Ignatieff fails to account for Chinese human rights recordPosting on the National Post's Full Comment blog, Ezra Levant has some choice words for Liberal leader Michaelf Ignatieff.Ignatieff, Levant insists, has spoken "false praise to power".In a speech delivered at China's Tsinghua University, Ignatieff embraced Jean Chretien's craven approach to China; all he needed to do to make it complete was swap the phrase "good governance and rule of law" for "human rights".In fact, despite China's human rights record -- the Chinese Communist Party's legacy written in blood -- Ignatieff's greatest human rights-related barbs were reserved for Canada."I am a proud Canadian, proud of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the rights we accord religious and linguistic minorities, and the constitutional...
When the western world thinks about the Tienanmen Square massacre of 1989, one image springs to mind: it is one of the the most iconic images of the 20th century.British journalist Alfred Lee identified the man as Wang Weilin -- an account that no other journalist has ever been able to verify.To many, it's frustrating that we cannot identify the man who provided one of the most iconic images of not only the 20th century, but in time of all time.The Chinese government has certainly expended a great deal of time and effort in destroying this image. No sooner had the photo been taken then Chinese security services attempted to sieze the film, Fortunately, the photographer was enterprising enough to successfully hide it.Today, just as many Chinese students never been told about the Tienanmen...
Speaking via TED Talks, Jonathon Klein addresses the notion of the myth of photographic truth.Put most simply, the myth of photographic truth infers that photographs -- noted to be worth a thousand words, and to provide an objective depication of reality -- are created through a variety of subjective processes, and thus do not really infer unquestionable truth.Those who argue against this mytho of photographic truth note that the photographer makes myriad decisions in the course of taking -- or, as Klein notes, making -- a photograph. They choose the angle from which they will take the photograph, the lens with which they will take it, the time at which they will take it, and most importantly when they will take it.Moreover, they argue that photographs have very specific meanings to...
Lawrence Cannon calls for "public accounting"In a statement on the eve of today's 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon joined the chorus of voices calling for a public accounting of the massacre."The 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square tragedy provides an opportunity for China to remember those who lost their lives at that time while calling for political and economic reforms in China," Cannon said. "Twenty years later, we hope that they will be able to examine these events in an open and transparent fashion -- including the public accounting of those killed, detained or missing."Cannon shouldn't hold his breath -- nor should anyone else in the world.The Communist Party regime in China will certainly not hold any kind of...
Tienanmen Square activist arrested over Charter 0860 years ago today, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations.In the 60 years since, it's amazing how far some countries in the world haven't come.In China today, Liu Xiaobo, a press freedom activist and a participant in the Tiananmen Square demonstration, was arrest for signing Charter 08, a pro-democracy manifesto. The charter reads:"A hundred years have passed since the writing of China‘s first constitution. 2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China’s signing of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching...