Western political leaders, including Vice President of European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott ,German Chancellor Angela Merkel,and the United States President George Bush have recently met with Chinese civil rights activists, Chinese dissident scholars, and in the case of Mr. McMillan-Scott, with Falun Gong practitioners. These meetings are interpreted as critical signs of change in the western world's foreign policy towards China.
According to Mr. Jiao Guobiao, a former assistant-professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Beijing University, western countries are beginning to identify with non-government organizations and social movements in China. For over a decade, they had stuck to the custom of speaking only of China's economy and avoiding the subject of China's human rights violations, but they are now apparently taking a new diplomatic tack.
According to Mr. Gao Zhisheng , famous human rights attorney in Beijing, the international society has started to change its attitude towards the Chinese communist regime's human rights problems.
"All the latest signs show that political leaders of many countries are taking determined and promising strides towards disintegrating the Chinese Communist Party," commented Mr. Zhang Tianlian, a Chinese scholar in Washington, D.C.
U.S., German and EU Leaders' Meetings with Chinese Dissidents Reveals a Refreshing Attitude towards China
On May 11, 2006, the United States President George Bush met with members of the home church from China and several Chinese dissidents, including Mr. Yu Jie, Mr. Wang Yi and Mr. Li Boguang. During the meeting, Bush expressed his concern for freedom of religion in China.
During her visit to China in May 2006, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, "human rights are indivisible" whereas other European political leaders had consistently avoided talking about China's human rights violations. Merkel also met with Mr. Chen Guili, the author of the forbidden book A Censorship of Chinese Farmers in China, as well as his wife Ms. Wu Chuntao and two other dissidents in China. She also spoke with Catholic Bishop Mr. Jin Luxian, who was imprisoned for 27 years in Shanghai, about China's freedom of religion and spiritual belief in China.
On May 24 and 25, the European Parliament was held in Vienna, Austria. The Human Rights Division of Austria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Mr. Jiao Guobiao, former professor at Beijing University, to have a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 22 in order to assess the present condition of freedom of journalism under CCP's rule, as well as the progress of China's activists, civil rights and democracy movements.
Shortly before June 4, the U.S. Consul-General met with Mr. Huang Qi, a human rights activist in Sichuan Province, in order to understand the lawsuit seeking compensation for the families of the victims of China's June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Mr. Li Ding, a Chinese commentator, believes this is a beginning of a positive change. He urges western diplomats to China to take the opportunity to push for China's democracy and to transform China's body politic.
The First Western Political Leader to Meet Falun Gong Practitioners in China
Among all the recent meetings between western political leaders and Chinese civil rights activists, the one that took place in Beijing between the Vice President of the European Parliament, Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott, and two Falun Gong practitioners was groundbreaking and the most meaningful. During his three-day visit to China in May 2006, Mr. McMillan-Scott made a special arrangement to meet with two Falun Gong practitioners who have been subjected to CCP's brutal persecution of the spiritual practice. McMillan-Scott is the very first western political leader to have met victims of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong on China's soil.
Falun Gong is a forbidden subject for the CCP when it comes to China's human rights violations. In past dialogues about China's human rights, the western world has deliberately avoided this subject. The CCP has never released any Falun Gong practitioners for any diplomatic reason.
Afterwards, Mr. McMillan-Scott shared with the public what he had learned from his trip to Beijing, "My conclusions are that the Chinese regime remains brutal, arbitrary and paranoid". He then made speeches at international forums held in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He praised highly the movement to withdraw from the CCP and stressed the importance of pushing for democracy in China.
Pushing for Democracy in China to Empower the Chinese People
A series of meetings between western political leaders and China's activists and dissidents are interpreted as a sign of change in western society to push for freedom and democracy in China. Mr. Shi Zangshan, a China expert in Washington, D.C., said, "In the past, western governments attempted to prompt China towards peaceful reform through economic developments, technology, and business trades. However, that did not work. The Chinese Communist Party used technology and economic profits to escalate its suppression of freedom in China and its persecution of the Chinese people's freedom of spiritual belief." He believes that the frustrated western world has started a new, more tangible and more meaningful strategy.
McMillan-Scott talked about some tangible strategies. The EU has passed a budget of 142 million ED (about $160 million) to help those countries without democracy.
McMillan-Scott emphasized the importance of empowering the Chinese people. He promised to continue pushing for freedom and democracy in China for the next two years. He also hoped that his visit to China will open a road for his ideals and opinions amidst the sensitive reality and give the Chinese people hope of change in the foreseeable future.
He is confident that he will see a democratic China before he dies.
People of Faith Lead the Movement to Deny the Communist Party
At the international forum "China's Future" held in Hong Kong on May 27, McMillan-Scott analyzed the relationship between freedom of spiritual belief and China's political regime. According to McMillan-Scott, people with spiritual belief had a lot to do with the disintegration of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. At present, the spiritual movement in China has demonstrated the same level of courage. They are leading the Chinese people and encouraging countless Chinese people who have suffered from the Chinese Communist Party's program of forced labor.
McMillan-Scott congratulated the 10 million people who have withdrawn from the CCP. He believes that this movement will continue to grow. According to McMillan-Scott, this movement means the Chinese people have abandoned the vile Communist values. He urges each and every member of the CCP to withdraw from the party.
On January 25, 2006, the EU's 46 member countries passed a resolution by 99 votes to 42 to condemn the Communist regime's crimes of tyranny.
A Choice between Two Chinas
Mr. Zhang Tianliang, a China expert and a columnist for The Epoch Times , believes that it is a pleasant sign that western political leaders begin to value Chinese civilians' power to disintegrate the CCP.
According to Mr. Zhang, sources from China say that besides members of the home church from China, President Bush had planned to meet with Mr. Guo Feixiong, a civil rights attorney, and Mr. Gao Zhisheng, a human rights attorney who represented Falun Gong practitioners in a court of law in China. However, Mr. Guo and Mr. Gao were not able to meet President Bush. Nevertheless, the intention to have this meeting has shown the United States government's concern for the power of the Chinese people.
Mr. Zhang said, "When President Bush visited China in 2005, I wrote an article, in which I said, 'Bush now faces a choice between two Chinas. The China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party and the new China that is now freeing itself from the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party and walking towards freedom.' In fact, all the politicians and all the Chinese people are now facing the same choice."
Mr. Zhang said the most likely reason why the western world started to change its policy towards China was, "after it was revealed that the Chinese Communist Party has been brutally harvesting internal organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profits, many governments and their officials are trying to understand China's persecution of Falun Gong. Intelligence agencies in many countries around the world are also paying close attention to this crime. This attention will naturally transform into an evaluation of the stability of the Chinese communist regime. These countries will notice the unification of efforts from Chinese civilians, especially from Falun Gong practitioners and the movement to spread The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations."
"All the latest signs show that political leaders of many countries are taking determined and promising strides towards disintegrating the Chinese Communist Party," Mr. Zhang said.
