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中文在後
Dear Friend,
Follows is a statement by Wu'er Kaixi as he attempts
to enter Hong Kong on November 24, 2013. Wu'er Kaixi is one
of the ten most wanted student leaders of the 1989
pro-democracy movement in China. In his statement, Wu'er
Kaixi declares his intention to turn himself in to the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region authority of China.
Visual Artists Guild supports Wu'er Kaixi's desire
to enter China so he can visit his aging parents whom he has
not seen for 24 years. China should grant Wu'er Kaixi's
request on humanitarian grounds.
Ann Lau
Chair, Visual Artists Guild
***************************************************
Friends, Hong Kong Citizens,
Greetings!
I, Wu’er Kaixi, am subject to a most-wanted warrant issued by the Chinese government in 1989 by the Beijing Public Security Bureau and promulgated as an edict nationwide by the Ministry of Public Security.
I hereby make an appeal to the Hong Kong SAR and to the world.
I am willing to turn myself in to the Chinese authorities. I urge the SAR government, based on Chinese law, and by my own agreement, to exercise its judicial power and extradite me to the Chinese authorities.
As someone who is wanted by the Chinese government, why am I attempting turning myself in to the Chinese government, and why am I doing it in Hong Kong, which has its own laws, according to the constitutional principle of “One Country, Two Systems?” Moreover, why am I doing this in transit at Hong Kong International Airport? The reason is because it is my last resort. Since 2009, I have made similar attempts in Macau, Japan, and the United States to either enter China or Chinese embassies to face the Chinese government’s charges directly, but I have been denied every time. What I’m doing today is a result of the Chinese government’s absurd act of ordering my arrest, while at the same time refusing to allow me to return.
Assuming the Hong Kong government accepts the Chinese official position, which sees my participation in the 1989 student movement as part of a “conspiracy to subvert the government,” making me guilty of “counter revolutionary incitement,” the Hong Kong government should accept my request and help Chinese government to apprehend me. I understand that the transit area of Hong Kong International Airport is an international zone, but it is also an area within the Hong Kong government’s jurisdiction, and the Hong Kong authorities should at least consider my request to turn myself in.
If the Hong Kong government ...
Photo caption: One of a number of protests by Visual Artists Guild calling for the release of eight prisoners of conscience. Shi Tao's photo is bottom row, third from left. |
Shi Tao served eight years and six months of his sentence.
At the time, Shi Tao's case reverberated around the world as it clearly violated journalistic freedom. While Yahoo! claimed that China Yahoo! must follow China's law, it was in fact Hong Kong Yahoo! who gave out the IP address of Shi Tao as the one who sent out the information. Hong Kong has an ordinance on privacy. The information Hong Kong Yahoo! gave out was not ordered by Hong Kong's court as the ordinance required. In fact there was no police order at all.
In 2007, a hearing was held in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong
Commissioner on Privacy, Roderick B. Woo, was called to testify
by the Hong Kong legislature. Visual Artists Guild was the only
NGO to attend the hearing. Woo claimed that since Shi Tao's
account was a commercial account, there was no violation of
privacy, to which legislator Audrey Eu countered that the fact
that Shi Tao was sentenced proved that such privacy had been
violated. Hong Kong Yahoo! did not appear at the hearing and
merely sent out a letter denying any violation on their part.
During a 2006 US Congressional hearing, Yahoo! general
counsel Michael Callahan claimed that Yahoo! China had to
cooperate with the government and further claimed that Yahoo!
China had no knowledge of the purpose of China's request. A
police document from China subsequently revealed that China had
requested Hong Kong Yahoo! to provide the information and
clearly stated the reason for such a request. Jerry Yang, then
CEO of Yahoo!, apologized to Shi Tao's mother during the second
US Congressional hearing held on the case in late 2007.
A suit was filed against Yahoo! to which Yahoo! settled out of
court.
Visual Artists Guild celebrates Shi Tao's release and call on
the government of China to release all prisoners of conscience.
Released by: Ann Lau, Chair, Visual Artists Guild
310-433-0697
Dear Friend,
Happy Thanksgiving to you.
I, and members of the Board of Visual Artists Guild
would like
to personally thank you for all your support and
encouragements
throughout the years. Without such support we
would not be able
to continue our work in bringing some hope
to those who are struggling
to stand up for their rights.
Please join us Saturday, December 7 for a rally on
Human Rights.
See you there and do tell a friend.
Sincerely,
Ann Lau
Honoring
Hon. Mike Eng
Author of California Human Right to Water
Los Angeles Community College
Trustee
former California State Assemblymember
Honoring
Wu Lihong 太湖衛士 吳立紅
Environmental
Crusader, Defender of Lake Tai,
China's third
largest fresh water lake
Xu Jiehua & Wu Yunlei
wife and daughter of
Wu Lihong will accept the award
Date: |
Saturday, August 17, 2013 |
Time: |
11:00 a.m. Reception and Registration
11:30 a.m. Program starts |
Place: |
Golden Dragon Restaurant |
Cost: |
$20 |
RSVP |
Ann Lau, (310) 433-0697, vag@visual-artists-guild.org |
The Hon. Mike Eng, in 2011, while
an Assemblymember, authored the Human Right to Water bill
AB685, which was signed by Governor Brown last year.
making the right to water a California policy. This is a historic legislation
establishing a state policy that every Californian has
a human right to safe, clean, affordable and
accessible drinking water. At the time he sponsored the
bill, Mr. Eng had stated, "In far too many communities, the
sole water supply is contaminated, and families unable to
afford treatment are left entirely without safe water."
Mr. Eng's willingness to carry this bill
forward despiteit being previously vetoed by Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger is a testament to his perseverance in standing
up for the citizens of California.
Co-Sponsored by the Social Uplift Foundation www.SocialUplift.org