Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: CHN30916 Country: Date: 7 November 2006

Keywords: China – Epoch Times – Nine Commentaries on Communist Party of China – Gong

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions:

Could you provide information on the Nine Commentaries on CPC, such as: 1 Who published it, wrote it, when? 2. A summary of its contents? 3. Is it banned in China? If so, when? 4. If so, was it openly available and discussed prior to this? 5. If it is banned, is it widely available? 6. What would be the punishment of bringing in to China this publication in May 2005 and being found with a copy?

RESPONSE

Could you provide information on the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, such as:

1 Who published it, wrote it, when?

Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party (in Chinese 九评共产党) is available in various forms and languages:

• In English (and probably other languages), in a book version (Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party 2004, The Epoch Times, Yih Chyun Book Corp., Gillette, NJ – see RRT Library 951.072 NIN);

• In English, on The Epoch Times interlinked websites http://www.theepochtimes.com/ and http://ninecommentaries.com/;

• In English, in the weekly print version of The Epoch Times, where it has been serialised several times. This is published in published in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand, according to The Epoch Times website (The Epoch Times 2006, ‘Other Languages’, http://www.theepochtimes.com/language.html – Accessed 3 November 2004 – Attachment 1);

• In Chinese, on the Daijiyuan (大纪元) website – this is the Chinese version of The Epoch Times (formerly at www.daijiyuan.com now at http://www.epochtimes.com/). The commentaries themselves are currently located at http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/nf3541.htm;

• In Chinese, in the weekly print version of The Epoch Times (Dajiyuan). The website claims “the Chinese Epoch Times (Dajiyuan) is now the single largest Chinese language newspaper in the world, covering 29 countries across North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia” (The Epoch Times 2006, ‘Other Languages’, http://www.theepochtimes.com/language.html – Accessed 3 November 2004 – Attachment 1);

• In nine other languages, on versions of The Epoch Times in Korean, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Romania, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Czech and Swedish (The Epoch Times 2006, ‘Other Languages’, http://www.theepochtimes.com/language.html – Accessed 3 November 2004 – Attachment 1);

Nine Commentaries was first published in 2004 by The Epoch Times newspaper, specifically by the Editorial Board of The Epoch Times. According to the foreword in the English book version, the Commentaries were first published on 19 November 2004 by Daijiyuan (Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party 2004, The Epoch Times, Yih Chyun Book Corp., Gillette, NJ, pp. xvii – Attachment 2).

Authors

The forward to the book states that no individual authors are named:

For reasons that should be clear upon reading the Commentaries, their authorship needs to remain anonymous. (p.xvii)

There are unconfirmed claims that the author, or one of the authors, of the Nine Commentaries was the now imprisoned dissident Zheng Yichun, but the Epoch Times has refused to confirm this noting only that he was accused by the Chinese authorities of being the author. For discussion of this claim see Attachment 3.

Links between The Epoch Times and the Falun Dafa () organisation

The Epoch Times is linked by many to the Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) organisation and it is sometimes referred to a Falun Gong publication. Although no formal link has been admitted by either side, The Epoch Times has many Falun Gong staff members and newspaper and its publications cover many Falun Gong stories and display a very strong sympathy towards the Falun Gong.

An academic study by Yuezhi Zhao states:

The emergence of –based Epoch Times in August 2000 marked a significant development in Falun Gong–related media. …

Although Epoch Times displays an indisputable ideological and organizational affinity with Falun Gong, and an editor of an earlier Canadian version of the paper has confirmed that it is both produced and distributed by Falun Gong members or individuals sympathetic with Falun Gong, the Epoch Times tries to present itself as a “public interest–oriented comprehensive medium” that is “independent of any political and business groups, free of any country government and regional interests, and objectively and fairly reports facts and truth” (“Epoch Times Publishes,” August 12, 2002). In contrast to specialized Falun Gong media, the Epoch Times presents itself as a comprehensive journalistic outlet with news, current affairs, and entertainment content. Notwithstanding its claims of objectivity, Epoch Times concentrates heavily on negative news of the Chinese government and sympathetic special pages about Falun Gong. Thus Epoch Times represents a major step in the evolution of Falun Gong–related alternative media. Instead of focusing on promoting Li’s doctrines or the narrow objective of “truth clarification,” this paper can be seen as a more Gramscian public organ, articulating the Falun Gong perspective on a wide range of issues. Indeed, through Epoch Times, one can discern how Falun Gong is building a de facto media alliance with China’s democracy movements in exile, as demonstrated by its frequent printing of articles by prominent overseas Chinese critics of the Chinese government. … (pp.218-9) … like many other media discourses associated with social movements, Falun Gong’s media approach is one of activism. Notwithstanding Epoch Times’ lip service to objectivity, Falun Gong makes no pretense to be objective in the conventional sense. (p.220) (Zhao, Yuezhi 2004, ‘Falun Gong, Identity, and the Struggle over Meaning Inside and Outside China’ in Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World, eds. N. Couldry and J. Curran, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&q=http://www.sfu.ca/cmns/faculty/zhao/14_03- 168_Ch13.pdf – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 4).

