2004.06.04: June 4, 2004: Headlines: COS - Zimbabwe: COS - China: Speaking Out: Intellectual Conservative: An RPCV writes on the Future of China's Values

Peace Corps Online: Directory: China: Peace Corps China : The Peace Corps in China: 2004.06.04: June 4, 2004: Headlines: COS - Zimbabwe: COS - China: Speaking Out: Intellectual Conservative: An RPCV writes on the Future of China's Values

By Admin1 (admin) (ppp-70-254-9-144.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net - 70.254.9.144) on Thursday, August 10, 2006 - 9:22 am: Edit Post

An RPCV writes on the Future of China's Values

An RPCV writes on the Future of China's Values

In China, refugees from North Korea live their lives on the run. Having taken a huge risk just crossing the border, they face a perilous existence, in which they are constantly harangued by hunger, isolation and uncertainty. Afraid to venture outdoors for fear of arrest, some spend months in tiny one-room apartments, depending on human rights organizations to bring them food. If caught by police, they are almost always repatriated and, once back in North Korea, face mandatory imprisonment. Sometimes, political prisoners in North Korea are so brutally interrogated that they never even have a chance to begin serving their sentences, dying on the floor of their dark, insect-infested cells.

An RPCV writes on the Future of China's Values

The Future of China's Values

by a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Zimbabwe

4 June 2004

In China, refugees from North Korea face a perilous existence in which they are constantly harangued by hunger, isolation and uncertainty. If caught by police, they are almost always repatriated and, once back in North Korea, face mandatory imprisonment.

In China, refugees from North Korea live their lives on the run. Having taken a huge risk just crossing the border, they face a perilous existence, in which they are constantly harangued by hunger, isolation and uncertainty. Afraid to venture outdoors for fear of arrest, some spend months in tiny one-room apartments, depending on human rights organizations to bring them food. If caught by police, they are almost always repatriated and, once back in North Korea, face mandatory imprisonment. Sometimes, political prisoners in North Korea are so brutally interrogated that they never even have a chance to begin serving their sentences, dying on the floor of their dark, insect-infested cells.

Human rights advocates helping North Korean refugees in China are also targets. If caught, they are subject to lengthy prison terms in squalid conditions. Such was the case with Takayuki Noguchi, who works for Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR), a Japan-based NGO, when he went to China last year to help two North Korean refugees find asylum in a third country. On December 10, 2003 he was spotted by police as he tried to check into a hotel with two refugees in Nannin, Quangxi province. After being questioned about his involvement with them, the three were arrested.

While awaiting trial, Noguchi was visited by Masaharu Nakagawa, a member of Japan’s Diet and co-founder of the International Parliamentarians' Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights (IPCNKR). Although Nakagawa was allowed to take pictures of the prison facilities, he was not allowed access to Noguchi.

“I was shown the room where he was questioned, as well as the room where his parents visited him, but I was not allowed to see him,” said Mr. Nakagawa in a telephone interview. Nakagawa also said that Noguchi had received visits from the Japanese consulate as well as his parents, but access to anyone else was restricted.

On Sunday, May 9, the first phase of Noguchi’s trial was held in semi-secrecy. According to an LFNKR press release “Noguchi was technically given an ‘open trial,’ but Chinese authorities avoided announcing the trial date to the media or to LFNKR, though this information had been repeatedly requested.”

LFNKR believes that this, together with the barring of the news media from the courtroom, constitutes a de-facto closed-door trial.

Noguchi is not the first of LFNKR’s workers to be incarcerated by the Chinese. In a statement to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on April 19, President Suzanne Scholte, of the Defense Forum Foundation, said the North Korean government offered 440,000 yen (about $4000) and a brand new Mercedes Benz to catch Hiroshi Kato, one of the founders of LFNKR. Kato was caught by Chinese police in November, 2002 but was released in less than a week after the Japanese government intervened on his behalf.

Organizations like LFNKR are dealing with a refugee population estimated to range from 60,000 to 300,000. Refugees International (RI), an NGO, reported in a recent statement that it is inclined to believe the more conservative estimate of 60,000 to 100,000.

