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Chinese consulate has Norby bristling
January 2nd, 2008, 2:07 pm · 5 Comments · posted by MARTIN WISCKOL
Chris Norby, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is dismayed by a letter he’s received bearing the letterhead of the Consulate General of China. The letter notes upcoming events by the Falun Gong, a group agitating for more freedom in China, and urges Norby not to attend or support the events in any way.
“(The events’) ulterior motive is to defame China’s image,” says the letter.
“How does this defame China’s image?” Norby asked. “Tanks in Tiananmen Square defame China’s image. Don’t they know that we’re a country of free speech?”
– Martin Wisckol
The Falun Gong-supported New Tang Dynasty Television has a “Chinese New Year Spectacular” scheduled for Jan. 15 in Escondido and Jan. 18 in Los Angeles. The unsigned letter to Norby says the events will “preach the Falun Gong fallacies and decieve the public and … undermine the development of China-US relations.”
It calls the group a cult, and compares it to the Peoples Temple and the Branch Davidians.
Norby isn’t buying it.
“If they were going around bombing bridges, that would be one thing,” he said. “But they’re a benign organization.”
In a draft of the letter Norby intends to send to the consulate, the supervisor writes that the consulate letter “represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the role (of) elected officials in a free and democratic society. I am personally insulted by your request and will certainly not honor it.”
Other excerpts:
“All religious organizations are free to participate in American society.”
“Free societies tolerate criticism. Those that criticize our government are not considered ‘anti-American’ any more than groups criticizing your government should be seen as ‘anti-Chinese.’ “
“Democratic governments have nothing to fear from their own people.”
I’ve left a message with the press office of the Chinese consulate general in Los Angeles, and will post any response I get.
– Martin Wisckol
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January 2nd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Way to go, Norby.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
He was my history teacher at brea in the early 90’s. Way to go Mr. Norby, I always knew you were a man of principles.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Good Response! The operative word here is “Image.” The Chinese government wishes to project an image. It does not wish for reality to be known. But that is a fundamental difference between the Chinese political culture and ours. In theirs, it’s sufficient to say “It never happened.” even when the evidence is still in the streets.
They have completely embraced the doublespeak culture of “Big Brother” from George Orwell’s “1984.”
Falun Gong is free to speak here.
So is the Chinese government.
And we are free to judge for ourselves.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
Last spring we spent three weeks touring China with a group of friends. During our travels we asked our guides about various forms of freedom including freedom of expression. When asked about Falun Gong the local guide became very defensive and said they were banned in 1999 as a religious cult. I wrote about that exchange in a OC Register Guest Column last June entitled “What I saw of freedom in China.”
Having embraced the 21st century The Chinese government is starting to be concerned especially with over 400 million cell phones and the exploding use of the Internet where their control of the populace can quickly slip away.
While they begin to enjoy freedoms the unwritten rule is not to publish anything negative about the government. Falun Gong presents a serious challenge to the status quo.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I cannot believe that the Governer wants to appoint the (dis)honorable Bustamontes( in my eyes )to this Fair Employment and Housing, the same man that told me to my face that the low income community of (92703) should move to Riverside or San Bernardino where the cost of living is lower. Why? Why do we have to move from our homes for generations, so that he can make the area conform to the new rehabilitation of the area. The public meeting said rehabilitation of the homes in the area not Redevelopment, like the Willowick Greens Project.