Other articles which look at the link between The Epoch Times and the Falun Gong are attached (Jurkowitz, Mark 2005, ‘Time for a change; International paper puts an emphasis on universal freedoms’, The Boston Globe, 31 May – Attachment 5; Hua, Vanessa 2005, ‘Dissident media linked to Falun Gong’, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 December http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/18/MNGGAG8MTA1.DTL – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 6).

The Wikipedia article on The Epoch Times is also attached (‘The Epoch Times’ 2006, Wikipedia, sec.4 ‘The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times#The_Nine_Commentaries_on_the_Commun ist_Party – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 7).

2. A summary of its contents?

Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is an attack on the (CPC). The book examines the history and methods of the CPC, arguing that the party has used violence, lies and manipulation to attain and maintain its power. It further argues that the party has destroyed the moral foundation of the nation and been responsible for the deaths of 60 to 80 million innocent Chinese people. There is a particular focus on the persecution of the Falun Gong organisation: the introduction states “Among its unending list of crimes, the vilest must be its persecution of Falun Gong” and Chapter 5 is devoted to this persecution. On the style of the book, the Wikipedia assessment seems helpful:

It is written in the propagandistic style of ‘Nine Commentaries on the Soviet Communist Party’, a 1963 Chinese publication, attacking Nikita Khrushchev. …

Some readers of the English version often find the “Commentaries” to be rather one- sided and contain language that is overblown and unbelievable, making them difficult to take seriously. Much of this may be the result of a more literal translation from the original Chinese text. The editorial often uses unusual phrases to describe the CPC, calling it ‘an Anti-Universe Force’, ‘an evil spirit from the West’, and stating that the Communist Party of China is the ‘red dragon’ mentioned in the book of Revelations of the Bible. Such phrases are similar to the ones used by the CPC to outlaw Falun Gong, such as denouncing each other as ‘evil cults’. Supporters of the paper claim that the tone is geared towards the communication style to which mainland Chinese readers, mostly who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, would be accustomed. It is also said that such readers have usually been exposed to years of government propaganda, rarely gaining access to alternative information about their government, although it is not circulated in itself. While praised by some Chinese dissidents as having an adverse effect on the political control of the CPC, its contents are controversial and disputed by critics who call it historical revisionism and Falun Gong propaganda. Because such text is banned in China, the paper often sends unsolicited copies and email to spread their message inside mainland China. (‘The Epoch Times’ 2006, Wikipedia, sec.4 ‘The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times#The_Nine_Commentaries_on_the_C ommunist_Party – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 7)

The book is divided into nine chapters. Here are links to each chapter and a summary of their focus:

‘Introduction’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-1/24696.html Report focus: “More than a decade after the fall of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European communist regimes, the international communist movement has been spurned worldwide. The demise of the Chinese Communist Party is only a matter of time.”

‘1. On What the Communist Party Is’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-9/24672.html Report focus: “This article concerns the impact on the civilization of China of the communist movement and the Communist Party. Looking at the history of China’s last 160 years, nearly one hundred million people have died unnatural deaths and almost all of the traditional Chinese culture and civilization have been destroyed…”

‘2. On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-13/24830.html Report focus: “Why did the Communist Party emerge, grow and eventually seize power in contemporary China? Did the Chinese people choose the Communist Party? Or, did the Communist Party gang up and force Chinese people to accept it? The CCP has set itself above all, conquering all in its path, thereby bringing endless catastrophe to China.”

