Subject: IFCSS Letter to Clinton (IFCSS HQ NR-4106)

From: IFCSS HQ <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 12:46:20 -0500

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IFCSS Headquarters News Release No. 4106         March 1, 1993
            IFCSS LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON
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Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS)
   733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 440, Washington, D.C.20005
         Tel. (202)347-0017  Fax: (202)347-0018
                Email: [email-masked]

            IFCSS Letter to President Clinton
            =================================

Dear IFCSS Members:

     The following is a letter to President Clinton signed by
IFCSS President Geng Xiao. The letter will be sent along with
the IFCSS Human Rights Report to the White House this week.

     Thanks for your attention.

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                                                         02/19/93

The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C., 20500

Dear President Clinton:

I am writing, on behalf of the Independent Federation of Chinese
Students and Scholars in the United States (IFCSS), to ask for your
continued concern over the human rights situation in the People's
Republic of China.

IFCSS was founded in the wake of Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 by
nearly 400 delegates representing 40,000 Chinese students and
scholars at 202 U.S. universities and research institutions and is
currently the only nation-wide Chinese student organization in this
country. Ever since its founding, IFCSS has been fighting
persistently for promoting democracy and freedom, the very concepts
that inspired millions of our fellow students to take to the
streets during the great Democracy Movement of 1989. With the
generous support of the American people, IFCSS has succeeded in
bringing international pressure to bear upon the repressive Chinese
government.

However, because of the relatively weak stance taken by the
previous U.S. administration towards the Chinese government, we
fell far short of what could have been accomplished. The fact that
for three consecutive years a bill to attach human rights
conditions to China's most-favored-nation trade status (MFN) failed
to be enacted has led the Chinese government to believe that no
sanction would ever materialize.

This is why that back in last September, Chinese students home and
abroad were greatly encouraged by your campaign statements related
to China's MFN status and the proposed Radio Free Asia project.
This is also why the Chinese government has released Wan Dan, who
topped the 21 students on the most-wanted list after the June 4th
Massacre, a few months before he was to complete his four-year
term. For the first time since the 1989 crackdown, the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) is not sure that it can avoid economic
sanctions without making a few gestures. 

With the release of Wan Dan, loud praises were heard that human
rights situation in China has "significantly improved." Some
Western news media even reported that "the last student remaining
in prison" was set free. Nothing could be further from the truth!
The release of Wan Dan has not changed the fate of tens of
thousands of political prisoners, among whom are Liu Gang and Zhang
Ming, who were also on the most-wanted list and have suffered
repeated torture until recently. There is Chen Lantao, a student of
Shandong Maritime College, who, on a charge similar to Wang Dan,
has been sentenced to eighteen years of imprisonment. And there are
many, many more whose names are unknown to the outside world. 

If the Chinese government were sincere in improving the human
rights situation, it would have set free all the prisoners of
conscience, not just a few whose names have made their way into the
headlines of the Western news media. The fact is that the CCP has
come to adopt double standards on human rights, of which Shen
Tong's case offers a perfect illustration. Last September, Shen
Tong, a Chinese student studying at Boston University and democracy
activist well-known to the U.S. Congress, was detained in Beijing
before a scheduled press conference. With a large group of world
leaders expressing concern over his detainment, Shen Tong was
released eight weeks after he was taken custody by the police.
However, Qi Dafeng, a student recruited by Shen Tong to work for
his China Democracy Foundation, was sentenced to two years of
"education through labor." Also involved in Shen Tong's case were
Zu Guoqiang, Chen Jianyong, Xie Changzhong, and Pan Mindong,
dissidents in Hunan province, all of whom were arrested between
last September and December and have not been heard of ever since.
There were still some others who simply disappeared after Shen Tong
was detained and whose whereabouts have so far remained a myth. 

On January 29th, Chen Xitong, Party boss of Beijing and member of
the Politburo of the CCP, reaffirmed in his opening statement at
Beijing People's Congress that the government did a right thing in
putting down "the counterrevolutionary riot" (an official term for
the 1989 massacre) and vowed that "all the sources of unrest will
be eradicated." He was speaking in accordance with the policy
formulated at the latest CCP Congress.

The repression has never ceased. In 1992 alone, at least over three
hundred people were arrested for their political and religious
beliefs. In fact, the Chinese government has turned prisoners of
conscience into bargaining chips of which it would place a few on
the table whenever there was a deadlock with the U.S. over trade
and other issues. And this human resource is inexhaustible. 

It is high time to press for fundamental and genuine improvements!

Mr. President, many democracy activists of 1989 have been sentenced
to as long as 20 years. Day in and day out, they are suffering
under the most sordid conditions. Their aged parents are heart-
broken; their wives and husbands are living under tremendous
pressure; their children are growing up without the love of a
father or a mother. We cannot forfeit our duty by letting these
prisoners of conscience serve out their full terms. We cannot sit
with folded arms watching innocent people thrown into prison simply
because they believe in democracy or in Jesus Christ. The United
States, as the flagship of the free world, is in a unique position
to take action. 

Only recently, lobbyists sent by special interest groups have
descended on Washington D.C. to whitewash China's human rights
record. Armed with money and power, they are determined to prevent
any economic sanctions against the Chinese government. In
comparison, the only thing my fellow students and I can resort to
is conscience, the conscience of your administration and the
conscience of the U.S. Congress. There's got to be some justice in
this world! If even the United States could not stand firm for
human rights, what a painful disillusion there would be for the
souls of those who, inspired by the American dream of democracy and
freedom, have courageously laid down their young lives under the
tanks! 

Mr. President, please stand firm!

Sincerely,

Xiao Geng (Signed)
President of IFCSS 

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