| Hom Raj |
Posted
on 22-Mar-01 11:42 AM
This is not directly relevant to Nepal except as China is our neighbor but I want to inform about a situation regarding a faculty fellow at my university. Iit shows what happens to academics and writers AND EVEN THEIR CHILDREN if freedom of speech is suppressed! Dr. Gao is a sociologist whose work is about women's rights and sometimes compares Taiwan and China. The little boy was released after 26 days in custody separated from his parents. Dr. Gao is still jailed.
I think it is a reminder how we must be very vigilant for the protection of our right to free speech in Nepal. Even if we live abroad and even become US citizens, if there are no rights to free speech in our homeland such thing could happen to any of us!!!
This is taken from a letter to President Bush from the NGO, Human Rights in China. It describes this terrible human rights violation.
"Dr. GAO Zhan, a faculty fellow of the School of International Service at American University and a permanent resident of the United States has been forcibly detained in Beijing for over thirty days ... On February 11, Dr. Gao, her husband ... and their five-year-old son Andrew were stopped by Chinese authorities at the Beijing airport on their way home to the United States after a visit to their families. After a 90-minute search, which yielded nothing, the three were separated from each other and detained
separately ...
"During his detention, Xue repeatedly asked that his son be permitted to stay either with himself or his wife or with his grandparents. His requests were denied, as were his requests for legal representation. Their families and employers were not informed as to their whereabouts, nor was the American Embassy in Beijing ...
"Dr. Gao, her husband, Xue Donghua, and their son Andrew have committed no crime. They have been unjustly and arbitrarily detained in flagrant violation of China's own laws, and international human rights standards. Dr. Gao remains in detention."
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 22-Mar-01 02:16 PM
Dear Homraj:
I don't like the way Dr Gao was treated, but anyway, in China
it is not just another case.A few years ago, they detained a
Stanford University Fellow (working for nuclear science!) when
he was in China to attend his father's funeral.
I can offer one basis for this behavior of Chinese government. I
am writing this as a person who has enormous respect for Chinese
people , and who also appreciate Chinese government's treatment of
Nepal.
The only target of Chinese nationhood, or leadership, rightnow is
reunification with Taiwan.People are not united in their views
regarding CCP, people are not even united in their views regarding
India, but people are almost united in their view regarding
Taiwan.Government propaganda machines only churns out negative
news about Taiwan.Anybody who wittingly compares Taiwan and China,
and hints that Taiwan is in leadership position is unwittingly
humiliating those forces of China. It is stupid logic, but it
is true for that great nation which is wary of foreigners because
they lived a history of aggression.
Mr Gao's situation is like that of Rishikesh Shah's in 1988 Nepal
India row. I am sure you remember those days.He wrote a fact in
Times Of India(?), but we all disliked him,because he wrote that
in India!
When I try to write, I don't want to appear vindictive. So, if
you go back to this discussion, you can find that in some threads
I have offered apologies on behalf of the CCP, even though
I was not treated very well there when I was in Shanghai for my
free speech.
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