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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