‘3. On the Tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-13/24939.html Report focus: “Today the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s violence and abuses are even more severe than those of the tyrannical Qin Dynasty…”

‘4. On How the Communist Party Is an Anti-Universe Force’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-14/24953.html Report focus: “In the last hundred years, the sudden invasion by the communist specter has created a force against nature and humanity, causing limitless agony and tragedy. It has also pushed civilization to the brink of destruction. It has become an extremely malevolent force against the universe.”

‘5. On the Collusion of with the CCP to Persecute Falun Gong’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-18/24972.html Report focus: “Why is Falun Gong, which upholds the principles of ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance” and has been promulgated in over 60 countries worldwide, being persecuted only in China, not anywhere else in the world? In this persecution, what is the relationship between Jiang Zemin and the CCP?”

‘6. On How the Chinese Communist Party Destroyed Traditional Culture’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-20/25087.html Report focus: “The CCP has devoted the nation’s resources to destroying China’s rich traditional culture. The CCP’s destruction of Chinese culture has been planned, well organized, and systematic, made possible by the state’s use of violence…”

‘7. On the Chinese Communist Party’s History of Killing’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-23/25124.html Report focus: “The 55-year history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is written with blood and lies. The stories behind this bloody history are not only brutally inhumane but also rarely known. Under the rule of the CCP, 60 to 80 million innocent Chinese people have been killed, leaving their broken families behind.”

‘8. On How the Chinese Communist Party Is an Evil Cult’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-26/25182.html Report focus: “The Communist Party is essentially an evil cult that harms mankind. Although the Communist Party has never called itself a religion, it matches every single trait of a religion. At the beginning of its establishment, it regarded Marxism as the absolute truth in the world. It exhorted people to engage in a life-long struggle for the goal of building a ‘communist heaven on earth’.”

‘9. On the Unscrupulous Nature of the Chinese Communist Party’ http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-30/25242.html Report focus: “What is most terrifying is that the CCP is going all out to try to destroy the moral foundation of the entire nation, attempting to turn every Chinese national to various degrees into a scoundrel in order to create an environment favorable for the CCP to ‘advance with time’. It is especially important for us to understand clearly why the CCP acts like scoundrels and to discern its criminal nature.”

3. Is it banned in China? If so, when?

Although a number of sources claim The Nine Commentaries, and indeed the Epoch Times are banned in China, I have found no official proclamation on the matter. However, both the Nine Commentaries and the Epoch Times are associated the Falun Gong, which has been banned since1999. An October 2005 report by the prominent NGO, Human Rights In China, notes:

According to a report released by Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, “The Nine Commentaries” top the list of Web pages banned inside China1. A recent arrest indicates that possession of “The Nine Commentaries” now constitutes a crime in China, and can result in arrest and imprisonment. (Zhang, Erping 2005, ‘Beijing’s Cyber War’, China Rights Forum, Human Rights In China, No.3, 4 October http://hrichina.org/fs/view/reportables/pdf/crf/CRF-2005- 3_GC_Cyber.pdf – Accessed 7 November – Attachment 8)

A number of people have been arrested in China for possession and distribution of the Nine Commentaries. This is discussed in Question 6 below.

The Epoch Times and other Falun Gong websites have carried stories of the banning of the Nine Commentaries, but these have not been confirmed by other sources. Links to these Falun Gong sources appear below:

• http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-9-26/46165.html • http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/2658.html • http://clearharmony.net/articles/200505/26710.html

The Epoch Times has also carried stories of millions of Communist Party members resigning from the party due to the Nine Commentaries:

• http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/4-12-13/24935.html • http://clearharmony.net/articles/200505/26693.html • http://clearharmony.net/articles/200505/26511.html • 4. If so, was it openly available and discussed prior to this?

No information was found to indicate that it was openly available at any time within China. See questions 3 and 6.

5. If it is banned, is it widely available?

No information was found to indicate that it was widely available at any time within China. See questions 3 and 6.

6. What would be the punishment of bringing in to China this publication in May 2005 and being found with a copy?

There is little independent information relating to the punishment for bringing the Nine Commentaries into China or possessing a copy. Most reports of punishment come from Falun Gong sources. Examples of these are listed below. For punishments relating to Falun Gong publications generally, the most recent US Department of State International Religious Freedom Report states:

A ban on cults, including the Falun Gong spiritual movement, was enacted in 1999. Under Article 300 of the criminal law, “cult” members who “disrupt public order” or distribute publications may be sentenced to three to seven years in prison, while “cult” leaders and recruiters may be sentenced to seven years or more in prison.

