PRESSRELEASE: GLOBAL ACTION FOR A FREE BURMA

TELL A FRIEND
PLEASE JOIN US: Visual Artists Guild will participate in the Global Action with a Caravan

WHAT: On February 1, Myanmar (formerly called Burma) military seized power from the ruling NLD (National League for Democracy).
              This is a call for Global Action For Free Burma around the world to demand China stop its support of the Myanmar military junta.
              China has vetoed a UN statement condemning the military coup.
              Visual Artists Guild will participate in the global action with a caravan going to the China Consulate.
WHEN:   Saturday, February 20, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Caravan will leave at 11:00 a.m. from Los Angeles State Historical Park near Chinatown and
                 arriving at the China Consulate at 443 Shatto Place.
                 See direction and map below.
Caravan Direction: Meet at Los Angeles State Historical Park parking area.
                 1545 N. Spring St., Los Angeles 90012 (corner of Sotello st.)
                  Caravan will begin at 11:00 a.m.
                  Go South on N Spring St.; Right on College St; Left on Broadway;
                  Right on 1st St.; Left on Grand;
                  Right on Wilshire; Right on Vermont; Right on 6th;
                  Right on Shatto Place. 
                  Please wear face mask and observer social distance when outside of the car.  
                  Please print out (and enlarge if possible) the attached signs and paste on each side of your car.
                  Also in the front and the back as well if possible. 

Background Information:
                 On February 1, 2021, the military of Myanmar (formerly called Burma) staged a coup and arrested the democratically elected members of the ruling party including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, cabinet ministers, state and region chief ministers, party leaders . 
                 The election in 2020 gave the National League for Democracy (NLD) 396 out of 476 seats in parliament.  The coup happened the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in the elected members of that election.  The army claimed the vote was fraudulent.
                  Since the coup, citizens in Myanmar have taken to the streets in protests with labor strikes, civil disobedience with a three finger salute symbol of protest.  The military had since blocked the internet, beside arresting the politicians from the NLD, the military also arrested journalists and celebrities.
                  Gun shots have been reported and the military has increasingly using violent tactics on the protesters.
 Information on Global Action:
                  Ii Maung: 310-753-3467
 Information on Visual Artists Guild Caravan to Consulate:
                 Ann Lau 310-433-0697
                 Visual Artists Guild is a non-profit organization which supports the right of freedom of speech and expression.
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Anniversary of Dr. Li Wenliang passing; Appeal for transparency on WHO investigation in Wuhan; Review of Fang Fang' Wuhan Diary

On the first anniversary of the passing of Dr. Li Wenliang, Visual Artists Guild, recognizing the isolation and confusion caused by the deaths of hundreds of thousands of friends, family members and colleagues the world over, call on today to be a turning point in this pandemic to speak to and honor those to support a transparency in finding the source of this Wuhan Virus so that it can be wiped out and end this era of near Dark Ages. 

With members of the World Health Organization now in Wuhan, we ask that the investigators to be allowed to conduct a complete research of all the records in the hospital, in the laboratories, be able to interview front line medical staffs, researchers separately so they can speak freely and without worrying that they may be disciplined should they speak out of line of the government's narrative.   Only in this co-operative and transparent manner will the world find a path through our common enemy, the corona virus.

We further ask for the release of Zhang Zhan, Fang Bin, and Chen Qiushi, independent journalists who went to Wuhan to inform the citizens about the situation in Wuhan during the lockdown.  Zhang Zhan has been sentenced to four years in jail for her reporting.  Both Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi have disappeared since February, 2020.

Now that we too have undergone lockdowns as well as many missteps by our own government, we thank Fang Fang for giving us daily reports of her own experience while she was under the lockdown in Wuhan in early 2020.  The world now shares her experience.

Visual Artists Guild has been able to interview Tienchi Liao-Martin to talk about her thoughts on Fang Fang's book.
Please click on this Youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNWlJQB5Gbc

Contact Information: Ann Lau, Chair, Visual Artists Guild 310-433-0697
Visual Artists Guild is a non-profit organization which champions the right of freedom of speech and expression.

Joint Statement on the Massive Hong Kong Police Arrests of Political Activists  

On January 6, 2021, dozens of prominent former pro-democracy legislators, political activists, reporters, and legal experts were arrested for allegedly violating the ever-expanding National Security Law of Hong Kong. They were accused of subversion in association with a primary election held by pro-democracy candidates last year ahead of the scheduled Legislative Council Elections, just to have a better representation of the electorate.
 

Dear Friend,
             Happy New Year!  I hope to find you well.
             What can we hope for 2021 based on what happened this past year?

Tiananmen 2.0
             When whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang was forced to sign a document on January 3, 2020 admitting to spreading rumor regarding 7 SARS infections in his December 30, 2019 social media chat, it signaled the beginning of Beijing's coverup of the Wuhan virus.
             Dr. Li famously wrote, "There should be more than one voice in a healthy society."  His death brought out Tianamen 2.0 when netizens sounded the call, "We Want Freedom of Speech".  The Beijing government was so alarmed by such countrywide expression for freedom that they not only rescinded the reprimand against Dr. Li but made Dr. Li a hero hoping to quell the anger of the people. 
             In the early days of the virus in Wuhan, courageous independent journalists Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin, Li Zehua and Zhang Zhan went into Wuhan to report on the situation there. They soon disappeared. 
             While Li Zehua was released, Chen Quishi and Fang Bin continued to be detained.   
             On December 28, Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in jail for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
             Fang Bin, in one of his video had said, "The Cruelty of the virus is far less than the cruelty of tyranny. The source of the virus is tyranny."
             In explaining his reason for going to Wuhan, Chen Qiushi said, "I long for a societal system that should I become a victim, the world will respond and the spirit will answer."
             The Beijing government not only continued their coverup of the virus, their foreign minister openly accused Italy as well as the United States being the source of the virus.  While such accusations are typical of the Beijing government's modus operandi to promote nationalism giving their people an enemy to target, it backfired when other governments, especially Australia, began to call for investigations into the origin of the virus especially on the possibility of the virus having escaped from the high level P4 Lab in Wuhan.

Press Release: For Immediate Release
WHAT: Visual Artists Guild calls for Action On Universal Human Rights Day December 10
WHEN: December 10, 2020
WHY:
It was Eleanor Roosevelt who in 1948 led the draft for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was signed on December 10 that year.
As a member of the United Nations, China is obligated to observe
          Article 19 of the Declaration which states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression" as well as
          Article 20 of the Declaration which states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association".
Since China imposed its National Security Law on Hong Kong on July 1, the Hong Kong government has systematically violated the tenets of these two articles in charging and sentencing pro-democracy activists there.
            Among the recent activists who have been sentenced or detained are:
                      Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam who are in their early 20's sentenced to 7 to 13 months in jail.
                      Jimmy Lai, owner of Next Media and Apple Daily denied bail.