Chinese, Korean Communities Boycott John Liu and John Choe

"Chinese, Korean Communities in NY Call for Boycott of Comptroller Candidate"

By Joshua Philipp

From The Epoch Times, August 25th, 2009

Representatives from the Chinese and Korean community condemned Council Member and city comptroller candidate John Liu, on Tuesday, calling on the Asian community to boycott his campaign.

At a forum held at the Chinese Democracy Party office in Flushing, Queens, Asian community leaders from several organizations reviewed Liu’s history as a council member. Among the points of concern were his keeping silent following the terrorist attacks on 9-11, his lack of support for constituents attacked in his district, and for the support he has shown for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The reason we all came to this country is that we think it’s more free and prosperous,” said Victor Chen, president of The Chinese Military Academy Alumni Association in USA, a Taiwanese organization.

Chen added that anyone who has been “taken in by the communist’s interest is only interested working for their own interests.”

The overlying theme of the forum was that Liu is a supporter of the Chinese communist regime. Liu Guohua, vice president of the Coalition of Guards for American Values, gave more background to this claim.

Last year, Falun Gong practitioners were being regularly attacked in Liu’s district. An audio recording later revealed Chinese Consulate General Peng Keyu was involved in orchestrating the attacks.

Rather than condemn the attacks or show support for the Falun Gong practitioners, Liu instead welcomed the attackers into his office for a personal meeting. Not long after, they were able to establish a booth along Main Street in Flushing, where they distribute hateful materials against Falun Gong that echoes the propaganda spread by the CCP.

At least 12 people were arrested for attacking Falun Gong practitioners—a meditation group currently being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party.

Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline based on truthfulness, compassion, forbearance, including five exercises. People who practice it have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since July 1999. Before then it had attracted between 70-100 million practitioners since its introduction to the public in 1992.

One of the victims of the attacks, Judy Chen, went to Liu’s office on June 30 2008 to ask for help. Guohua referenced that rather than help her, Liu expelled her from his office, saying “bye, bye, bye!”

Guohua added that in addition to expelling Chen—a mother of two U.S. Marines—after searching through records of Liu’s political career, it was found that Liu has never issued a proclamation in support of U.S. troops.

Conversely, Liu has supported the Chinese military. Guohua added that when the CCP launched two of its military satellites, Liu personally gave proclamations to the Chinese Consulate in support.

After searching through records of Liu’s eight years in office, it was also found that “not once did he condemn the attacks of the terrorists [on 9-11,]” said Guohua.

“Even though he is Chinese,” said Guohua to the room full of Chinese residents, “we need to be very clear he is working with the Chinese communist government, which is why we left mainland China.”

Liu’s City Council Replacement

While members of the Chinese community spoke about Liu’s connection with the CCP, members of the Korean community spoke about the pro-North Korean candidate for city council, John Choe.

Choe—who Liu is a prime supporter of—gave a speech in 2006 at the Preparing for the Rebirth of the Global Struggle for Socialism conference where he said “Korea is at the front line of the liberation struggles against imperialism,” according to the New York Post.

Choe also helped found Nodutdol (Korean for “stepping stone”), an organization which leads trips to North Korea and which is shrouded in heavy controversy in the Korean community.

President of the Pan Asian American Freedom Protection organization, Thomas Choi, recalled his memories of when North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950. “I was a little kid at the time,” said Choi. “They tortured people. You can’t even think about how bad [the communists] are.”

“Now the communists follow us to the United States of America,” said Choi.

Article Links John Liu, John Choe and Margaret Chin to Chinese Communist Party

Excerpted from "Communist Ties Become Issue in NYC Politics"
From: The New American, August 6, 2009
by William F. Jasper

In his vita provided for the Reynolds Foundation, John Choe gives a few more details about his Marxist-Leninist pedigree, proudly noting his volunteering with the Venceremos Brigade (VB), one of the oldest and most notorious of communist fronts. (He does not say whether he went with the Brigadistas to help chop sugar cane in Fidel Castro's workers' paradise, one of the VB's favorite romantic pastimes.) He also notes that he was named by George Soros' Open Society Institute as one of their NYC community fellows. In fact, John Choe has been a radical "community activist" for the past 20 years — his entire adult life — with the last eight years consumed as chief of staff for City Councilman John Liu.

