(Minghui.org) Chinese Official Li Changchun secretly visited Ottawa, Canada on April 19, 2012. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is so fearful of Falun Gong practitioners' protests and indictments against CCP officials, the Chinese Consulate in Ottawa completely concealed information about the visit, and didn't notify the media agencies in Canada. People were puzzled, as Li Changchun is one of the nine CCP Standing Committee members - a top-five upper-level official. So why was this visit kept so low profile?
Their exists a high level of discomfort for CCP Officials who've actively participated in persecuting Falun Gong. Travel abroad is a highly sensitive undertaking.
This extremely low-key visit puzzled the mainstream Canadian media Globe and Mail, Canada Free Press, and other media agencies reported that the secret visit was out of character.
The Canada Free Press provided only a summary report, which stated, “Li Changchun is director of the Chinese Community propaganda machine; he controls the media, forced Chinese public opinion against Falun Gong, is responsible for the fatal, ongoing persecution, thousands of recorded torture cases and numerous deaths under police custody. Prior to the persecution, Falun Gong was widely respected and welcomed by Chinese citizens; people learned the practice in public places.”
The report also quoted Canada Falun Dafa Association representative Zhou Limin, “Whenever a CCP official responsible for persecuting Falun Gong travels abroad, they like to hide their trip since they're afraid that practitioners will present them with indictments, or appeals for stopping the persecution.”
Perhaps Li Changchun had lingering concerns due to Bo Xilai's traumatic incident five years ago. Bo actively participated in persecuting practitioners. When he visited Ottawa in 2007, he was indicted for his crimes of torture against practitioners. This was his 14th indictment in thirteen countries. Following that event, he was demoted to a lesser position in Chongqing according to a Wikileaks document. His demotion was due to the CCP's recognition that the indictments “negatively affect China's image.”
Li's own experience would also cause him to be fearful of being sued in Canada. On July 2, 2004, during his visit to France, French and Australian practitioners served him with lawsuit papers from the Paris Supreme Court, which was an indictment for crimes of torture. On September 27, 2010, Li visited Ireland, where Irish and Australian practitioners brought a criminal suit against him to the Ireland Dublin District Criminal Court. They brought another indictment against Li Changchun when he was the secretary of Guangdong Province, and was a member of the Political Standing Committee, where he directed and carried out crimes against practitioners, including torture, murder, genocide, and other atrocities.
There is an ancient saying, “Every injustice has its perpetrator.” Those CCP officials who have exerted great efforts in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and have committed heinous crimes, will have to face consequences for their actions. When Li Changchun was the party secretary in Guandong Province, he actively followed the Jiang Zemin regime's persecution directives, ordering several “strike hard” crackdowns against practitioners. Guangdong Province became one of the worst provinces participating in this persecution. Li utilized persecution to pave his official career promotion path. When he headed the Chinese Communist propaganda machine, he utilized media which continuously slandered Falun Gong, instigated hate, set up an Internet blockade and media censorship, hid the truth from the public, and deceived the entire Chinese citizenry with poisonous propaganda. He made them hate a group of people who practiced Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Should he escape a trial of justice?
There is another saying, “The net of justice is vast. It may not close tight right away, but nothing will evade it forever.” Currently in China, many officials like Li Changchun, who've actively participated in persecution, will face the same consequences.
Discomfort for the Chinese Consulate: Torn Between an Open Welcome, or Secret Visit
The theatrical act in Ottawa allows us to observe the awkward and uncomfortable behavior of the Chinese Consulate. On one hand, they wanted to hide the criminal official's visit, since his presence would promote protests and indictments. On the other side, they also wanted to create an opportunity for overseas “peace and prosperity,” and establish a “welcoming atmosphere.”
The Chinese Consulate lied to an elderly Chinese group, arranging a “visit to a museum.” After their bus left, they were informed that they were required to welcome Li Changchun. In order to prevent any information from going public, the consulate kept them isolated by providing two buffets, then took them home after a full day of activities.
When Hu Jintao visited Ottawa last year, the consulate wanted to prevent him from seeing Falun Gong practitioners and their banners appealing for an end to the persecution. The Chinese Consulate paid Chinese students studying abroad, pro-communist societies, and thousands of other people to form “welcoming groups” which attempted to block the practitioners' activities. As the saying goes, “If you don't want others to know about something, do not do it.” Recordings of consulate secretary Liu Shaohua and his strategic plan to contain Falun Gong were brought to the media's attention and exposed.
The Chinese Consulate upgraded their secret service staff to help prevent these embarrassing events, however, no matter how thoroughly they perform their tasks, they can't prevent the human rights criminals from being brought to justice.
The policy of persecution has ultimately made the consulate of a large country completely lose face.
One Fact - Two Different Reports
Comparing the Chinese Central Television and Xinhua News Agency reports with other Chinese media's detailed and impressive-sounding reports, Li Changchun's visit was very low-key in Canada, since almost no media agencies were even aware that he had visited.
The Globe and Mail actually reported that Chinese television and the Xinhua News Agency extensively covered his visit, but that they hadn't notified any Canadian media. On Friday, the Prime Minister's Office downplayed the visit as one for unimportant conversations. The Globe and Mail also stated on Friday, “Unless you watched Chinese television stations, you wouldn't know that Li visited.”
The Globe and Mail reported on Li's visit with the Prime Minister Office, stating that the Harper Government did not announce Li Changchun's three-day visit, even though he's listed as one of the most powerful figures on Forbes list, ranked 19th. He “...controls 1.3 billion people, what they listen to, speak about, and watch.” As a chairman of Chinese Communist Spiritual Civilization Building Committee, he actually controls the media and information censorship.
