Asian Pacific Post
Encyclopedia
The Asian Pacific Post is a weekly Canadian newspaper founded in 1993 in Vancouver
, British Columbia
. The newspaper specialized in reporting Asian issues, and has a readership of 160,000. It has a sister publication in The South Asian Post.
The newspaper won a Jack Webster
award for Excellence in Journalism for Best Community Reporting in 2003.
, attempted to stop the printing of the paper on January 8, 2009. This was due to the printing of an article which stated that the Chinese government accused the Divine Performing Arts hosted by NTDTV of being funded by Falun Gong
practitioners. Cui refused to print the newspaper without the removal of quotes from Chinese officials. Publisher Sewak accused Falun Gong of suppressing his freedom of speech, and the Asian Pacific Post was forced to switch publishers.
Epoch Press' president, Frank Cui, who is a Falun Gong practitioner, admitted to holding the paper. He said "...news reporters feel that they must 'balance' stories about Falun Gong or events they are involved in by adding the bad words or opinions from the [ Chinese Communist Party ], but in my feeling, between victim and perpetrator there can never be any neutrality or balance." Harbinder Singh Sewak, publisher of the Post, said "This is hypocrisy in slow motion... You can’t complain about not having freedom of the press in China and then turn around and suppress the same freedoms in Canada". Sewak alleges the printer committed unlawful interference with economic interests, including breach of contract and deceit. Lawyers representing Falun Dafa denied any association with the actions of Frank Cui.
This story has been covered by the South China Morning Post
,, The Vancouver Sun
,, and The Province
. Sewak has since taken the Epoch Printing Press to court over the matter The lawyer representing the Asian Pacific Post states that the case is unique in Canada. "We have yet to find a case anywhere in Canada which would be similar to this - a commercial printer holding a newspaper hostage on the basis they don't like an article is a pretty strange set of facts.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The newspaper specialized in reporting Asian issues, and has a readership of 160,000. It has a sister publication in The South Asian Post.
The newspaper won a Jack Webster
Jack Webster
John Edgar "Jack" Webster, CM was a Scottish-born Canadian journalist, radio and television personality.-Life in the United Kingdom:...
award for Excellence in Journalism for Best Community Reporting in 2003.
Conflict with the Epoch Press
According to the Asian Pacific Post, Frank Cui of the Epoch Printing Press, which also prints The Epoch TimesThe Epoch Times
The Epoch Times is a multi-language, international media organisation. As a newspaper, the Times has been publishing in Chinese since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline....
, attempted to stop the printing of the paper on January 8, 2009. This was due to the printing of an article which stated that the Chinese government accused the Divine Performing Arts hosted by NTDTV of being funded by Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
practitioners. Cui refused to print the newspaper without the removal of quotes from Chinese officials. Publisher Sewak accused Falun Gong of suppressing his freedom of speech, and the Asian Pacific Post was forced to switch publishers.
Epoch Press' president, Frank Cui, who is a Falun Gong practitioner, admitted to holding the paper. He said "...news reporters feel that they must 'balance' stories about Falun Gong or events they are involved in by adding the bad words or opinions from the [ Chinese Communist Party ], but in my feeling, between victim and perpetrator there can never be any neutrality or balance." Harbinder Singh Sewak, publisher of the Post, said "This is hypocrisy in slow motion... You can’t complain about not having freedom of the press in China and then turn around and suppress the same freedoms in Canada". Sewak alleges the printer committed unlawful interference with economic interests, including breach of contract and deceit. Lawyers representing Falun Dafa denied any association with the actions of Frank Cui.
This story has been covered by the South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000....
,, The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun
The Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
,, and The Province
The Province
The Province is a daily, tabloid format newspaper published in British Columbia by Postmedia. It has been a daily newspaper since 1898.According to a recent NADbank survey, The Provinces average weekday readership was 520,100, making it British Columbia's most read newspaper...
. Sewak has since taken the Epoch Printing Press to court over the matter The lawyer representing the Asian Pacific Post states that the case is unique in Canada. "We have yet to find a case anywhere in Canada which would be similar to this - a commercial printer holding a newspaper hostage on the basis they don't like an article is a pretty strange set of facts.