discourse?. China's official doctrine has called for no first use of nuclear weapons since its first atomic test in 1964. But Gen Zhu is not the first Chinese official to refer to the possibility of using such weapons first in a conflict over Taiwan.

Chas Freeman, a former US assistant secretary of defence, said in 1996 that a PLA official had told him China could respond in kind to a nuclear strike by the US in the event of a conflict with Taiwan. The official is believed to have been Xiong Guangkai, now the PLA's deputy chief of general staff.

Gen Zhu said his views did not represent official Chinese policy and he did not anticipate war with the US.

A Deal for Jet Fighters Opens the Door to India
By LESLIE WAYNE
Published: April 16, 2005

Jerry W. Hoefer for The New York Times
American contractors like Lockheed Martin now have the chance to sell up to 126 fighter jets - with price tags starting at $35 million each - to India, which has an aging military fleet of 800 jets.

On the same day last month that the United States announced that it would sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, President Bush personally called the prime minister of India, Pakistan's archrival, with advice intended to soften the blow. The United States, Mr. Bush confided, had decided to allow fighter jet sales to India as well.

Newspapers around the world put the Pakistani deal in headlines. But it was the 15-minute phone call that was heard loud and clear by American military contractors.

The jet sales to Pakistan have high symbolic value, but little in the way of business promise. Two dozen new F-16's will be made available to Pakistan as a reward for that country's aid in the war on terror and will strengthen a fleet of about 40 F-16's acquired before Congress halted sales in 1990 to protest Pakistan's nuclear ambitions.

But the decision to open up the Indian market means that contractors now have the chance to sell up to 126 fighter jets - with price tags starting at $35 million each - to a country with an aging military fleet of 800 jets, none of them made in America.

"The real prize is India," said Richard Aboulafia, a military analyst at the Teal Group, an aerospace consulting firm in Fairfax, Va.

"India would have gone on its merry way," Mr. Aboulafia added, "but the announcement of Pakistan getting the F-16's changes the game. For years, India has coasted on Russian and locally made fighter jets. Now, if its adversary gets real new American planes, it has to have them, too."

For Lockheed-Martin, the potential sales to India mean that it may be able to keep alive its aging F-16 production line and save jobs in Fort Worth, where nearly 5,000 people work on the plane.

Alternatively, Boeing could benefit if India pushes for something other than the F-16. That could mean new business for Boeing in St. Louis, where 5,000 people now build the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-15 Strike Eagle, high-performance jets now exclusively used by the American military.

Moreover, any initial deals could lead to more Indian arms sales of all types as New Delhi has announced a lavish spending plan to strengthen the country's military and upgrade its armaments. High on its list are early warning and missile defense systems, nuclear fuel and technologies and space-related technologies.

Some critics denounced the Bush administration's move as contributing to a South Asian arms race. But from the government's perspective, weapons sales to Pakistan and India strengthen the American presence on the Chinese border and open new markets throughout Asia for military contractors, which are looking more to foreign buyers as the Pentagon budget comes under pressure.

As for India, which already supplies software to Boeing and Lockheed, purchases of American arms would enable it to gain access to American military technology and participate in co-production agreements.

"The last few years since 9/11 have been a gold rush for U.S. contractors," said Jon Kutler, president of Quarterdeck Investment Partnership, a unit of the Jeffries Group. "But, in the next few years, we expect export sales will become extremely important again as U.S. spending on these major weapons platforms will start to go down."

India has a number of American fighter jets to choose from. But the heavy betting is on a fleet of F-16's, rather than large purchases of Boeing's F/A-18 and F-15 fighter jets, which are more specialized and more expensive.

The 20 or so F-16's to be purchased by Pakistan would add about a year's life to a Fort Worth production line that had been scheduled to shut in 2008 because of a paucity of orders from the Air Force. An even bigger Indian order would keep the F-16 line alive much longer.

"The potential for 126 jets is a significant program," said Tom Jurkowsky, a Lockheed spokesman. "If we don't get any more F-16 orders by 2005, we would have to take action to close the line. India is a market we want to pursue."

Because of Pakistan's meager economy, $3 billion in American aid will be provided to buy the F-16's. India, by contrast, has enough money to pay for a large order of fighters itself.

Outsourcing US Missile Technology to China
The Saga of Magnequench
By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
Counterpunch.org
April 7 - 9, 2006

Magnequench is an Indianapolis-based company. It specializes in the obscure field of sintered magnetics. Essentially, it makes tiny, high-tech magnets from rare-earth minerals ground down into a fine powder. The magnets are highly prized by electronics and aviation companies. But Magnequench's biggest client has been the Pentagon.

The neodymium-iron-boron magnets made by Magnequench are a crucial component in the guidance system of cruise missiles and the Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM bomb, which is made by Boeing and had a starring role in the spring bombing of Baghdad. Indeed, Magnequench enjoys a near monopoly on this market niche, supplying 85 percent of the rare-earth magnets that are used in the servo motors of these guided missiles and bombs.

But the Pentagon may soon be sending its orders for these parts to China, instead of Indiana. On September 15, 2004 Magnequench shuttered its last plant in Indiana, fired its 450 workers and began shipping its machine tools to a new plant in China. "We're handing over to the Chinese both our defense technology and our jobs in the midst of a deep recession," says Rep. Peter Visclosky, a Democrat from northern Indiana.

It gets stranger. Magnequench is not only moving its defense plants to China, it's actually owned by Chinese companies with close ties to the Chinese government.

Magnequench began its corporate life back in 1986 as a subsidiary of General Motors. Using Pentagon grants, GM had developed a new kind of permanent magnet material in the early 1980s. It began manufacturing the magnets in 1987 at the Magnequench factory in Anderson, Indiana.

In 1995, Magnequench was purchased from GM by Sextant Group, an investment company headed by Archibald Cox, Jr-the son of the Watergate prosecutor. After the takeover, Cox was named CEO. What few knew at the time was that Sextant was largely a front for two Chinese companies, San Huan New Material and the China National Non-Ferrous Metals Import and Export Corporation. Both of these companies have close ties to the Chinese government. Indeed, the ties were so intimate that the heads of both companies were in-laws of the late Chinese premier Deng Xiaopeng.

At the time of the takeover, Cox pledged to the workers that Magnequench was in it for the long haul, intending to invest money in the plants and committed to keeping the production line going for at least a decade.

Three years later Cox shut down the Anderson plant and shipped its assembly line to China. Now Cox is presiding over the closure of Magnequench's last factory in the US, the Valparaiso, Indiana plant that manufactures the magnets for the JDAM bomb. Most of the workers have already been fired.