In the same statement, RI reported the findings of interviews it conducted with 38 North Koreans in Jilin Province, China, during June 2003. All 38 said they had fled their country either to find a better life in China or to bring back food and other basic supplies to their families. Prior to crossing the border for the first time, none of them had been persecuted for their religious or political beliefs. It is on the basis of findings like this that the Chinese government argues that North Koreans are economic migrants rather than refugees, and are thus not entitled to refugee status.

Critics say this reasoning is problematic in that North Korean defectors are subject to persecution after they are repatriated. Once they cross the border into China, they are in breach of North Korea’s criminal code #47, which stipulates that anyone traveling abroad is to be considered a traitor and must serve time in special “labor training centers,” tantamount to prisons. The minimum sentence is two months for a first time offence and can be as high as seven years for repeat offenders.

Refugees International says another flaw in China’s argument is that everyone in North Korea is divided into political classes. Those with suspect revolutionary credentials, who make up most of the population, end up in the lower classes. They receive lower rations and less access to full employment. RI believes the deprivation that North Koreans are fleeing is a direct result of the North Korean political class system.

Besides imprisonment, there have been even more ominous accounts of government atrocities against political prisoners steadily filtering out of North Korea in recent years. These stories, told by individuals from various geographic areas and backgrounds, remain consistent. In one of many instances, North Korean agents beat to death Sohn In Kuk, a 40-year-old refugee who had fled North Korea after his entire family had starved to death. His crime was "crossing the border" too many times.

Susan Schlotte says the children of defectors are also killed: “We know pregnant women who are repatriated are forced to undergo abortions. If the babies are born alive, they are suffocated, murdered on the spot. The crime that the baby committed is two-fold: he may have been the child of a Chinese man and he shares his mother's guilt for the crime she committed of leaving the country.”

If defectors have converted to Christianity and return to North Korea with the intent of propagating their newfound religion, execution is even more likely. “… (This) is another crime against the state in North Korea, because Kim Jong-il considers Christianity to be the biggest threat to his God-head,” says Schlotte.

In an interview with LFNKR, Park Choong-il, who defected to Russia in 1999, described the seven-month interrogation he underwent after being repatriated by Chinese and Russian authorities

When an interrogator was not satisfied with the prisoner's answers, he sent the prisoner to a torture chamber… (which) was filled with all kinds of torture implements, such as leather belts, rubber belts, iron chains, and large wooden sticks… I witnessed the torture of other victims under spotlights. This place was filled with the painful screams of victims, the sounds of torturers' shouts and the pounding of prisoners being beaten.

Of life in his cell, Park says:

Apparently, I ground my teeth in my sleep. The guard on duty awakened my cellmates and me and ordered them to beat me for grinding my teeth. They had to obey the guard and proceeded to beat and kick me vigorously for fear of punishment if their blows were not severe enough. Then, for further punishment, the guard ordered me to clean the toilet bowl… with my tongue. I had to continue licking the toilet bowl for 30 minutes, and he did not allow me to spit anything out and forced me to swallow. I literally swallowed human feces. I received this type of punishment three times during my…detention there.

Despite these and other horror stories, China continues to repatriate North Korean refugees. Sometimes, violent methods are implemented, such as the incident on April 2 when, according to Durihana Missionary Foundation, a Chinese border guard on horseback shot a 20-year-old North Korean defector. He was with a group of at least 17 who were trying to cross the border into Mongolia.

China also rewards its citizens for turning in North Korean refugees. RI says its contacts along the border report that, in periodic police sweeps usually ordered from Beijing, local police are offered cash incentives for the arrest of a certain number of North Koreans. In turn, the police offer rewards to individual citizens for turning people in. The reward is 100 yuan, or about $12.

Ironically, China is on the Executive Committee of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But not only does it refuse to grant refugee status to North Korean asylum seekers, it also prevents the Beijing-based staff of UNHCR from setting up assessment facilities in the autonomous ethnic Korean province of Yangbianin, in which a large number of North Korean refugees reside.

Chinese authorities have also tried to prevent North Koreans from reaching the embassies and consulates of potential resettlement countries. In May 2002, a small group of North Korean asylum seekers tried to enter a Japanese consulate in Northeast China but were stopped by Chinese guards. Two of the group were able to slip into the visa application area, but the guards entered and forcibly removed them, ignoring protests from Japanese consular officials. Such actions are a serious violation of diplomatic protocol, as embassy and consular grounds in most nations are considered off limits to local authorities.

