For Immediate Release

                  Date:   September 19, 2000
                  Contact:    Timothy Cooper
                  Phone:  202-244-9479/ 202-213-3442
                  Fax:    E-Mail: worldright@aol.com

                      CHINESE DISSIDENTS EXPRESS DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT AT US SENATE PASSAGE OF
                  PNTR FOR CHINA
                  (Declare their intention to continue the fight for human rights
                   and democracy in China)

                  Washington, D.C.  The Free China Movement voiced its deep dismay over the US
                  Senate's passage of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China this
                  afternoon. The Free China Movement, along with many major U.S. labor unions,
                  human rights and environmentalist groups, fought against the legislation last
                  spring, before it was passed in the House of Representatives.

                  "Today's vote by the US Senate marks a low watermark in America's honorable
                  commitment to protect and defend the human rights of people around the
                  globe," stated Wang Xizhe, co-founder of the China Democracy Party.  "While
                  we do not oppose trade with China, we emphatically resist the twisted logic
                  that suggests that human rights standards will be elevated in China by
                  rewarding the conduct of  human rights oppressors in Beijing with increased
                  trade. It is a sad day for America, and an even sadder one for the people of
                  China," Mr. Wang concluded.

                  "While we feel a sense of dismay that the US Congress has abandoned the hard
                  fight for freedom in China for the sake of speculative corporate profits,
                  we-- the Chinese dissidents-- who know better than anyone else what it means
                  to live with tyranny-- will nevertheless remain vigilant in our efforts to
                  bring about basic freedoms for our fellow countrymen and women," said Shengde
                  Lian, executive director of the Free China Movement.  "Our fight has just
                  begun," concluded Mr. Lian.

                  "Regrettably, because of the passage of PNTR, the US will no longer have any
                  leverage whatsoever with which to influence Beijing's human rights policies.
                  This is the price of the passage of PNTR for China, paid in the abuse of
                  human life," stated Timothy Cooper, international director of the Free China
                  Movement and Ambassador-at-large for the China Democracy Party.

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