"Archie Cox and his company are committing a criminal act," says Mike O'Brien, an organizer with the UAW in Indiana. "He's a traitor to his country."

It's clear that Cox and Sextant were acting as a front for some unsavory interests. For example, only months prior to the takeover of Magnequench San Huan New Materials was cited by US International Trade Commission for patent infringement and business espionage. The company was fined $1.5 million. Foreign investment in American high-tech and defense companies is regulated by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS). It is unlikely that CFIUS would have approved San Huan's purchase of Magnequench had it not been for the cover provided by Cox and his Sextant Group.

One of Magnequench's subsidiaries is a company called GA Powders, which manufactures the fine granules used in making the mini-magnets. GA Powders was originally a Department of Energy project created by scientists at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab. It was spun off to Magnequench in 1998, after Lockheed Martin took over the operations at INEEL.

In June 2000, Magnequench uprooted the production facilities for GA Powders from Idaho Falls to a newly constructed plant in Tianjin, China. This move followed the transfer to China of high-tech computer equipment from Magnequench's shuttered Anderson plant. According to a report in Insight magazine, these computers could be used to facilitate the enrichment of uranium for nuclear warheads.

GA Powders isn't the only business venture between a Department of Energy operation and Magnequench. According to a news letter produced by the Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sandia is working on a joint project with Magnequench involving "the development of advanced electronic controls and new magnet technology".

Dr. Peter Leitner is an advisor to the Pentagon on matters involving trade in strategic materials. He says that the Chinese targeted Magnequench in order to advance their development of long-range Cruise missiles. China now holds a monopoly on the rare-earth minerals used in the manufacturing of the missile magnets. The only operating rare-earth mine is located in Batou, China.

"By controlling access to the magnets and the raw materials they are composed of, US industry can be held hostage to Chinese blackmail and extortion," Leitner told Insight magazine last year. "This highly concentrated control-one country, one government-will be the sole source of something critical to the US military and industrial base."

Visclosky and Senator Evan Bayh asked the Bush administration to intervene using the Exon-Florio Amendment to the 1988 Defense Appropriation Act to pry the Chinese money out of the company and force Magnequench to keep its factories in Indiana.

There was precedent for just such a presidential move. In 1990, George H.W. Bush ordered the state-owned China National Aerospace and Export Company to divest its interest in Mamco Manufacturing of Seattle, reportedly because of concern that the Chinese firm could have use Mamco to acquire jet fighter engine technology. The directive came from Bush three months after CATIC had seized control of Mamco. When after six months the Chinese company refused to relinquish its interest in Mamco, Bush ordered the Treasury Department to place the company in receivership and barred the Chinese officials from having any access to its facilities.

Unlike his father, Bush 2 declined to respond to the pleas from Visclosky and Bayh. The Treasury Department, which could have intervened to stop the move, also refused to act. Visclosky says that he also contacted the Pentagon. Its procurement officials admitted to him that Magnequench was the only domestic supplier of the smart bomb magnets (Hitachi holds the other contract), but that it had no idea that company was owned by the Chinese or that it was packing up for Tianjin.

As the doors closed on its Valparaiso plant, a memo came from Magnequench executives advising that its HQ will be soon be relocated from Indianapolis to Singapore. No word on yet whether Cox is moving too.

And yes, when the Republicans made a mountain out of what turned out in the end to be a pretty small molehill concerning transfers of satellite technology to China in Clinton time, they said it might be grounds for impeachment. William Safire wrote lots of columns on the matter. Not a bleat from Safire now.

This article is excerpted from Jeffrey St. Clair's new book, Grand Theft Pentagon.

Woman arrested for speaking freely right after Bush call for "freedom...to speak freely" -- and CNN calls it "a blemish" on Hu visit
pinionline

Usually watching CNN with one eye as we blog from our undisclosed location doesn't give us much new fodder, except for the occasional "stuck landing gear" crisis. But today we are aghast at the coverage of Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House.

At an outdoor ceremony, Bush told Hu:

China has become successful because the Chinese people are experience the freedom to buy, and to sell, and to produce -- and China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely, and to worship.

Seconds later, one of the people assembled on the White House south lawn actually tried to speak freely right here in America -- about both the lack of free speech and religious freedom in China.

That free-speaking woman was promptly hauled off and arrested:

She shouted in heavily accented English, "President Bush: Stop him from killing" and, "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong."

Bush, standing next to Hu, leaned over and whispered a comment to the Chinese leader, who paused briefly when the shouting began and then resumed his remarks.

The protester was waving a banner with the red and yellow colors used by Falun Gong, a banned religious movement in China. She kept shouting for several minutes before Secret Service uniformed agents were able to make their way to her position at the top of the camera stand. They dragged her off the stand.

A photographer who was standing next to the protester tried momentarily to quiet her by putting his hand in front of her mouth.

Watching the scene unfold, we felt like we were living on a different planet from the folks at CNN. Any enemy of free speech is an enemy of ours, and we have long loathed the totalitarian regime in Beijing. Like millions of other, we still see the picture of the lone man standing up to a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square as the iconic picture of our times.

Why do we get the impression that President Bush, his Secret Service -- and CNN -- were rooting for the tanks.

For while we viewed the protestor as a hero, the talking heads on the global cable network were appalled at what they covered as a security breach.

CNN's correspondent on the scene, Elaine Quijano, promptly called the heckler "a blemish, if you will, on this visit." The host, Frederica Whitfield, promptly picked up on that, calling the actual exercise of free speech "an embarassing moment for the White House."

Of course, anyone who was trying to watch the proceedings in China on CNN International probably didn't see that remark. According to Matt Drudge (we know, we know), "During CNN International's post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, screen went black again... feed returned when topic was no longer being discussed... "

Wonder who pulled the plug there -- the Chinese authorities, or someone at CNN?

We don't know, but it's clear that American companies are willing to put up with all kinds of censorship and other allegedly un-American activities for the chance to market their wares for 1.3 billion potential new customers. Check out this nauseating story about Google's operation in China, the cover story in this weekend's New York Times Magazine.

It was difficult for me to know exactly how Lee [head of operations for Google in China] felt about the company's arrangement with China's authoritarian leadership. As a condition of our meeting, Google had demanded that I not raise the issue of government relations; only the executives in Google's California head office were allowed to discuss those matters. But as Lee and I talked about how the Internet was transforming China, he offered one opinion that seemed telling: the Chinese students he meets and employs, Lee said, do not hunger for democracy. "People are actually quite free to talk about the subject," he added, meaning democracy and human rights in China. "I don't think they care that much. I think people would say: 'Hey, U.S. democracy, that's a good form of government. Chinese government, good and stable, that's a good form of government. Whatever, as long as I get to go to my favorite Web site, see my friends, live happily.'"

