Editor,
Reading the article entitled ...Enlightening the ...barbarians...... that appeared on Matangi Tonga Online on Sep 1, I doubt if the author has been to China before. I feel it is imperative for me to set the record straight on the issues with my poor knowledge about my country.
Since the founding of the People...s Republic of China in 1949, especially in the past two decades since the China...s reform and opening up, tremendous changes have taken place in China. Astonishing achievements have been made in a variety of areas including the economy, politics, culture, science and technology and human rights. Chinese people are living a better and better life. The changes and progress cannot be denied by anyone who views China in an unbiased way.
The allegation that China forces abortion on families so they will have one child only exposes the author...s ignorance of real conditions in China. China has a population of 1.3 billion, over 1/5 of the world...s population, which constitutes serious challenges to the well-being of Chinese people and sustained development between population on one hand, and the economy, society, resources and environment on the other. It is a natural choice for Chinese people to adopt the family planning policy. The combination of state guidance with voluntary participation together with both incentive and restrictive measures is an important principle China has always followed since the implementation of the family planning policy. But also one child for one couple does not mean to ...have one child... under any circumstances. Couples of ethnic groups in China are allowed to have two and even three children and a more flexible policy is adopted to farmers and herdsmen. We can hardly say that the record of human rights is perfect in China. However, China should not be accused for social progress and contributions made to the world prosperity.
It is accused by the author that China executes anyone who protests for anything. Nothing can be further from the truth. China is a country ruled by law and people...s rights are protected by the law. In the Chinese Constitution, Article 33 stipulates that all citizens of the People...s Republic of China are equal before the law. Article 35 stipulates that citizens of the People...s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and demonstration if they register to the Authorities. The Chinese Government puts the rights and interests of people in the first place and tries its uttermost to address people...s concerns. The charge that people will be executed for protesting sounds like another ...Arabian Nights....
The author says that China executes criminals and harvests their body parts for transplants is malicious in the extreme. The fact is donation of organs is encouraged as in other countries, but voluntary consent is the prerequisite, without which the transplant of organs is illegal in China and strictly forbidden. And this applies to both the public and condemned criminals. Any organ transplant must be done under the laws and the restrictions concerned.
It is claimed by the author that people in China do not have the right to form a political party other than communist. The fact is that besides the Chinese Communist Party, the ruling party, China has another 8 political parties and a system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation. Before adopting important measures or makes decisions on issues having a bearing on the national economy and the people...s livelihood, the Chinese government must consult with representatives of all ethnic groups, political parties and non-party personages, and all other social sectors, in order to reach a common understanding. All the leaders of the 8 parties are vice chairmen of the People...s Congress of China. And there is a lieutenant Governor in each provincial government.
Seeing is believing. I hope the author may travel to China to witness with his own eyes the true China, and I believe that he will find that China is not a country like it depicted by western biased media. And I am certain that the China-Tonga friendly relations will become better in future and bring more benefits for both peoples.
Zhang Edward
chinaemb_to [at] mfa [dot] gov [dot] cn
