Jay Nordlinger has sobering words to share with reference to the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States. Nordlinger writes:
In a below post, I mentioned Gao Zhisheng, one of the best people in all of China — I believe he is still alive. [Me: See my earlier post on Gao Zhisheng here.] With the PRC, the government we Americans are honoring this week, you never know. Gao has been incredibly brave: He has defended Falun Gong practitioners, “house church” activists, and other people targeted by the government for arrest, torture, and death. Gao has paid very, very heavily for his principles.
In April 2009, Gao’s wife, Geng He, wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress. I wrote about this matter in a column, here. The letter in full can be found here. Geng began,
“On the night of September 21, 2007, my husband, with a black hood thrown over his head, was kidnapped and brought to an unknown location. For 59 days, many people tortured and ravaged him in all kinds of ways, including beating him with an electric prod, inserting bamboo sticks into his reproductive organs, holding lit cigarettes close to his eyes and nose, etc., so that his eyes would burn and he would be forced to inhale smoke. My husband told me later that he was in such unbearable pain at the time that his sweat, blood, and other bodily fluids covered the floor. Among the reasons the authorities gave for tormenting my husband was that he had written to the United States Congress.”
The head of the government that has done this to Gao, we are honoring at the White House, our American home. Isn’t that wonderful? Are you proud?
Geng went on to write,
“I remember that, when my husband was still free, whenever major human rights cases arose in China, he would always look towards the United States. He always said: The United States is the cornerstone of world freedom, human rights and social order; the United States would not tolerate despotic rule and the wanton abuse of the weak and the masses.”
Ain’t that quaint? I’m sure you’re laughing your head off. One more excerpt, from Geng’s letter:
“Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, please help me support my husband, lawyer Gao Zhisheng, so that the evil forces will know that there is resistance against persecution; so that the millions of Chinese suffering this despotic rule will know that the United States is concerned about their human rights situation, and will not give up. My husband would be more resolute because of this, the Chinese people would feel inspired because of this, and China and the world would eventually transform because of this!
“Many thanks for your concern!”
“Your concern”? Our concern?! I’ll tell you what our concern is, lady: to make money and go with the flow.
At the beginning of this administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, traveling in Asia, said that human rights would not be allowed to “interfere” with such urgent issues as “the global climate-change crisis.” This week’s pomp in honor of Hu Jintao proves that the administration is true to its word: Human rights sure as hell aren’t interfering.