Apparently, nothing trumps "the freedom to buy, and to sell, and to produce."

Meanwhile, free speech continues to slide here at home. Rather than back down, the FBI is stepping up its stunning effort to confiscate papers belonging to the estate of late investigative journalist Jack Anderson:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday that it will ask the Justice Department to take action if the government cannot reach an agreement with the family of the muckraking journalist Jack Anderson to search through his papers. The FBI believes that Anderson's archive, which is now held by George Washington University's library, contains classified information -- although most of it is likely decades old.

Indeed, we would love to know just what exactly Bush -- the man who, you'll remember, did not utter a word when told the United States was under attack on 9/11 -- whispered to Hu this morning as that poor woman was dragged off. Probably something like, "Check out how we deal with 'em over here!"

Free-speech outrage: Wenyi Wang may be charged with federal crime for daring to criticize the president...of China
pnionline.com
Earlier today, we made the point that if you consider 1989's so-called "Tank Man" of Tiananmen Square to be a hero for standing up to China's totalitarian regime -- and most Americans, regardless of political persuasion, do -- then surely you would think the same thing about 47-year-old Wenyi Wang.

Wang is the courageous woman who rose up on the South Lawn of the White House this morning to confront the leader of that brutally repressive regime, President Hu Jintao, as well as America's President George W, Bush, who was busy playing footsie with Hu. "Stop the killing and the torture!," shouted Wang, a Manhattan physician who writes for a newspaper supporting the spiritual group Falun Gong, banned in China.

This wasn't the first time that Wenyi Wang has spoken truth to power. Incredibly, at a 2001 summit in Malta, she was able to approach Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, on a street and confronted him face-to-face. Yes, we would surely call Wang a hero.

But it looks like the federal government is about to call her something else: A criminal.

Last night, officials with the Secret Service, which eventually dragged Wang away and arrested her -- literally seconds after Bush called on China to permit more free speech -- said they are seriously considering charging Wang with an obscure federal offense, intimidating a foreign official.

According to our research, Wang -- a permanent U.S. resident who reportedly practices pathology at Mt. Sinai Hospital -- could face a fine and federal prison time of up to six months. Here's what the Secret Service was saying last night about the case:

Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said she had been charged with disorderly conduct and that a charge of intimidating or disrupting foreign officials also was being considered.

Disorderly conduct is a local offense and not to big of a deal, but from what we could gather. the more serious federal charge of intimidating a foreign official -- which you can find here in Title 18, Section 112(b ) of the U.S. Code -- is rare.

How rare? We were unable to find a single case where the law -- which apparently was passed during the Ford administration in the mid-1970s -- has ever been used. For the record, it states:

(b ) Whoever willfully -
(1) intimidates, coerces, threatens, or harasses a foreign official or an official guest or obstructs a foreign official in the performance of his duties;
(2) attempts to intimidate, coerce, threaten, or harass a foreign official or an official guest or obstruct a foreign official in the performance of his duties; or
(3) within the United States and within one hundred feet of any building or premises in whole or in part owned, used, or occupied for official business or for diplomatic, consular, or residential purposes by -
(A) a foreign government, including such use as a mission to an international organization;
(B ) an international organization;
© a foreign official; or
(D) an official guest;
congregates with two or more other persons with intent to violate any other provision of this section; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Interestingly, the only chatter we could find about this law came last year from John Dean, who wrote about it in the context of what most would agree was a more serious effort to intimidate a foreign official -- his call for the assassination of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In fairness, Robertson's call -- repulsive as it was, didn't seem to violate this law, since Chavez was not visiting the U.S.

But do you honestly think Wenyi Wang violated the law -- "intimidating" the leaders of the world's two superpowers...by yelling really, really loud?

The irony here makes us sick. Hu, after all, is the leader of a regime which, according to Human Rights Watch, carries out:

restrictions on free expression; a deficient justice system that encourages the use of torture; restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and the right to act on those beliefs; harassment and arrest of HIV/AIDS activists; abuse of petitioners seeking remedies for official misconduct; and absence of progress in holding national elections.

What's more, it is Chinese oil money that supports Sudan's murderous militias committing genocide in Darfur. Those who protested in Tiananmin Square or who practice Falun Gong have been imprisioned, tortured, and killed.

So what kind of treatment does China's leader get? A 21-gun salute, music from a bluegrass band, and a fancy lunch in the White House.

And Wenyi Wang, who is not afraid to speak out against such a man, is dragged away by officers of our own government, one of whom put his hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to silence her. The picture of Wang being gagged by U.S. agents, shown at the top of this post, is something that America should be deeply ashamed of.

If the Secret Service ever takes the time to read all of Title 18, Section 112(b ), they might notice this passage, too:

(d) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or applied so as to abridge the exercise of rights guaranteed under the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Yeah, right.

What a freaking joke.

Low Prices, Widespread Torture
Our new system of global production
by HAROLD MEYERSON
Powerlines

Whatever its virtues, the United Nations isn’t the first place you’d turn to if you wanted to expose some nefarious internal practices of its more powerful member states. So it came as no small surprise when a U.N. investigator last week documented the ‘widespread’ use of torture in China. Manfred Nowak, who is the special rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, noted that electric shock, sleep deprivation and submersion in water or sewage are still common practices in China when the state seeks to obtain confessions and suppress the political dissent it delicately terms ‘deviant behavior.’

This is hardly the image of the new, improved capitalist China that the neo-Communist regime and American business have teamed up to convey. As they depict it, China is a bustling, modern society that offers everything a company could possibly want to do business. They’re right ‘ and that’s just the problem.

Because if China offers anything to the corporations of the world, it’s a diligent, skilled ‘ and intimidated ‘ work force. Nowak noted the prevalence of torture in China’s labor camps, where the inmates have been imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs and activities. The ultimate crime in China, after all, is to seek to establish autonomous centers of power ‘ churches, parties, unions ‘ not under the control of the Communist Party. Workers who have led strikes or tried to organize unions are still jailed and tortured in the new-model China, as democracy advocate and union activist Harry Wu ‘ a veteran of the state’s gulags ‘ can attest.

This is a story that implicates all of us. Torture, and fear of torture, are factors in holding costs down in our new-age globalized production system. Take just-in-time delivery, add a touch of submersion in shit, fear of beating, fear of drowning, and voil’! You get Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices.

