Document 11 of 15.
Copyright 1998 Central News Agency
Central News Agency
December 17, 1998, Thursday
LENGTH: 315 words
HEADLINE:
FREE CHINA MOVEMENT RALLIES IN WASHINGTON
BYLINE: By Nelson Chung
DATELINE: Washington, Dec. 16
BODY:
A coalition of over 30 Chinese dissident organizations on Wednesday called on
Beijing authorities to release all dissidents and urged governments to condemn
the regime's recent crackdown on dissidents.
The
Free China Movement, which represents dissidents both in and outside the mainland, also urged the
US
Congress to pass a resolution condemning the Chinese government and called for
the termination of mainland China's most-favored-nation trading status until
Beijing abides by international human rights obligations.
Lian Shengde, executive director of the Washington-based Free China Movement,
said in a news conference,
"It would be a tragic mistake for the Clinton administration and the European
Union to believe that China has improved its human rights record and legal
system."
"This is an absolute myth. The recent
crackdown on the Chinese Democratic Party members and the trial of Lin Hai
shows that the PRC is still a brutal communist dictatorship that only holds
power through the barrel of a gun. The only realistic way to pressure the
Chinese government to abide by international human rights treaties is
through economic sanctions," Lian added.
Lin Hai, a Shanghai software engineer, was arrested last March for sending
30,000 mainland Chinese e-mail addresses to VIP Reference, an on-line magazine
published by the Free China Movement.
"The Free China
Movement strongly condemns the Chinese government's recent wave of arrests of
political opposition leaders, and calls on Congress to speak out on behalf of
those dissidents who are asserting their legal rights of free speech and
assembly in China," movement lawyer Ye Ning said.
Ye recently
won a lawsuit preventing Adidas, a sports equipment manufacturer, from using a
mainland Chinese prison labor camp to make soccer balls.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: December 18, 1998
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