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ABOUT John Kusumi...

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Current article BY John Kusumi...

U.S. Gen-Xer hopes Taiwan can go about own biz unmolested

Amber Alert For Chinese Dissidents

Central News Agency

YellowTimes.org

By China, that is, according to John Kusumi, the former 18-year-old for U.S. President (1984). That year, he introduced Practical Idealism -- a series of principled and thought-through national policies.

He later found himself to be the same age as college students in Tiananmen Square, when he founded the China Support Network in 1989.

The China Support Network is an organization which insists upon two things: 1. China must have self-determination. 2. China's future must include all of China's people.

"The second point is made because we have concerns about human rights in the mainland. It is not a Taiwan policy. Taiwan is a distinct geography, for which we hold the same principle. We support self-determination on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," he told the CNA.

To ensure this hopeful future, he said American leaders must take the blinders off, and know that "Beijing is not our partner in moving to a hopeful future. Neither should it be our business partner."

One way to exclude China from the trading partners list is to clamp down "tyranny tariffs" on Chinese exports, he said, recalling U.S. embargos against South Africa and the former USSR.

He praised U.S. President George W. Bush's Taiwan policy, saying it is the model for free world policy. "Taken and applied to the whole free world, that policy writ large says that we will defend the free world," he said.

On the other hand, Kusumi cited as "the model for world of tyranny policy" Bush's Cuba policy, which, writ large, means "that the U.S. will not give aid and comfort to despots."

Based on the Practical Idealism ideology for freedom and for preventing future disasters, he said he "stands on the side of George W. Bush" in his Iraq policy.

Standing in Generation X, Kusumi, now leader of a software company in Cheshire, CT, had advocated that Bush ought to re-establish classic American ideology by drawing a line at the border of the free world and standing opposed to the world of tyranny.

A second principle bespeaks the need for action against Saddam Hussein, he said, noting this pragmatic principle says that the U.S. should prevent any new "nuclear tyrannies."

This is a choice between less casualties now, or more casualties later, he said. If Hussein were deploying nuclear weapons, his top two targets would be Israel and the U.S., he added. 910826
(By S.C. Chang)

"Free The Democracy Three!" is the new, resonant rallying cry for China's democracy movement. Today is Day #70 in captivity for the Democracy Three, leading Chinese dissidents. The Free China Movement coalition has undertaken this campaign to win the freedom of the Democracy Three, and their plight can be looked at as a hostage crisis, and attempt by China to decapitate its opposition democracy movement.

For the relatives of the missing, it is an anguished wait. For the Democracy Three themselves, it is an unexpected detour in their trip to Vietnam, which was legal and above board. For the democracy movement, it is a time of heightened tension and activism. For governments, it is a test of the principle of sovereignty, and time to learn whether leaders will "get on the page" with the rule of law, principles of sovereignty, and humanitarian concerns.

It may first be noted that China is committing an international crime. The Democracy Three set out from their homes in the U.S. and France. They traveled to Vietnam on valid U.S. travel documents. They attended a meeting in Vietnam near the Chinese border. From there, they were kidnapped, vanishing on the night of June 26, 2002.

Dissidents can best present their evidence, but they tell that the kidnappers were agents of the Chinese government. Reports first indicated that the Democracy Three were taken across the border from Vietnam into China. Later reports tell that the Democracy Three were moved, and are now being held in Beijing.

Here, we learn what is new and different about this case. Jaded Western reporters may ask, "What's new about Chinese dissidents being in trouble?" --What we have here is a first. Historically, dissidents encounter trouble in China, and are not hindered in their operations internationally. The precedent since 1989 has found the dissidents able to go about their business freely outside China. What is new and different about this case, is that it is a "cross-border kidnapping," violating the borders and the sovereignty of Vietnam, and that it involves no crime on the part of the Democracy Three, and no legitimate activity of Chinese law enforcement.

Especially where the Democracy Three live in the West, having relatives and children who are U.S. citizens, this kidnapping is an out-and-out international crime, perpetrated by Beijing's communist regime. The Democracy Three belong at home with their families. Anguished relatives appeared at a Free China Movement press conference last Thursday, on Day #65 of this crisis.

Secondly, a response is called for on the part of political leaders. The China Support Network condemned China and "cross-border kidnappings" as the story first broke on Day #30. Involved here is a clearly illegal action, which violates national borders; Vietnam's sovereignty; international law; and, all of humanity's conscience.

Moreover, George W. Bush ought to withdraw his invitation for a visit to his ranch, in Texas, with China's President Jiang Zemin, as was extended for October. The timing is in advance of China's 16th party congress, soon to follow in November. With Jiang Zemin to be stepping down, Bush's invitation to the ranch looks like a gratuitous love fest with an outgoing mass murderer. In light of the international crime, that meeting would only send a seedy signal to world audiences, and American voters, on the eve of congressional elections.

Political writers can appreciate that this story has meat on it. According to one commentator, "The international crime is huge....This is a new, tawdry low point for Beijing's regime." In an early release on this story, I commented, "We want Ted Koppel to cover this for 444 days, if it takes that." With a slogan like "Free The Democracy Three!," this is a campaign which can catch on with Americans.

For political writers who care to illuminate and explore the Chinese democracy cause, this story is valuable -- for what it represents, and for how much of the democracy movement is drawn into the story, falling under the magnifying glass. If we simply ask the question, "Who are the Democracy Three?" we learn that, as leading figures of the movement, they each represent much. As a founder of the China Democracy Party, Wang Bingzhang represents the democracy movement. As a prominent labor leader, Yue Wu represents the Chinese labor movement. And, as a leading figure in Zhong Gong, the qi gong practice, Zhang Qi represents a Chinese spiritual movement.

It therefore speaks much, simply to answer the question, "Who are the Democracy Three?" The next good question is, "What were they doing when they were kidnapped in Vietnam?" According to the Free China Movement, they visited Vietnam to meet with Chinese labor leaders inside Vietnam, to promote the fledgling Chinese labor movement.

The image conjured is that of a political alignment, with three Chinese movements getting together. Each brings millions of followers to the table, and they now appear to be joining forces, making for a much-expanded Chinese democracy movement. Do the leading dissidents now hold the levers to activate three movements in China, simultaneously? (An answer: "Well, that's for communists to wonder about.")

This story may also be the mother lode for the dissidents' cause. This story has more than that of Chandra Levy, and would support wall to wall coverage. For sidebars, one could explore the Chinese democracy movement, the Chinese labor movement, and the Zhong Gong spiritual movement. This would lead back to the issue of China's human rights violations, in the form of repression, labor conditions, and religious persecution. This campaign may become a Christmas tree on which is hung many Chinese dissident issues. Already in the campaign, we have heard calls to abolish China's slave labor camps, and to re-evaluate Western policies on China.

The anguished relatives may simply want their family members back. We must also ask, "Where are the Democracy Three? What is happening to them? What is their status, by the governments of China, Vietnam, France, and the U.S.?" But, the relatives also know that the political cause means much to the Democracy Three, being their life's work. News media analysts may find it stunning how much is entailed and represented in the rallying cry, "Free The Democracy Three!"