1 This study is at http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/china/. (US Department of State 2006, International Religious Freedom Report for 2006 – China, October. p.5 - Attachment 9)

Human Rights Watch gives a number of examples of Falun Gong members arrested and imprisoned for distributing Falun Gong material (Human Rights Watch 2002, Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign Against Falungong, January, Chap.5 – Attachment 10).

Non-Falun Gong Sources In October 2005, the Morning Herald reported that an Australian citizen, Sydney Dance Company (SDC) performer Xue-Jun Wang, was deported from China to Australia after he gave a copy of the Nine Commentaries to a local Chinese man. (‘Dancer calls for China condemnation’ 2005, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 October http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dancer-calls-for-china- condemnation/2005/10/15/1128796739407.html – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 11). The Epoch Times also reported in detail on this event (Burke, James 2005, ‘Australian Dancer Deported from China’, The Epoch Times, 6 October http://www.theepochtimes.com/tools/printer.asp?id=33027 – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 12). Falun Gong Related Sources

Zheng Yichun, a Chinese dissident, who was arrested in December 2004 and was sentenced on 22 September 2005 to 7 years imprisonment for “‘incitement to subversion’ in connection with 63 articles he wrote for foreign-based publications and websites and communication with the Epoch Times (see Attachment 3), was also suspected of being an author of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, according to The Epoch Times (‘Commentary: A Disgraceful Sentence’ 2005, The Epoch Times, 28 September http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-9-28/32761.html – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 13).

A Falun Gong website reported the arrest and torture of two men for distributing the Nine Commentaries in September 2006:

Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Li Gang and Mr. Li He were arrested by traffic police in Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province when delivering the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party . They are detained at Zhuozhou Detention Centre and are reportedly being tortured and persecuted. The police beat them and then scattered salt on their wounds. Cries of pain could be heard from the torture room. (‘Two Practitioners from Hebei Province Arrested and Tortured for Delivering the Nine Commentaries’ 2006, Clear Harmony (Falun Dafa in Europe) website, 28 October http://clearharmony.net/articles/200610/36176.html – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 14).

Other examples of similar stories are attached:

• ‘Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Fears the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party – Falun Gong Practitioner Lu Xiangyun Sentenced to Three Years in Labour Camp’ 2006, Clear Harmony (Falun Dafa in Europe) website, 8 July http://clearharmony.net/articles/200607/34110.html – Accessed 7 November 2006 – Attachment 15). A Falun Gong practitioner was sentenced to three years in a forced labour camp after a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was found in her home.

• ‘Additional Persecution News from China’ 2006, Falun Dafa Clearwisdom website, 5 April, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/4/24/72364.html - Accessed 19 September 2006 (Attachment 16). Security forces searched a Nanjing college in Jiangsu after electronic copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party were found there.

There are many other such stories in the Falun Gong websites.

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/ http://books.google.com/

Databases: FACTIVA (news database) BACIS (DIMA Country Information database) REFINFO (IRBDC (Canada) Country Information database) ISYS (RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, US Department of State Reports) RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. The Epoch Times 2006, ‘Other Languages’, http://www.theepochtimes.com/language.html – Accessed 3 November 2004

2. Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party 2004, The Epoch Times, Yih Chyun Book Corp., Gillette, NJ, pp. xvii (RRT Library 951.072 NIN);

3. ‘Discussion of claims that one of the authors of the Nine Commentaries was dissident Zheng Yichun’ by RRT Country Research

4. Zhao, Yuezhi 2004, ‘Falun Gong, Identity, and the Struggle over Meaning Inside and Outside China’ in Contesting Media Power: Alternative Media in a Networked World, eds. N. Couldry and J. Curran, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. pp.218-9 http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&q=http://www.sfu.ca/cmns/faculty/zhao/14_03- 168_Ch13.pdf – Accessed 7 November 2006 –

5. Jurkowitz, Mark 2005, ‘Time for a change; International paper puts an emphasis on universal freedoms’, The Boston Globe, 31 May (FACTIVA)

