Posted on 04/21/2006 5:16:29 PM PDT by satchmodog9
A woman accused of heckling Chinese President Hu Jintao during a White House appearance this week was charged Friday in federal court with a misdemeanor of willfully intimidating, coercing threatening and harassing a foreign official.
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Wang Wenyi, 47, had obtained temporary press credentials as a reporter for a Falun Gong newspaper and positioned herself on a camera stand.
According to Secret Service translations provided in court documents, she shouted in Chinese: "Stop oppressing the Falun Gong," as well as "Your Time is running out," and "Anything you have done will come back to you in this lifetime." She also shouted in heavily accented English: " President Bush, stop him from killing," and "President Bush, stop him from persecuting the Falun Gong."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
She should get a medal, and a seat at the next state of the Union address next to the President. The worst thing was OUR President apologized. He should have shrugged his shoulders and said, "we have free speech in this country, which means freedom to speak the truth. Speaking of truth, when will you allow political and religious freedom, quit murdering girl children, and let your currency float?"
I heard a China expert on C-Spin this morning say that because of what she did, her family and friends will all be rounded up, arrested, tortured, and some will be used for organ harvesting. This is tragic that we would do this to this poor woman. Who's running this assylum we call our government these days?
Yeah, uh-huh, I'm sure he was absolutely wetting his pants, he was so frightened by the little old lady in the back row.
"There ought to be limits to freedom..."
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I may have missed some of this, but I do not see a crime.
So...Bush gets to woo Hu and she can't boo Hu. Doesn't seem fair.
There is a lot more to this story as documented by Congressional hearings and numerous other resources.
Follow the link below to read witness testimony on these atrocities and to contact elected officials.
Did all the liberal left wing groups stand up to support Ms Shehan when she was arrested? What was the outcome of her arrest?
We should demand that this lady gets community service and is required to speak at all American Colleges as part of her punishment.
I contacted 2 elected officials today and plan to contact more!
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/nj04_smith/prChinaHearing.html
Smith Hearing Examines Human Rights in China on Eve of President Hu’s Arrival in Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Chris Smith, Chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees Global Human Rights, led a hearing earlier today that examined China’s human rights record – including areas such as China’s compliance with international labor standards, censorship of the internet, implementation of the right of Chinese citizens to worship freely, and the destructive effects on Chinese society of its government’s coercive one-child policy.
"I have eternal hope that President Bush will raise these fundamental human rights concerns in his meetings with President Hu," said Smith. "The Chinese government simply cannot let their population increasingly experience the freedom to buy, sell and produce while denying them the right to assemble, speak and worship as they choose."
"Over the years, I have held 25 hearings on human rights abuses in China, and while China’s economy has improved somewhat, the human rights situation remains abysmal. So-called economic reform has utterly failed to result in the protection of freedom of speech, expression, or assembly," said Smith.
"It is important to note that the freedoms that we enjoy in America allow individuals to publish information and news on the Web unfiltered – even from within the walls of Congress," Smith said. "Those freedoms do not exist in China and individuals who attempt to speak freely are imprisoned and even tortured, and US corporations should not be aiding in that process."
BACKGROUND: The visit of President Hu Jintao of China to the United States provides the Congress an opportunity to review human rights conditions in China. In previous years before high profile visits, the PRC government has released from prison political dissidents such as Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, sentenced to eight years prison in 2000 for sending press cuttings overseas and "endangering national security" and who was released March 14, 2005 before the Beijing visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
State Department human rights reports and other NGOs indicate that Chinese government repression of its citizens continues. Beijing has increasingly viewed the information available on the internet as a potential threat to the central government's ability to control the population and has created one of the most internet restrictive countries in the world, where cyber-dissidents like Shi Tao are arrested and imprisoned. China’s continued repression of religion is among the most despotic in the world. In February, the BBC reported that China had warned Hong Kong's newly-appointed Cardinal, Joseph Zen, a well-known critic of China's suppression of religious freedoms, to remain quiet on political issues. Citizens practicing a faith other than officially sanctioned religions are often subject to torture, imprisonment, and death, at which time prisoner organs are frequently harvested to meet demand. Those that dare to question China’s forced abortions and sterilizations face beatings and imprisonment, such as Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer who has publicly opposed China’s coercive one-child policies. Finally, there is no recourse for millions of Chinese laborers trapped in poor working conditions, as those who protest unjust wage and labor practices outside of the government-sponsored labor union are arrested and imprisoned.
WITNESSES:
Ms. Thea Lee, Assistant Director of Public Policy, AFL-CIO
Steven Mosher, Ph.D., President, Population Research Institute
Mr. Ethan Gutmann, Author, Losing the New China: a Story of American Commerce, Desire and Betrayal,
Mr. Harry Wu, Executive Director, Laogai Research Foundation
Mr. Lu Decheng, 1989 Tiananmen Square Protestor
Mr. Joseph Kung, Director, Cardinal Kung Foundation
Ms. Rebiya Kadeer, President, International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
Follow the link at the top for Testimony from the witnesses above
and for Rep. Smith’s Opening Statement
###
For Immediate Release: April 19, 2006
Contact: Brad Dayspring (202) 225-3765
What's so "sad" about it?
Perhaps you think Government officials should not be allowed to have ANY public function that is not open to hecklers, rioters and every other form of protest imaginable?
There are proper forums for such things. This simply was not one of them.
Get over it.
A charge like that sounds every bit as legitimate as the "leaking state secrets" charge that the ChiComs level against any journalist who reports on anything they don't want talked about, regardless of how little it has to do with actual national security. She did not threaten anyone, let alone "coerce" him.
But I guess her towering physique must have been "intimidating" to Hu.
There was nothing unconstitutional about removing her from the premises. Charging her with "willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening and harassing a foreign official," on the other hand, is a revolt against the Constitution as well as common sense.
ACLU to the rescue!!!! freedom of speech in danger!!!! minority being abused!!!
oh wait...its a commie, better apologize for the nation...oh wait bush did that
sigh when will our country stand up for her beliefs and stop being so hypocritical...
you know, I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with you. This isn't about freedom of speech. No one is saying she can't have freedom of speech. This is about an inappropriate behavior in a forum where losing face could have consequences beyond our shores. No one had a problem when capital police removed Cindy Sheehan as she tried to protest Bush, btw...
I would have to see the actual laws in play before I form an opinion on the charges.
In any case I really doubt she will suffer any severe penalty for this.
BTW, I don't agree with her being charged. I just think her behavior was inappropriate given the situation.
Exactly.
How infantile.
"In any case I really doubt she will suffer any severe penalty for this."
How do you feel about involuntary organ "donation," as penalty for political dissent?
This is shameful that a USS agent would arrest someone for speaking out to a communists dictator it is even more disgraceful that a AUSA would charge someone with a law that sounds like it belongs on the books in china
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