In China’s view, easing up on illegals from North Korea could, in the worst case scenario, spark a massive influx of starving refugees that could not possibly be sustained. Contrary to overblown media reports of China’s supposedly unlimited investment potential, most of the country’s 1.4 billion people are still mired in poverty. GDP per person only reached $1000 in 2003, which means that China is not yet even a middle-income country by the standards of the World Bank, and even falls behind Namibia and Guatamala. Understandably, China is alarmed at the amount of illegals passing through its borders.

There are, however, several aid organizations ready to step in and assist China to build and maintain refugee camps. And two organizations that have left North Korea in protest of the government's diversion of their humanitarian aid, Action Against Hunger and Doctors Without Borders, say they are willing to assist North Koreans wherever they are.

The fate of the two North Koreans Noguchi was trying to help remains unknown. A recent LFNKR press release reported that an official in Beijing neither denied nor confirmed whether they were still in China. Others believe they have already been repatriated.

As for Noguchi and others like him, the arrests will continue as long as China’s policy remains the same. Japan’s government is reluctant to help. Foreign minister Junko Kawaguchi recently said Japan would not intervene on Noguchi’s behalf. He broke Chinese law, she says, and Japan must “ask for China’s forgiveness.” In a telephone interview, Hiroshi Kato of LFNKR explained that Japan does not want to worsen its sometime less-than-congenial relations with China.

Some believe the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing could be a turning point in China’s repatriation policy. The world will be watching China, and some will undoubtedly see the games as an opportunity to draw international attention to the issue. The Olympics are more than just an economic opportunity. They are a showcase of a nation as a whole. In hosting the Olympics, a nation makes a statement to the rest of the world: this is our culture, history and society and this is what we stand for. As China continues to develop, it will have to start asking itself Who Are We? In 2008, China’s leadership will have to choose which image it wants to present to the world.





When this story was posted in August 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
RPCV Ron Tschetter to head Peace Corps Date: July 29 2006 No: 937 RPCV Ron Tschetter to head Peace Corps
President Bush has nominated Ron Tschetter to serve as Director of the Peace Corps. Tschetter, 64, is the president of an investment firm based in Montana. He volunteered with his wife to work as family planning advisers in India and is a former Chairman of the National Peace Corps Association.

PCOL Comment: Congratulations to the Bush administration for an inspired choice for Peace Corps Director. Ron Tschetter is not only an RPCV but was Chairman of the NPCA. Best wishes to Mr. Tschetter on his future tenure as Director of the Peace Corps.

Latest: How Ron Tschetter was selected as Peace Corps Director.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again Date: July 31 2006 No: 947 The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

The Peace Corps Library Date: July 11 2006 No: 923 The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

Support the US-Peruvian Trade Pact Date: July 20 2006 No: 930 Support the US-Peruvian Trade Pact
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, the Peace Corps President, has been lobbying both Democratic and Republican legislators to support the US-Peruvian trade pact before July 28, when his term ends and a US congressional recess begins. If President Bush fails to get approval before Congress goes on recess, it will be a case study proving that the United States does not reward its friends. Please call your representatives.

July 20, 2006: This Week's Top Stories Date: July 20 2006 No: 925 July 20, 2006: This Week's Top Stories
Friedman win could create new coalition 14 July
Bellamy writes: G8 summit lacks results 19 July
Peace Corps Fund Raiser in NYC on July 25 19 July
Hodding Carter writes "Flushed" on plumbing 18 July
Doyle places Peace Corps ad 18 July
Matt Taylor releases CD "Subject to the Wind" 16 July
Matthew Orosz builds reflective parabolic troughs 14 July
RPCVs run organic HERB FARMacy 13 July
Jerome Miliszkiewicz discusses Chavez in Venezuela 12 July
Ric Haas founded the Fistula Foundation 11 July
Susan Deller Ross helps women's equal rights 11 July
Mark Maxam installs solar lighting in Kenya 11 July
Eunice Kennedy Shriver at White House for 85th 11 July
Hastings gives $1 million for charter schools 11 July
Alejandro Toledo meets Bush in final days 11 July
Hill is hopes to reconvene Korea talks 10 July
"My World" takes Tanzanian children to Kilimanjaro 9 July
Bob Watada supports his son in court-martial 8 July
James Brunton Jr. builds boat for Embera Indians 8 July
Tim Wilson sews the Seeds of Peace 8 July
Petri says Guantanamo prisoners should 'face accusers' 7 Jul
Tom Murphy cuts deal with feds 3 July