That’s not quite how the story gets conveyed in the business press, however. When American economists and executives opine about China, you don’t hear about the jailing and abuse of workers who seek decent living standards. There’s nothing new in this: Our guys in the oil business have never said word one about the repressive Saudi regime, and United Fruit was always the Latin American banana-republic dictator’s best friend. But China is different. It’s not just one benighted sector of American capitalism that’s made its accommodations there. Virtually every major U.S. firm involved in manufacturing and marketing is beating a path to China’s door ‘ and surrendering there any political principles they may have brought with them. Rupert Murdoch’s agreement not to air any officially disapproved broadcasts over his satellite TV system is just one, albeit egregious, example.

So the next time China has a Tian An Men Square’like convulsion, don’t count on American business to support the Chinese democrats trying to stop the tanks. A more democratic China means workers with more rights and higher wages. For which reason the U.S. government is likely to be conflicted as well. Even now, while the Defense Department views China as a threat, the Commerce Department views it as a trading partner, or even an extension of the American system of production. Nor is it a given that a Democratic administration would be less immune than the Bush administration is to this political schizophrenia. It was the Clinton White House, after all, that promoted China’s no-questions-asked admission to the World Trade Organization.

Suppress unions and you get violence: The Middle Kingdom is home to more labor unrest than any other place ‘ actually, than every other place ‘ on the planet. In the factory zones, workers riot and disrupt when their pay is withheld or their co-workers perish doing dangerous jobs that no one in power cared to make safer. In the West, the riot was the normal form of worker protest before unions were legalized in the 19th and 20th centuries. And destabilizing and destructive as riots may be, they pose less of a threat to a quasi-totalitarian regime like China than an orderly strike led by an autonomous workers’ organization.

China may be the most nominal of socialist states, but its claim to legitimacy is still rooted in mumbled phrases about empowering workers. Accordingly, it has its own government-run unions, which aren’t really unions at all. Controlled by the Communist Party, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions features locals whose leaders are often selected by the employer. These unions do not strike ‘ that would be against the law, and disruptive of the social harmony and political control that the powers that be seek to maintain. They cannot bargain aggressively.


It should shock no one, then, that Wal-Mart ‘ a company that closed down all its meat departments in the U.S. when butchers in one store voted to unionize ‘ has embraced the government union in China. ‘Should associates [the Wal-Mart term for employees] request the formation of a union,’ the company said in a statement released late last year, ‘the company would respect their wishes.’ In Bentonville and Beijing, the only good union is a sham union.

What’s curious is why some of America’s most brilliant and dedicated union leaders should be cozying up to the same sham unionists. At the first organizing conference of the new Change To Win Federation, which convened last month in Las Vegas, delegates welcomed invited guests from the All-China Federation. Ninety-nine times out of 100, the leaders of the Service Employees International Union (the Change To Win union most predisposed to the All-China Federation) can smell a company union a mile away. This time, their noses ‘ well, their strategic and moral sense ‘ failed them.

But they’re hardly alone. American companies and consumers count on China; it’s the producer of choice for a nation ‘ ours ‘ where incomes, on average, no longer rise. Only a spoilsport from the United Nations would have the gall to disturb us with the news that our spiffy, 21st-century, integrated global economic system is built on the barbarism of despots and thugs.

Act Now: Free a Prisoner of Conscience
Stop the Genocide and Coverup at Chinese Concentration Camps

On November 25, 51-year-old Ms. Liu Jizhi was tortured with an electric stun baton, beaten about the hips and buttocks and then raped by police at the Dongchengfang Town Police Station in Hebei Province.

Falun Gong practitioners are imprisoned in a concentration camp.

Following revelations that a network of concentration camps across China are harvesting Falun Gong practitioners’ organs for profit, while the practitioners are still alive, and then cremating their bodies, undercover investigators have diclosed tht officials in China have begun a massive, deadly campaign to destroy evidence and maximize profits.

Transcripts of calls by a reporter from radio station Sound of Hope paint a chilling picture of Chinese hospitals’ frenzy to perform as many operations as possible within a window of time. A doctor also confirms that the organs are those of Falun Gong practitioners, harvested while they are still alive. The following are excerpts from the transcripts:

Doctor “S,” Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai: “We should have a lot of organs before the end of April. We are getting more and more organs supplied to us, but you have to seize the opportunity. Do you know what I mean? After this period of time, the supply is going to become very slim. After April there will be a period where we have nothing.”

Doctor “W,” Organ Transplant Center in the No.2 Affiliated Hospital, Dalian Medical University, Liaoning Province: “You will have to get it done by May 1—this week or next week! After May 1 we will have very few organs.”

Doctor “S,” Shanghai: “In China, we get our supply of human organs from the same place. How should I explain it to you…? Only we doctors know where the organs are from.”

Doctor “W,” affiliated hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi Province: “If you want to come have an organ transplant, you need to try to come before May…”

Reporter: “Do you mean kidneys from living people?”

Doctor W from Xi’an: “Yes. We also supply livers from living people!”

Reporter: “I heard they’ll be harvested from living human beings.”

Doctor W: “Yes, Yes, Yes.”

Reporter: “Do some labor camps imprison Falun Gong practitioners and then harvest their organs while they’re alive?”

Doctor W:“ (Sneering) That’s right!”


On April 6, 2006, investigators reported that hospitals in at least eight Chinese provinces are working overtime to perform a flurry of surgeries, excising detainees’ organs, so as to “cash in” on the bodies of the currently-held Falun Gong prisoners of conscience. Post operation, victims are to be killed and bodies cremated, or moved to other, hidden locations.

The organ “harvesting” spree appears directly connected to recent legislation in China, titled “Interim Regulation for Human Organ Transplant Practice,” announced March 28, by China’s Ministry of Health, that would in theory outlaw forced organ removal. The legislation will not go into effect until July 1—giving profit-bent officials a three-month window for wanton seizure of organs. The new legislation, the investigators note, closely followed disclosures of one such concentration camp for Falun Gong, in the Sujiatun district of Shenyang City, on March 6. In the past China took no such measures, even after testimonial before the United States Congress detailing China’s secret organ trade.

The overall trajectory is clear: the camps are exposed; Chinese Communist officials panic, discuss what to do (for three weeks); a massive cover-up effort is launched, including blanket denials and cosmetic legislation; before the legislation takes effect a frenzy to turn bodies into profit begins.

