(Clearwisdom.net) The Batchelor and Alexander show is New York's #1 rated night-time talk show. It is broadcast nationally over the ABC Radio network, which has more than 4,600 affiliated radio stations and reaches 129 million people each week. Michael Vatikiotis, editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, was recently interviewed on the program about the impending restrictions imposed by Article 23.

John Batchelor: "Falun Gong was named by the Chinese media as trouble makers and seditious because they were spreading what was concerned to be doomsday stories about the SARS crisis in Northern China. All three of those are immediately upon you in Far Eastern Economic Review. Do you see one of them being a crisis in the immediate future?"

Michael Vatikiotis: "If I had to pick one of those three I'd say its most likely that the most sensitivity would come from the Falun Gong. And there are many people here who speculate that one of the primary drivers in introducing the Article 23 is mainland China's anger over the Falun Gong, which is still [legal in Hong Kong.]

John Batchelor: "And so Falun Gong, do you see them visiting you, making phone calls?"

Paul Alexander: "Michael, just for the audience's sake, explain what we mean when were talking about Falun Gong."

Michael Vatikiotis: "Falun Gong is a spiritualist [group] that follows a kind of [...] exercise type regime that has inspired tens of thousands of people to follow a rather sort of meditation like..."

Paul Alexander: "It's a spiritual meditative process."

Michael: "spiritual meditative [group]."

John Batchelor: "It couldn't appear more benign if it wanted to!"

Paul Alexander: "And the Chinese government hates it!"

John Bachelor: "Not only that, they suppress it in the ways that suggest a medieval persecution. Its fantastic."

Michael Vatikiotis: "The Chinese leadership was shocked to discover one day that tens of thousands of supporters had appeared outside their leadership compound in Beijing, and ever since then they've dealt with it in a very clumsy way, that's true."

John Batchelor: "So you see, right now, the Falun Gong..."

Paul Alexander: "That would be the issue."

John Batchelor: "Although you will entertain the fact that SARS is a crisis that you have to wait on, come the cool temperatures."

Michael Vatikiotis: "I think SARS is something that is probably going to reappear, but the difference there, between SARS and Falun Gong is that--for the Beijing government--openness or more openness in dealing with SARS was an advantage to them in terms of not turning away foreign investment. I'm afraid to say it's a truism that however badly these people in the Falun Gong are beaten up and imprisoned, and indeed they are, China's reach in terms of the Falun Gong that is now about to happen here in Hong Kong is not an issue which excites the business community."

John Batchelor: "Michael Vatikiotis is the editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review on a very important day, we'll be watching the news Michael, thank you for talking about Article 23 before the demonstration, and we'll look to speak to you again and your staff about this in the future. We're watching from New York, Michael, we're watching very carefully."

The Batchelor and Alexander Show

http://www.abcradio.com/index.cfm?bay=content.view&catid=63&cpid=174

http://www.wabcradio.com/showdj.asp?DJID=9178

Posting date: 7/4/2003
Original article date: 7/3/2003
Category: News & Media Reports

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version