6. Hua, Vanessa 2005, ‘Dissident media linked to Falun Gong’, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 December http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/18/MNGGAG8MTA1.DTL – Accessed 7 November 2006

7. ‘The Epoch Times’ 2006, Wikipedia, sec.4 ‘The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Epoch_Times#The_Nine_Commentaries_on_the_C ommunist_Party – Accessed 7 November 2006

8. Zhang, Erping 2005, ‘Beijing’s Cyber War’, China Rights Forum, Human Rights In China, No.3, 4 October http://hrichina.org/fs/view/reportables/pdf/crf/CRF-2005- 3_GC_Cyber.pdf – Accessed 7 November

9. US Department of State 2006, International Religious Freedom Report for 2006 – China, October

10. Human Rights Watch 2002, Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign Against Falungong, January, Chap.5

11. ‘Dancer calls for China condemnation’ 2005, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 October http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dancer-calls-for-china- condemnation/2005/10/15/1128796739407.html – Accessed 7 November 2006

12. Burke, James 2005, ‘Australian Dancer Deported from China’, The Epoch Times, 6 October http://www.theepochtimes.com/tools/printer.asp?id=33027 – Accessed 7 November 2006

13. ‘Commentary: A Disgraceful Sentence’ 2005, The Epoch Times, 28 September http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-9-28/32761.html – Accessed 7 November 2006

14. ‘Two Practitioners from Hebei Province Arrested and Tortured for Delivering the Nine Commentaries’ 2006, Clear Harmony (Falun Dafa in Europe) website, 28 October http://clearharmony.net/articles/200610/36176.html – Accessed 7 November 2006

15. ‘Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Fears the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party – Falun Gong Practitioner Lu Xiangyun Sentenced to Three Years in Labour Camp’ 2006, Clear Harmony (Falun Dafa in Europe) website, 8 July http://clearharmony.net/articles/200607/34110.html – Accessed 7 November 2006

16. ‘Additional Persecution News from China’ 2006, Falun Dafa Clearwisdom website, 5 April, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/4/24/72364.html - Accessed 19 September 2006 Attachment 3 – Discussion of claims that one of the authors of the Nine Commentaries was dissident Zheng Yichun

There are contested claims that one of the authors of the Nine Commentaries was dissident Zheng Yichun2, a Chinese dissident, who was arrested in December 2004 and was sentenced on 22 September 2005 to 7 years imprisonment for “‘incitement to subversion’ in connection with 63 articles he wrote for foreign-based publications and websites. Zheng’s e-mail messages and telephone conversations with Da Ji Yuan (Epoch Times), linked to the spiritual movement Falungong, were also cited in the verdict.” (Reporters Without Borders 2005, ‘Appeal court upholds prison sentence for cyber-dissident Zheng Yichun’, 30 December http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15123 – Accessed 6 November 2006 – Not Attached).

The claim that Zheng Yichun was the author appears to have originated in a Chinese language article published on various websites on Chinese issues such as http://chinaaffairs.org/, http://renminbao.com/, http://xinsheng.net/, http://www.qian- ming.org/ (see http://www.chinaaffairs.org/gb/detail.asp?id=59105). This article is dated 22 December 2005, the date that Zhengs appeal against his sentence was rejected. The article, allegedly written by reporter Feng Changle (冯长乐)of The Epoch Times, reports that, following the rejection of his appeal, Zheng revealed to his brother that he was the author of the Nine Commentaries.

These articles seem to find their source in a 22 December 2005 The Epoch Times (Chinese language) article by Feng Changle at http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/5/12/22/n1162746.htm. This Epoch Times version of the article, however does not contain the claim that Zheng revealed to his brother that he was the author of the Nine Commentaries, only that the authorities made this accusation against him. The 22 December The Epoch Times article does not appear in the English edition of The Epoch Times and more recent mentions of Zheng in The Epoch Times refer one back to their report of his original sentence in September 20005 (‘Commentary: A Disgraceful Sentence’ 2005, The Epoch Times, 28 September http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-9-28/32761.html – Accessed 7 November 2006) where they write that the CCP “suspect[ed] Zheng to be one of the authors who wrote the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, … and us[ed] Zheng’s casual phone conversations, made several years ago, with editors at The Epoch Times as new evidence”.

2 mistakenly called Zheng Peichun by Wikipedia.