Background: A "Dear Colleague" letter to President Bush

The following is excerpted from a “Dear Colleague” letter sponsored by Congressman Dana Rohrbacher of California:

“Witnesses say captive Falun Gong adherents are shipped in sealed freight trains to secret concentration camp-like facilities that are staffed by surgeons and equipped with crematoriums to dispose of the corpses and other evidence. One military doctor reports: 'I witnessed a specially-dispatched freight train transferring over 7,000 people in a trip from Tianjin city to the Jilin area. It ran at night, guarded by Chinese soldiers. Everyone on board was handcuffed to specially designed handrails atop the ceiling...'

“He says there are about 36 such camps in China with the three largest in the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning. The largest camp, codenamed '672-S,' is said to hold over 120,000 people, including Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience.

“A former staff member of the 'Liaoning Thrombus Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine' in the Sujiatun District of Shenyang City in Liaoning Province recounts that, at one point, about 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners were being held in secret in the facility. She estimates that three-quarters of them eventually had their hearts, kidneys, corneas, and skins harvested and their bodies disposed of. As for the rest, she fears the authorities will soon kill them to destroy the evidence.

“Her husband at the time was a neurosurgeon whose job it was to harvest corneas. The doctors were told that harvesting the organs of live Falun Gong practitioners would not be considered a crime. Instead it was called 'cleansing' for the sake of the Chinese Communist Party. 'You don't understand my suffering,' she recalls him telling her. 'Those Falun Gong practitioners were alive. It might be easier for me if they were dead, but they were alive.' Both witnesses have since left China, fearing for their own lives.

“The kind of moral complicity required for the non-consensual removal and sale of human organs is certainly unique. We as legislators, as statesmen and Americans, must not also become complicit in these crimes by keeping silent. History cares not whether we inked another trade deal or helped sell another Boeing 747, but history will judge us if we choose to look the other way when faced with truly indescribable human suffering on this scale.”

The Same Song and the Nazi Symbol

I have experienced fainting and unconsciousness after being repeatedly electro-shocked by the Chinese Communist Party's police. I have also heard the screams and miserable cries of other Falun Gong practitioners who were being similarly tortured. When I heard their cries I felt indignant but never scared. Yet when I heard the wild, delirious and terrible laugh of the girl who had been driven insane and was being "transformed," I felt all the hairs on my body stand in fear. I have never seen or heard of anything else more frightening in the world.

January 23, 2006

By Zeng Zheng/Special to The Epoch Times

The photo from the CCP's propaganda: The "transformed" Falun Gong practitioners were weeping sorrowfully. On the upper left section of the photo, the faces of two practitioners show obvious signs of being severely beaten.
Zeng Zheng holds a Master's degree in science from the Beijing University and is the author of the book "Still Water Runs Deep". When the Chinese communist regime started to persecute Falun Gong, she was sentenced to prison for one year in 2000, after Internet police intercepted a letter to her family explaining the importance of having faith in Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, the three principles to which Falun Gong practitioners try to adhere. She now lives in Australia.

Three Conclusions

I heard "The Same Song" in a labor camp, many times.

Before discussing "The Same Song," I have three conclusions that I would like to share. The first is that the persecution of Falun Gong is genocide. That being the case, then what is the difference between this persecution and other persecutions humans have suffered before, such as the crimes committed during WWII? The difference is that it is a crime of eliminating you spiritually. My second conclusion is that "The Same Song" has played a shameful role in this spirit-cide. The last conclusion I have is that, as the crimes of persecuting Falun Gong are revealed one by one, that seemingly touching song will eventually be nailed to its role of shame by history and, just like the Nazi flag, become a symbol of shame and evil. Humans in the future will never sing this song and whenever the song is mentioned, it will be associated with blood and evil.

Background

To explain my viewpoint, it is necessary to put it in the context of this persecution against Falun Gong. I think, no matter if you have lived in China or not, you can see that over the period of this crackdown on Falun Gong, the Chinese Communist regime has turned China upside down. This was especially evident in July 1999 when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had just started its propaganda campaign. This is a persecution against the faith of over 100 million people. Because the CCP felt that there were so many people practicing Falun Gong, it saw it as a threat to its power. As a dictatorial party, there is nothing the CCP would not dare to do once it believes that some group is a threat to its power. In the persecution of Falun Gong, however, the CCP found that since Falun Gong is a spiritual group, to simply torture Falun Gong practitioners physically would not be sufficient to eliminate the Falun Gong ideals.

As we all know, the CCP is quite experienced in so-called "political and ideological work". So the strategy used in eliminating Falun Gong is not as simple as you would imagine. It goes further than just arresting some practitioners and shocking them with electric batons and the like. In reality, the CCP has put a lot of effort into the fields of ideology, mentality, spirituality, and psychology to attack Falun Gong practitioners. These efforts, however, are not visible to outsiders. They are all carefully arranged and are not known to others.

The "First Tight, then Loose" Strategy in Labor Camps

I will give you an example to illustrate what "first tight, then loose" means.

The first step for everyone sent to a labor camp is to be placed in a "Dispatching Center" where they are subjected to extremely high pressure. They put you under pressure 24 hours a day. Starting at 6:30 in the morning, you are given two minutes to handle washing, brushing, and going to the bathroom. Within these two minutes, you must finish washing your face, brushing your teeth, and going to the restroom. How stressful would this make you?

Every day, we had to be well prepared in our cell beforehand, which included squeezing toothpaste onto our toothbrush. We would carry our towel in one hand and toothbrush in the other, waiting attentively. At that time, I was locked up in "squad four." Whenever "Bathroom break for squad four!" was heard, I would quickly dash out. The first task in the bathroom was to dip my toothbrush in water then, rushing towards the toilet with one hand brushing my teeth and the other undoing my pants, I would go to the bathroom while brushing my teeth and then rush out to wash my face. If you couldn't finish your bathroom routine within two minutes, you had to stop because you were only given two minutes.

Just like that, it made all the simple details and basic necessities of your life like face washing, teeth brushing and going to the bathroom extremely tense. These methods were used to make it impossible to fulfill your basic physiological needs. Then, many other methods were added on top to create for you an environment where your spirit was on the verge of collapse.

Later, after being transferred to a forced labor camp, there would suddenly be a relatively "relaxed" environment. While in the "Dispatching Center," you were made to "lower and hold the head" and look at your toes 24 hours a day as long as you were awake. There was not one second of time where you were allowed to raise your head and look at the police. Before going to the bathroom, you had to report it out loud. Before taking food from the kitchen to your table, you had to shout out, "Reporting to the Chief: the reeducation labor personnel X requests to receive food." Let's just say that they thoroughly crush all your personal dignity and basic life needs.

