Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Complaints Follow Propaganda Chief’s Visit

OTTAWA—When China’s propaganda chief came to Canada to glad-hand Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his visit was kept secret even from the welcoming party dispatched to greet him, some now allege.

Li Changchun, the fifth-ranked member of the Chinese regime’s ruling standing committee, came to Ottawa last Thursday to exchange pleasantries and stage photo ops, but the secretive nature of his visit has sparked allegations of a bait-and-switch being carried out in the Chinese community.

Some 80-100 Ottawa Chinese were bused to the airport to greet Li, and around Ottawa over the next two days. But some now say they were promised a trip to the Canadian Museum of Civilization rather than a tour of staged events with Li.

Several groups worked together to organize the welcoming party, including the Ottawa Chinese Canadian Heritage Foundation and the Chinese Community Association of Ottawa.

One upset person took to a popular Internet forum to share their displeasure, writing that the heritage foundation had cheated the seniors trotted out to greet Li.

“They first said that they would take those seniors to visit a museum. It was only after they set off that the seniors were told that they were going to welcome Li Changchun. It went from 8-ish in the early morning till 7 in the evening. Sure, some seniors were willing to go, but definitely not everyone wanted to welcome such a XXXX,” wrote the poster.

“If you want to lick the TG, please make it clear.”

TG is short for “Tu Gong,” a common term that translates as “vulgar communists.”

Others told The Epoch Times a similar story, but were unwilling to share their names, a common issue in Canada’s Chinese community with men and women who emigrated from mainland China.

One of the organizers of the welcoming party maintains the accusations are baseless, saying the group was told the two days of activities included a trip to the museum on the second day.

Xue Jinsheng, president of the Chinese Community Association of Ottawa, said other complaints that those taken on the tour were effectively trapped for the duration were equally unfair.

“Anybody can leave if they want. Nobody forced them to stay there. One lady left because she wanted to see a movie that night,” said Xue.
Secretive Nature of Visit

The issue has become a case of “he said she said” because the secretive nature of Li’s visit kept it from being posted anywhere online, though Xue said the reason the event wasn’t posted was due to technical problems and a lack of time.

Li’s other events were also kept quiet. His photo-op with Harper was not announced—the normal procedure when the PM stages a photo-op with foreign dignitaries.

The grand opening of a new Confucius Institute at Carleton University was also not announced. A spokesperson from the university said it was because it was a private ceremony and the public was not invited.

The press release later issued by the university names Li a member of the standing committee, but did not describe him as the head of China’s propaganda and censorship. Coincidentally, that information was also left off the photo caption issued by the PMO.

Xue, whose group organizes Chinese New Year’s celebrations and other social activities, said his group learned about Li’s trip from a Chinese website. He was not able to provide the name of the website, listing several possibilities, but said he did not have time to track down the exact site.

He said there are always a few malcontents who will level accusations. He compared the current situation to another where he arranged free lunches for people whose homes had burned down, only to face outrage when one person was denied a free dinner after missing the lunch.

“There are always two sides of the story,” said Xue. “We have people complaining all the time, it does not matter what.”

Xue has faced complaints in the past for how closely his organization has worked with the Chinese consolate in Ottawa. In July 2010, Xue helped organized a welcome party for Chinese leader Hu Jintao that arrived at Hu’s hotel at 2 a.m., hours before Hu arrived.

That same year, the Epoch Times obtained a recording of a speech given by  Mr. Liu Shaohua, the first secretary of the education section at the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, to a crowd of between 40 and 50 students receiving Chinese state-scholarships to study there. Those students, Liu says, must attend the welcome events for Hu.

“Originally, we did not expect the situation to be so complex,” Liu said. “Falun Gong, Tibetan separatists, Uyghur separatists, democracy people have already moved onto Parliament Hill [...] This is a battle that relates to defending the reputation of our motherland. The embassy and authorities inside China have a very high requirement.”

Original Article
Source: the epoch times
Author: Matthew Little

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