Liu, as noted in yesterday's column, is attempting to move up the political food chain, seeking the Democratic spot in the September primary for city comptroller. He is now also coming under fire for his slavish support for the communist powers-that-be in Beijing — and their agents here in the United States. In response to the above-mentioned story on Choe by David Seifman in the New York Post, a writer going by the name "Laoxiong" posted a series of entries providing details of John Liu's purported activities in the PRC and the United States favoring the Beijing party line. The alarming "Laoxiong" reports can be read here (scroll down below the Seifman column).

Both John Liu and John Choe have worked closely with Margaret Chin, a longtime spokesman for the Communist Workers Party (CWP), a militant Maoist sect and one of the most violent revolutionary groups in the country. Armed CWP cadres have engaged in street fighting with police and have acted as enforcement thugs for the PRC, breaking up peaceful pro-Taiwan rallies and beating up Chinese-Americans (and others) who protest Beijing policies and visits to the United States by PRC leaders. Chin is a candidate for New York City's 1st Council District.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Despite John Liu's Denial, John Choe Admits To Post He Attacked U.S. "Imperialism"

"Korean Conflict - Council Hopeful: Pull Troops"
by David Seifman
From The New York Post, July 26, 2009

A COUNCIL candidate hoping to become the city's first Korean-American legislator is calling for the removal of American troops from South Korea, and admits he made a speech three years ago denouncing US "imperialism."

The comments of John Choe, one of six candidates trying to succeed Councilman John Liu in Flushing, were reported in the Workers World newspaper.

"Korea is at the front line of the liberation struggles against imperialism," Choe was quoted as telling a conference here in May 2006 on "Preparing for the Rebirth of the Global Struggle for Socialism."

"From the very beginning, when the US intervened and occupied Korea, the Korean people have been resisting and struggling. And I urge all of you here to help us in our dark days trying to win back freedom and independence from the United States and its military."

Choe allies claim he's the victim of a smear campaign and say he never uttered those words.
But Choe admitted that he pretty much did.

"I may have said something like that," he said.

"Korea, I believe like any other country, should be given the right to self-determination and independence and not have the military of other countries on their soil," he told The Post.
Choe's position poses something of a problem for Liu and the Queens Democratic Party, which has endorsed him.

Liu, now running for comptroller, insisted Choe, his former chief of staff, was being stigmatized by "McCarthyism."

"There's no way he made those comments, no way," declared Liu, not aware of Choe's admission.

Former Queens Councilwoman Concerned John Choe Will "Sell" Young People On North Korean Dictatorship

"Flushing Drama Trumps Dem Choices"
By Vladic Ravich

John Choe officially announced his candidacy for the 20th Council District on Monday and promptly won the endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Organization the next day.

The endorsement gave a boost to former Chief of Staff for Councilman John Liu – who currently holds the seat, but it was the most hotly contested of all the endorsements made that day. Choe faced a strong challenge from District Leader James Wu for the endorsement, but following the abstention votes by District Leaders Julia Harrison and Martha Flores Vasquez, Wu relinquished his votes to Choe “for the sake of party unity.”

“I’m totally happy with the situation,” said Wu. “Of course I would’ve liked the endorsement, but the will of the voters is more important.” Wu emphasized that he still supported John Liu for Comptroller, explaining that he understood why Liu would back one of his former staffers. “Having Liu running strong citywide will still help me on the ballot,” said Wu.

Wu said that while he could have tried to force a deadlock and move on to more rounds of voting, the two abstentions made it impossible for him to win, because even assuming he won the plurality of the votes, he would still lack a majority. So the choice became a stalemate from Liu’s district, which Wu said would look bad for everyone, or Wu would have to switch his votes to his opponent.

“I do think abstention is a huge cop out,” said Wu.

Vasquez said she and Harrison made a “mutual decision” to leave the decision to the voting community. Vasquez said she wanted a candidate to represent the whole district, “not just the Asian district.”