At the forced labor camp, they suddenly gave you some slack. They no longer asked you to bend your head down and hold it with your hands. You could raise your head and level your eyesight to look at the police. You were given a set of clothes to change, where at the "Dispatching Center" all you had was what you wore. The time for brushing teeth and washing your face was extended to 5 minutes. Through the tightening and relaxing, they generated a psychological effect on you using the contrast. Under this contrast, they pretended to be nice to you and began engaging in so called "political ideology work," basically to "transform" you.

When one first arrives at the "Dispatching Center", you are forced to sing "reforming songs." These are songs specifically composed for labor camp inmates. They degrade the person and advocate "reforming to become a new person in socialist society". They force you to sing as loud as you can, while forbidding you to sing any other songs.

At the forced labor camp, one could sing songs that normal people sing, such as "The Same Song". When a person was just released from being extremely pressured and restricted and was treated "nice" in a "relaxed" environment, a mental soft spot might be generated in him. Unwittingly he might feel grateful to the police who "treated him nice".

But don't be happy too soon. If you do not "transform" in a couple of days under the "nice treatment", an even tougher situation than the previous one will ensue.

The Evil Spirit and Deception Behind "The Same Song"

As I said previously, the Chinese communist regime raised the idea of "counterattacking Falun Gong via soul and spirit" to the level of being necessary to "defend its power." So a strategy of "first tight, then loose" is employed to create a psychological pause during which a "touching" song like "The Same Song" focuses on the most fragile place in one's soul. This strategy is the fruit of careful studies and long experience with brainwashing.

Why use this strategy? Basically, if, after having been treated kindly, you still don't "transform," then an environment and conditions that try to convince a Falun Gong practitioner that "there is no way out" ensue. Sometimes, in order to save time and increase efficiency, even the "nice treatment" step is skipped and they go directly to the strategy of hopelessness.

For example, they lock you up in a small room. You are up with your nose pressed against the wall, forced to stand there for 24 hours and not permitted to close your eyes. If they do close, you will be beaten and shocked with electric batons. Since you see nothing but the white wall during a long period of standing, afterwards not only you would feel extremely dizzy, but could also have some delusions. When you reach the limits of endurance, you would be told that practicing Falun Gong is a dead-end road, just like this.

Extreme fatigue and eye-strain can result in unpleasant psychological effects, sometimes even horrible delusions. Just as your mind is at the point of breaking, "The Same Song," a "tender" song that stirs up your emotions is played; you feel like collapsing right then and there. Since there is no other way out at this point, singing "The Same Song" might let you feel that your suddenly find your "spiritual home."

I strongly sensed that cruel and insidious factors were infused into the seemingly harmless "The Same Song" when it is used to "transform" Falun Gong practitioners in labor camps. Due to these factors, as well as its deceptive nature, "The Same Song" became a favorite song among the labor camps. In turn, it produced "unparalleled" effects in "transforming" Falun Gong practitioners.

A Research Project for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

To the best of my knowledge, the most efficacious methods of "transforming" Falun Gong practitioners is a research project assigned to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This project likely has the best psychologists in China involved and they not only study the practitioners who were "transformed," but also those who were not. They even study Falun Gong books to find points of attack.

All Falun Gong practitioners detained in labor camps are required to write detailed "Thought Reports." Practitioners who are not "transformed" are asked to write down why they want to practice Falun Gong, what experiences and changes occurred after practicing, why they are still steadfast in Falun Gong even after being sent to a labor camp and why they prefer imprisonment to giving up practicing Falun Gong. "Untransformed" Falun Gong practitioners who believe they have a right to practice it will gladly tell others why they want to practice and why it is good. Such a practitioner, holding that Falun Gong is righteous and practicing it is not a crime, may write long articles to explain these issues.

For those who are "transformed," the camp's personnel ask you to write in detail: why you accepted the "transformation," what the specific triggers were, and what other environmental or personal factors played a role in the process of "transforming" you from being initially stubborn and holding on to a belief in Falun Gong to giving it up. You must write very in-depth "Thought Reports" that focus on how you were transformed. They then ask you to write your current views on Falun Gong, comparing them to before, and how and why you have "changed."

The forced labor camp collects many such reports from Falun Gong practitioners. The camp will then combine and utilize what had been written, even the parts praising Falun Gong, in order to improve strategies of "transformation." This also includes studying theories from Falun Gong writings, since practitioners believe in the writings, to concoct new ideas to "transform" practitioners.

All of the above measures used in forced labor camps are promoted as "state policies." In the camps, there is a special division called the "Discipline Division," whose officers do not have regular prison guard duties such as transforming practitioners, forcing them to finish labor quotas or monitoring daily routines. Instead, these "Discipline Division" officers specialize in researching how to "break down" Falun Gong practitioners spiritually and psychologically.

The "Discipline Division" in a forced labor camp is in charge of collecting the reports from the Falun Gong practitioners. When I was in a forced labor camp, the division collected and sent the information to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. I believe that the top psychologists there research strategies to be used against practitioners. Their strategies have been written in a manual; I've even seen this book and it's several hundred pages thick! The manual is then distributed to the guards in the camps so they can learn how to deal with practitioners. It's a complete and step-by-step systematic theory of brainwashing.

The Nature of "Transformation"

In relation to Falun Gong practitioners, "transformation" refers to how they were arrested, sent to the labor camps and the torture they underwent there. Unable to endure the torture, some practitioners succumb and write a "guarantee statement" promising not to practice anymore. Even though they wrote the statement under great duress and against their will, the camp administration considers them to be "transformed."

I know that only a few people in the forced labor camps wrote the "guarantee statement" merely because they could not bear the physical suffering. Then under what circumstances or in what state of mind were all the rest of the practitioners "transformed?" Here is one of several instances.

An extreme situation occurred when a practitioner had a mental breakdown or other mental disorder as a result of receiving harsh and abusive treatment. I saw for myself what happened to a just over twenty-years old Falun Gong practitioner, surnamed He, from Gansu Province. After coming to the labor camp she was deprived of sleep for several days and nights consecutively. She was also beaten and abused. Late at night on the fifth day of this treatment, I visited her. She was still steadfast and had just stated to those trying to "transform" her, "I practiced Falun Gong just because I wanted to be a good person. Do you want to "transform" me to be the same as you, who beat and abuse people? I will never give up, even if I die!"

But later, after so many people had continually bombarded her with their "transformation" theories, brainwashing tactics and slanderous notions, I noticed this girl started to appear confused with a dull look that was followed by a stupid look, and then in the next second she abruptly laughed up. She sat in front of an officer's desk and said matter-of-factly, "Oh, I finally understand! Thank you!" She then wrote down whatever they told her to, including "guarantee" and "exposing" statements.

