Media Summary -- September 19, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

Taipei Times Reports on Appeal by Hong Kong Practitioners

The Associated Press reported on a protest lodged by Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong, after the courts failed to hear their appeal more than a year after it was lodged. A judge had convicted sixteen Falun Gong practitioners of creating a public obstruction during a demonstration against the suppression on Falun Gong.

About 30 Falun Gong followers staged a sit-in outside Beijing's representative office in Hong Kong -- near the scene of a protest that led to Hong Kong's first criminal charges against Falun Gong practitioners.

According to the article, "the charges were minor and the defendants were only ordered to pay small fines. But the implications for free speech in Hong Kong could be significant, human rights activists say."

In a hearing that took place a year ago, the Falun Gong practitioners said that their protest had been a legal exercise of constitutional rights. They had expected a ruling within a few weeks, but it has never come.

Falun Gong's spokeswoman Sharon Xu commented, "Justice delayed is justice denied. It's not good for Hong Kong's image."

Ms. Xu was also concerned that the politically sensitive nature of the case was affecting the judges' timeliness in making a decision on the appeal.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/09/04/2003201564

AFP Reports on Falun Gong's Call for Legal Action Against Chinese official Visiting Spain

Agence France Presse reported that Falun Gong practitioners in Spain have filed for court action against visiting senior Chinese Communist Party official Jia Qinglin.

A spokesman for Falun Gong, Mr. David Mercader, said, "As former mayor of Beijing, general secretary of the municipality Jia Qinglin, today the chairman of the Chinese people's political consultative conference, is a key figure behind the persecution of the Falun Gong."

Mr. Mercader continued, "He is one of those responsible for genocide and the torture of hundreds of thousands and even millions of members of the movement assassinated or deported to concentration camps between 1999 and 2002."

PRIMA-News (Russia): Control over Internet tightened in Shanghai

PRIMA-News reported that by the end of 2004, Shanghai authorities will install software in each of the city's 1350 Internet cafes to monitor customers' surfing the Internet. The PRIMA-News reported that according to an official from Shanghai authority for culture, film and television, the software will prevent "unhealthy use of the Internet". Experts believe that the software will be able to track the web page visits by the users, as well as reading their correspondence and confidential information.

According to a study carried out by the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society, at present China's filtering mechanisms block sites where the word "China" occurs next to "Democracy", "Justice", "Freedom", "Dissidents" and so on. Many web sites that mention Falun Gong, Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen Square and even the name of the present Chinese leader Hu Jintao cannot be accessed either. The list includes about 1,000 words.

http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2004/9/17/29425.html

Hornsby & Upper North Shore Advocate (Australia) Chronicles Plight of Young Falun Gong Practitioner

The Advocate detailed the situation of Lydia Zhao and her daughter Manying Yan, who have been denied passport renewal by the Chinese consulate. Ms. Yan would very much like to return to China to visit her grandparents, but she is prohibited from doing so due to the consulate withholding her passport renewal, because she is a Falun Gong practitioner.

The Advocate quoted Ms. Zhao: "Everyone who is a Chinese citizen has a right to a passport, I just feel very sad about my daughter."

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