“In this district we go one of two ways: we want an Asian candidate or a qualified candidate. I think this is the year for a qualified candidate,” said Vasquez. She also said that Wu changed his vote out of “anger and retaliation.”

Harrison said she did not appreciate U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), the county Democratic Chairman, dictating which candidate would be endorsed. “There is a united front in the community to not have someone shoved down our throats – let it be a free election and let the community decide for itself.”

She also said “I don’t know how John Choe can possibly win with three Korean people in the race.” She then said her sources tell her that Choe is “perceived as an advocate of a North Korean government […] The anxiety is very strong about John Choe proselytizing to the young people of immigrant parents selling them on the philosophy of the North Korean government.”

To read the rest of this article, click here.

John Choe Reluctant To Admit North Korea Violates Human Rights: Queens Tribune

"Choe Speaks Frankly On His Korea Position"
By Vladic Ravich
From: The Queens Tribune, June 5th, 2009

John Choe would rather not talk about North Korea.

“This issue is of very little relevance to District 20,” said Choe, responding to claims made last week by District Leader Julia Harrison, who said her sources were wary of Choe’s alleged connections to North Korea.

“The main issues of working families in this district are good schools for their children, jobs, health care, police protection, the basics. […] This story is old news. It’s been covered since 2003, with accusation that somehow I am a spy or a representative of North Korea. I’ve been very clear in my answer; I have not taken sides, I don’t represent or speak on behalf of either the South or the North Korean government. I am Korean American and my focus is as a community organizer to make people’s lives better right here.”

Choe did agree to a lengthy interview to dispel the rumors and past allegations that his role in founding a group called Nodutdol (nodutdol.com) somehow branded him unpatriotic or worse. He made no secret of his advocacy for peace on the Korean peninsula and explained his positions on the issues that have gotten North Korea in headlines around the world.

Choe said he has taken several trips to South Korea and is very familiar with how the country works. He was particularly interested in “the way its health care, feminist movements, and very active workers movement” operate. He said he has “very limited information on the other half of the peninsula,” but he did take two trips there, once in 2000 and again in 2008.

“Yes, I did go there on my honeymoon,” said Choe. “We spent a few days in North Korea to learn about the society. We spent the other part of the honeymoon in Yosemite Park, enjoying the beauty of one of America’s greatest parks.”

Nodutdol sponsors trips by American Koreans to visit the country and the blog posts they write are overwhelmingly positive, describing the new found pride they feel in their heritage and the warm welcome they received. Nodutdol has been criticized for not presenting the negatives of North Korea, but Choe says that is not the purpose of the group. Instead, the group wants to foster cultural exchange and understanding, traits that Choe considers prerequisites for peace.

“I believe in productive and constructive criticism. There is also criticism that is meant to undermine a peaceful process. I believe if you’re gonna build a relationship you have to engage in constructive criticism.[…] You can’t be holier than thou, saying why aren’t you fixing this, or fixing that?[…] That part of U.S. policy is currently being reviewed by the Obama administration. The unilateralism that the U.S. has pushed around the world hasn’t been very productive,” said Choe.

When asked about the issue of missiles and nuclear weapons, Choe said “Frankly, I don’t support their test on nuclear weapons. My hope is for peaceful negotiations and the importance of non violence.” He said North Korea had the right to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Act, just as any country can withdraw or not sign a treaty. He cited the example of the U.S. refusing the sign the international ban on land mines, which results in tremendous human suffering around the world.

Choe said North Korea, like every nation, is entitled to test rockets for civilian purposes. When asked if he believe the rockets recently tested are for satellites or weapons, he said is not aware of any evidence one way or the other.

In regards to human rights violations, Choe criticized the former military government of South Korea, especially their National Security Law, which he said led to the “restricted free speech and freedom of conscience, [and] allowed the authorities to detain, torture and sometimes kill their political opponents whether they were professors, poetry, labor activists.” “If a similar system is in place in North Korea, I would also oppose it,” said Choe.

To read reactions to this article from the readers of the Queens Crap blog, click here.