We have also read reports from the Internet stating that practitioners completely collapsed mentally. One example was a Falun Gong practitioner named Zhu Xia from Sichuan Province. She was barely over twenty-years old and she suffered a mental breakdown after being tortured in the Nanmusi forced labor camp in Sichuan.

Zhu Xia, a Falun Gong practitioner, went insane after being tortured in the Nanmusi Women's Labor Camp in Sichuan Providence, China; (above) before her mental collapse; (below) after (Clearwisdom photos)

There are other people who are "transformed." In fact they suffer a partial mental breakdown and mental disorder due to the torture. To these people if you talk about general topics such as eating, sleeping, schooling and anything unrelated to Falun Gong, you will find they are normal and don't show any sign of psychosis. However once you mention Falun Gong to them, you will find they are abnormal and say strange things. Think about it, before they came to the forced labor camp, practicing Falun Gong was their own choice and nobody forced it upon them with a gun or threat of imprisonment. They were free to choose. The choice, which was made with their own will, was even exemplified by how they lived their life, being a kind person and thinking of others. However, under the extreme situation and after they were "transformed," once Falun Gong was mentioned they would earnestly tell you that how evil Falun Gong is. We used to watch CCTV and saw those "transformed" Falun Gong practitioners "advising others by using their own experiences." In actuality, all these people had a partial mental collapse or breakdown. They basically talked nonsense, but they did not feel that.

There are extremely few cases like what attorney Gao Zhisheng mentioned in his open letter who were "transformed" because they could not endure the physical tortures but were still of sound mental health.

"The Same Song" Causes People to Go Astray

As I mentioned before, when I was in the forced labor camp I could sense the sinister factors behind "The Same Song." When I heard the singing of those who had been "transformed," I felt nauseous and poisoned, just like when I heard those twisted "transformational" theories. This feeling was worse than what I felt after being shocked by electric batons.

"The Same Song's" delusional approach was exhibited in two aspects. One is that when it is combined with the methods of "transformation" it can cause people to "enlighten along an evil path." The result of this "transformation" is that the person can no longer tell good from evil, right from wrong or justice from injustice.

Many Falun Gong practitioners have personally experienced the practice's health benefits. Some of them were even terminally ill and recovered fully. If people like this are told that Falun Gong deceives the masses and are forced to quit, they cannot accept it no matter what is said. They are unable to convince themselves to quit, either. However, if you tell them that "transformation" is done not to give up Falun Gong but for the sake of others, they may very well become confused, especially if they have been deprived of sleep for a long time. In such a situation, if the labor camp explains to them the "deep" connotations behind "The Same Song", those formerly steadfast practitioners might really go astray and go along with the brainwashing, thinking that the "transformation" is right.

"The Same Song" and the Stockholm Syndrome

The other deluding effect of "The Same Song" is that when a Falun Gong practitioner is "transformed", his mind and will is very weak. Because before the "transformation", he could rely on his belief in Falun Gong as a strong support of his life. However, after he is "transformed," he must find a new spiritual basis for existence, because people are spiritual beings that require spiritual support, or rather, a belief system. Thus, when "The Same Song" is sung, there are indeed quite a few people bursting into tears, because at that moment the song gives them a kind of spiritual basis in disguise. The song gives them the impression that before that moment, the sufferings they endured for Falun Gong was all for naught. They feel wronged. Now, they have been "transformed" and have come back to the "right" path and feel justified in living according to the requirements of the Communist Party. They feel that the Party is embracing them, and letting them sing "The Same Song.". They feel as if they found a new home.

The photo from the CCP's propaganda: The "transformed" Falun Gong practitioners were weeping sorrowfully. On the upper left section of the photo, the faces of two practitioners show obvious signs of being severely beaten.

Nevertheless, those who sing "The Same Song" under these circumstances are unaware that they have given up their ability to think independently. They have, sadly, lost their ability to choose for themselves and have given their body, mind and spirit to the Communist brainwashers that want to control them mentally, physically and spiritually.

You may have heard that the "Stockholm Syndrome" is a psychological phenomenon where the hostage starts to agree with, even love, the kidnapper(s) that are holding her or him. A victim of the persecution of Falun Gong in China may feel subservient to their captors and depend on them. So singing "The Same Song" along with those tormenting them makes a persecuted practitioner feel better and accepted. Rewards such as improved living conditions and more friendly treatment may soon follow, as described in the song's lyrics about flowers, sunshine and joy. So, at that moment when they are most vulnerable, using the snares of "The Same Song" to trap them may take advantage of their most heartfelt desires and result in "transformation."

The Most Horrible Thing in the World

There is an old saying that "If you kill someone with an invisible knife there will be no stain on the blade."

I have experienced fainting and unconsciousness after being repeatedly electro-shocked by the Chinese Communist Party's police. I have also heard the screams and miserable cries of other Falun Gong practitioners who were being similarly tortured. But when I heard their cries I never felt scared.

How did I feel? I felt indignant. I wanted to run to the others in their cells and cover up the bodies of those suffering practitioners with my own. I was willing to endure the pain of electrocution for them; I had no fear.

Yet when I heard the wild, delirious and terrible laugh of the girl who had been driven insane and was being "transformed," I felt all the hairs on my body stand in fear. I have never seen or heard of anything else more frightening in the world. I witnessed a normal, healthy and happy girl being driven crazy. In an instant, an angel was "transformed" into a devil.

Let me tell you about "The Same Song," which is played over and over again as a form of brainwashing Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned and tortured in China. If you recall what was said above, "The Same Song" is horrific because it is an "invisible knife."

When a person tries to kill you with a real knife, you will be able to see it and take precautions. But if someone offers you a delicate chocolate candy with poison inside, you will say, "Thanks!" and eat it. After swallowing it, you still think it was a chocolate, but your mind is completely reversed and you are not yourself at all. Similarly, "The Same Song" is a delicious chocolate offered to you when you most desire it, yet you cannot see or know what is poisoning you. Is there anything more terrifying in this world?

Those who are driven mad by the cruel torture of not being allowed to sleep for days on end and are subjected to "transformation" techniques that have been specifically targeted by expert psychologists whose goal is the destruction of a Falun Gong practitioner's spirit. Practitioners are brainwashed daily and told that they are crazy to practice Falun Gong. They are told repeatedly to give up their heart-felt beliefs and what they know to be true. They are tortured and given improper doses of psychotropic drugs that will damage them, since they are perfectly sane and healthy. Sometimes such prolonged torture causes irreparable mental anguish that can drive a practitioner insane. And all the time while these brave people refused to slander what is good and to give in to what is bad, "The Same Song" plays on and on.