Jody Olsen will be acting Peace Corps Director Date: July 20 2006 No: 926 Jody Olsen will be acting Peace Corps Director
The Senate confirmed Gaddi Vasquez to head the FAO on June 30. Jody Olsen will be acting Director until the President makes a permanent appointment. Olsen has been Deputy Director of the Peace Corps since 2002. She served in Tunisia as a PCV. Latest: "As of now (July 20), Gaddi Vasquez is still the Peace Corps Director."

Changing the Face of Hunger Date: June 28 2006 No: 915 Changing the Face of Hunger
In his new book, Former Congressman Tony Hall (RPCV Thailand) says humanitarian aid is the most potent weapon the United States can deploy against terrorism. An evangelical Christian, he is a big believer in faith-based organizations in the fight against hunger. Members of Congress have recently recommended that Hall be appointed special envoy to Sudan to focus on ending the genocide in Darfur.

PC will not return to East Timor in 2006 Date: June 8 2006 No: 913 PC will not return to East Timor in 2006
Volunteers serving in East Timor have safely left the country as a result of the recent civil unrest and government instability. Latest: The Peace Corps has informed us that at this time, the Peace Corps has no plans to re-enter the country in 2006. The Peace Corps recently sent a letter offering eligible volunteers the opportunity to reinstate their service in another country.

Chris Dodd considers run for the White House Date: June 3 2006 No: 903 Chris Dodd considers run for the White House
Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress.

The RPCV who wrote about Ben Hogan Date: June 6 2006 No: 912 The RPCV who wrote about Ben Hogan
Probably no RPCV has done more to further the Third Goal of the Peace Corps than John Coyne with the Peace Corps Writers web site and newsletter that he and Marian Haley Beil have produced since 1989. Now John returns to writing about his first love - golf in "The Caddie who knew Ben Hogan." Read an excerpt from his novel, an interview with the author and a schedule of his book readings in Maryland and DC this week.

Vasquez testifies before Senate Committee Date: June 3 2006 No: 905 Vasquez testifies before Senate Committee
Director Vasquez testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as the new Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture replacing Tony Hall. He has been the third longest serving Peace Corps Director after Loret Ruppe Miller and Sargent Shriver. PCOL Comment: Read our thanks to Director Vasquez for his service to the Peace Corps.

First Amendment Watch Date: May 4 2006 No: 883 First Amendment Watch
Maine Web Report hit with Federal Lawsuit
Website wins trademark suit against Jerry Falwell

Interview with a Hit Man Date: April 25 2006 No: 880 Interview with a Hit Man
RPCV John Perkins says that for many years he was an "economic hit man" in the world of international finance whose primary job was to convince less developed countries to accept multibillion dollar loans for infrastructure projects that left the recipient countries wallowing in debt and highly vulnerable to outside political and commercial interests. In this exclusive interview for "Peace Corps Online," Colombia RPCV Joanne Roll, author of Remember with Honor, talks to Perkins about his Peace Corps service, his relation with the NSA, "colonization" in Ecuador, the consequences of his work, why he decided to speak out, and what his hopes are for change.

PC Program in Chad temporarily suspended Date: April 14 2006 No: 872 PC Program in Chad temporarily suspended
Director Vasquez announced the temporary suspension of the Peace Corps program in Chad on April 14 and that all 29 Peace Corps volunteers have left the country. With a program dating back forty years (See Page 4 of the April 1966 "Peace Corps Volunteer"), RPCVs hope that volunteers can return to Chad as soon as the situation has stabilized. Congratulations to the Peace Corps for handling the suspension quickly and professionally.

Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request Date: April 12 2006 No: 869 Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request
The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position — on March 2 — the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security.

PCOL readership increases 100% Date: April 3 2006 No: 853 PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace Corps Date: March 18 2006 No: 834 History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Date: February 3 2006 No: 780 RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps
Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

Military Option sparks concerns Date: January 3 2006 No: 773 Military Option sparks concerns
The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger Date: October 22 2005 No: 738 Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger
When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Intellectual Conservative

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Zimbabwe; COS - China; Speaking Out

PCOL33599
68


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: