{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Senators on Olympics, human rights, writers hand in petition' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c499d8eafeecae16a032' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c499d8eafeecae16a032' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nSenators on Olympics, human rights, writers hand in petition\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eNew York1. Wide of writer Salman Rushdie during news conference2. Mid of reporters3. SOUNDBITE (English) Salman Rushdie, writer:\"The greatest victory of censorship, it seems to me, is when it goes on for so long and is so all engulfing...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eNew York\u003cbr/\u003e1. Wide of writer Salman Rushdie during news conference\u003cbr/\u003e2. Mid of reporters\u003cbr/\u003e3. SOUNDBITE (English) Salman Rushdie, writer:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The greatest victory of censorship, it seems to me, is when it goes on for so long and is so all engulfing that people actually forget what it is that's being censored. They begin to see that censored reality as reality and the truth begins to seem like bad manners or lies. This is something that is danger of happening in China, and I think this is the moment the world is looking at it, looking at what is happening in China. It's very important that China begin to demonstrate their wishes to move back towards a more open society in which writers are not jailed and are not oppressed.\"\u003cbr/\u003e4. Writer Francine Prose and others walking up to China Mission to the United Nations building \u003cbr/\u003e5. Close of writers waiting outside door\u003cbr/\u003e6. Close of writer sliding petition underneath door \u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) Francine Prose, writer:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well, it's not exactly surprising, because the Chinese government does have 40 imprisoned writers who we are working to free. It's an embarrassment to them and it should be an embarrassment to them and we can only hope that this letter will do something to persuade that.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Close of Chinese flag\u003cbr/\u003e9. Wide exterior of building housing China Mission to the United Nations\u003cbr/\u003eWashington, DC\u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of Senator Sam Brownback and protesters gathered on lawn, US Capitol in the background\u003cbr/\u003e11. Close of sign that reads: (English) \"China's cruelty kills the Olympic spirit.\"\u003cbr/\u003e12. SOUNDBITE (English) Senator Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The Chinese government has issued an outrageous directive in preparation for the Olympics; calling on American hotels (which) have been ordered by the Chinese government to place monitors and filters on their internet piping to facilitate spying on international guests and visitors. This is wrong. It's against international conventions, it's certainly against the Olympic spirit.\"\u003cbr/\u003e13. Cutaway of reporters and photographer \u003cbr/\u003e14. SOUNDBITE (English) Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Genocide, genocide in the year 2008. Genocide has been going on five years and the number one accomplice of the genocide in Darfur is who? The Chinese government. No official...no official in the executive branch, in the judicial branch and particularly in the Congressional branch ought to attend the opening ceremonies of this Olympics.\"\u003cbr/\u003e15. Wide of presser\u003cbr/\u003eA group of well-known authors on Thursday called for the release of 40 writers and journalists imprisoned in China. \u003cbr/\u003eThe authors, including Salman Rushdie and Francine Prose, made the appeal in a petition which they aimed to hand to the Chinese Mission to the United Nations  in New York.\u003cbr/\u003eAhead of the presentation, Rushdie held a news conference at the PEN American Centre, which is known for its advocacy for oppressed and jailed writers around the world.\u003cbr/\u003ePEN has been working on the cases of four of the imprisoned Chinese writers for several years.\u003cbr/\u003eRushdie told reporters that censorship in China was in danger of becoming accepted as a normal state of affairs.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The greatest victory of censorship, it seems to me, is when it goes on for so long and is so all engulfing that people actually forget what it is that's being censored,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eThe writer of the \"Satanic Verses\" and other bestsellers urged China to show restraint when dealing with writers and journalists. \u003cbr/\u003e\"It's very important that China begin to demonstrate their wishes to move back towards a more open society in which writers are not jailed and are not oppressed,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eColleagues Francine Prose, Edward Albee and Rick Moody supported Rushdie's call. \u003cbr/\u003eThey said they chose now to highlight China's human rights record as the world's eyes would be on the country in the run-up and during the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. \u003cbr/\u003eThe writers' attempt to hand in their petition was not immediately acknowledged, leaving them no option but to slip their petition under the doorway on the Chinese mission. \u003cbr/\u003e\"Well, it's not exactly surprising, because the Chinese government does have 40 imprisoned writers who we are working to free,\" Prose told AP Television. \u003cbr/\u003e\"It's an embarrassment to them, and it should be an embarrassment to them, and we can only hope that this letter will do something to persuade that,\" she said.\u003cbr/\u003eMeanwhile, in Washington DC, a Senate lawmaker on Thursday accused China of ordering US-owned hotels to install internet filters with the ability to spy on international visitors coming to watch the Olympics.\u003cbr/\u003e\"This is wrong. It's against international conventions, it's certainly against the Olympic spirit,\" Republican senator Sam Brownback from Kansas told reporters.\u003cbr/\u003eHe said he had seen the language of the memos received by at least two US hotels. \u003cbr/\u003eHe declined to name the hotels but said he released the information from two \"reliable but confidential sources\" in the hope that public pressure would convince China to back off the demand.\u003cbr/\u003eRepublican representative Frank Wolf from Virginia, meanwhile, condemned Beijing for supporting repressive governments in Sudan and called for Congressional executives to boycott Olympics opening ceremony.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Genocide has been going on five years and the number one accomplice of the genocide in Darfur is who? The Chinese government,\" Wolf suggested. \u003cbr/\u003eBrownback had said he would press his case for President George W. 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