"Transformed" practitioners do not know that they have lost all their abilities of clear judgment and thought. Though they are crazy, they do not know that they are out of their mind. They do not realize that they have completely lost their freedom of choice and free will. They cannot see that their being "transformed" and the deeds they do afterward will cause much harm to the belief that they were previously willing to guard with their lives. It is similar to a young girl who runs naked through the streets; there is no sense of shame.

Imagine being such a girl's relative, or close family member. Wouldn't you feel embarrassed and sad if you saw your loved one run around naked and unashamed? Don't we feel the same way for those Falun Gong practitioners who have been "transformed" and sing "The Same Song," yet with the added feeling of revulsion for the Party that did this? That's what I mean by the most horrible thing in the world,
That's the function of "The Same Song" in the persecution of Falun Gong.

The Historical Shame Mark

It pains me to hear that the Chinese Communist regime intends to hold a gala themed "The Same Song" in the United States. The CCP feels scared and threatened because more than 7 million people have quit the CCP and its organizations since the publication of The Epoch Times' "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party." It is no coincidence that the CCP seeks to hold a gala right after the New Tang Dynasty Television's "Chinese New Year Gala." NTDTV is an independent medium that broadcasts news about China and reports the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong and other crimes of the CCP. I believe that promoting "The Same Song" simultaneously is an attempt to sabotage the righteous and noble traditional Chinese culture presented by NTDTV in its gala.

The CCP inflicts extreme, concentrated and bloody brainwashing on Falun Gong practitioners. Actually, while ruling China, it is brainwashing all the Chinese people, including those overseas. The Party has brainwashed people inside the labor camps with thought control and electric batons, and has brainwashed people outside with propaganda, lies and deceit. The CCP has been made the national religion, controlling all the media we hear, the textbooks we read and all the songs we sing. We have bee brainwashed every step of the way since childhood. The result is that we think with the twisted logic, and judge with the warped standard, ingrained in us by the CCP.

I believe that very few people know the numerous bloody stories behind "The Same Song" and the CCP's attempted extermination of the spirit of Falun Gong practitioners. If more people knew of the evil that lurks behind "The Same Song," if they knew how many people have been driven insane and persecuted to death accompanied by its tune, if they knew the crimes against humanity that have been committed, I believe that whenever they hear this seemingly innocent song they would cover their ears and reject it and all it stands for.

I believe that when all the crimes used in persecuting Falun Gong are exposed, and the function of "The Same Song" is made known to all, people will forever associate it with a crime just as the backwards swastika is connected with the Nazi Party.

The swastika facing in the original orientation symbolizes happiness and goodness in Buddhism and is an auspicious symbol. However, after Hitler and the Nazis reversed into and turned it into a symbol of oppression and evil, it was outlawed in Germany. Now, when people see that reversed swastika they think of the holocaust of millions of Jews. Since this symbol has a notorious past, the German people have distanced themselves from it.

It is the same with "The Same Song." The composer and performers outside the labor camps are not aware of how wickedly the CCP uses it. I believe that with more and more awareness of labor camp atrocities and exposure of the persecution of Falun Gong, especially what has been done to practitioners' minds and spirits, people all over the world will know how "The Same Song" is used to persecute innocent people and it will be only a matter of time until "The Same Song" is branded with the mark of historical shame and disgrace.

Americans behind bars
Thu, 04/13/2006 - 7:06pm.
Foreignpolicy.com

Seven tenths of a percent of America is behind bars. That doesn’t sound like much, right?

Well, that is actually more than 2 million people. And get this: prisoners in China are only .118 percent of the total population, while Brazil locks up only .183 percent of its citizens. The data comes from the International Centre for Prison Studies via the BBC’s in depth report on prison life. Here is the
full chart:

Total Prison Pop.
USA 2,135,901
China 1,548,498
Russia 828,900
Brazil 336,358
India 322,357
Mexico 201,931
South Africa 156,175
England/Wales 76,678
Japan 76,413

US prison population rises to 2.18 million
May 21, 2006
Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US prison population, already the largest in the world, grew in 2005 to 2.18 million, according to government statistics.


The number of inmates grew 2.6 percent between July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005, an average of 1,085 prisoners per week. According to the annual Census of Jail Inmates, this was the largest increase since 1997.

Two thirds of prisoners are in federal prisons, and the rest are in state prisons.

Women make up an increasing proportion of jail inmates, reaching 12.7 percent of the population in 2005, compared to 10.2 percent in 1995.

Members of minority groups make up 60 percent of detainees in local prisons, according to the US Department of Justice, which did not give the minority breakdown for federal prisons.

Nearly 4.7 percent of African American men are behind bars in the United States. That percentage grows to nearly 12 percent for black men 25-29.

For that age group, 2.9 percent of Hispanics are in prison as are 1.7 percent of whites.

The US population is about 298,792,557, according to the US Census Bureau.

One American in 136 is in prison. By comparison, the proportion in France is one in 1,000.

Top Chinese diplomat tells US to 'shut up' on arms spending
Yahoonews.com
August 17, 9:50 PM

China's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, throwing diplomatic language to the wind, has told the United States in no uncertain terms to "shut up and keep quiet" on the subject of Beijing's growing military spending.

Interviewed for a BBC radio programme on the topic Thursday, Sha Zukang also said China would "do the business" and sacrifice its own people's lives if any nation supported a declaration of independence by Taiwan.

Responding to jitters within the Bush administration about Beijing's spiraling military budget, Sha said the United States itself accounts for half of the entire world's military spending.

"The China population is six times or five times that of the United States," he said. "Why blame China?... It's better for the US to shut up and keep quiet. It's much, much better."

His voice rising, Sha continued: "It's the US's sovereign right to do whatever they deem good for them -- but don't tell us what is good for China. Thank you very much!"

Sha was equally explicit on Taiwan declaring independence with US backing -- a prospect that the BBC programme, by former Beijing correspondent Carrie Gracie, called the motivating factor behind Chinese military spending.

"The moment Taiwan declares independence, supported by whoever, China will have no choice," he said.

"We will do the business through whatever means available to my government. Nobody should have any illusions on that. We will do the business at any cost."

He added: "It's not a matter of how big Taiwan is, but for China, one inch of the territory is more valuable than the life of our people. We will never concede on that."

China's rising military spending, which has grown by double digits for much of the last 15 years, has caused concern in the United States and amongst China's neighbors in Asia.

In March the National People's C