< FREEDOM FOR TIBET/DEMOCRACY IN CHINA-FAX ! - #69 >

Newsletter on the campaigns of the Radical Party for the freedom of Tibet and the democracy on China.

Issue #69, May 6, 1998

>> Editors office: Massimo Lensi, Via Cavour 68 - 50129 Firenze (Italy)

Tel.+39-55-230.22.66 - Fax +39-55-230.24.52

Mailto: tibet.fax@agora.it

Url - http://www.radicalparty.org

Telnet: Agora.stm.it

>> Distribution; Alberto Novi, Rue Wiertz 60 - 1047 Brussels (Belgium)

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Mailto:A.Novi@agora.stm.it

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"I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society.

Since periods of great change such as the present one come so rarely

in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our

time to help create a happier world". Tenzin GYATSO,the Fourteenth

Dalai Lama, 1992

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>> Published in english, spanish, french and italian.

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THE 1998 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE TO WEI JINGSHENG

At the time of Wei Jingsheng's visit to Italy, another piece of news flashed around the world : WANG Dan had been expelled from the People's Republic of China and had been hustled onto a plane for Detroit, USA. It was said that this was a present for Clinton. It is clear that the democracy campaign in China cannot exclusively be seen through these eyes of such sporadic homage to the American administration and that it is difficult, for the time being, to say that Western governments are adopting a different attitude, busy as they are with ratifying the very best (in their view) financial deals with Beijing.

Wei repeated this on several occasions. Not only at the time of his expulsion but also during the months when the Beijing authorities allowed him to live quite "normally" in between one "mock" court case and yet another.

In order to reinforce his struggle and that of all the friends of the Chinese dissident movement in exile, the 1996 Sacharov Prize-winner needs precise objectives, together with support from Western governments and the international community. One of the many possible routes in this respect includes the campaign in favour of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Wei, a campaign which has been active for some years now. This having been said, and with the expulsion of Wei, the conditions have now been created which will considerably enhance the visibility of the objectives of the democracy campaign in China, and thus in its wake, an enhancement of the abilities of organizations, whether Chinese or not, which consider this struggle to be of paramount importance.

More than any other Western government, the Italian government has snubbed Wei, refusing to meet him. It preferred to acquiesce to quite blatant diplomatic pressure by China - an attitude which says a lot about the importance given to questions of democracy and human rights in China ... and not only in China. As the author, Adriano Sofri, wrote in the daily "Il Foglio" in reaction to the Italian government's attitude, and addressing Wei directly : "I feel like crying. You too explained that it was wrong to think that everyone in China just wants to get richer : there is a real desire for democracy. I really believe this and would like to say so to the Italians".

Good Work to you all !

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WEI JINGSHENG IN ITALY :

"THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT IS VERY COURAGEOUS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WEST TO ADMIT THAT IT IS NOT PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA".

* The Italian Government

The proposal outlined in the heading summarizes, in a few short words, the outcome of Win Jingsheng's trip to Italy. Wei, who had been invited by the Radical Party, gave two press conferences in Rome, attended a public meeting and met with some of those actively involved on Italy's political scene. But, according to observers, including news agencies, the government coalition headed by Romano PRODI, strenuously endeavoured to avoid meeting the "cumbersome" guest by simply refusing to meet him, thereby managing to avoid any form of protest from the Chinese Embassy. This is a real departure from style if one adds to this the fact that it was only on the fifth and last day - and after national and international press agencies had stigmatized the government's attitude - that an invitation arrived from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with the Under-Secretary Patrizia TOIA, with this to be held at the same time as Wei's last and previously announced press conference; it ought to be pointed out that in addi

tion to meeting several European Foreign Secretaries during the previous months, Wei also met Lionel JOSPIN and Bill CLINTON.

* The meetings

The five days spent in Italy by the 1996 Sacharov Prize-winner, who arrived from Vienna, included a great many appointments and meetings. On April 18, he gave a press conference at the Radical Party's Head Office, and the following day, still in the RP's offices, a great many people attended a public meeting. Photos of the meeting are available on the RP's website (www:radicalparty.org). Wei spent the start of the week having public meetings with : Achille OCCHETTO, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies' Commission of Foreign Affairs, Gian Giacomo MIGONE from the Bureau of the Presidency of the Senate's Commission for Foreign Affairs, Antonio MARTINO, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Massimo D'ALEMA, a Forza Italia Deputy, who is also Secretary of the Left-of-Centre Democrats, recently returned from an official trip to Beijing, and Francesco RUTELLI, the Mayor or Rome.

* The visit

"Many Western leaders, when they meet the heads of the Chinese Communist Party, are only interested in signing contracts. And they always say that they talked about human rights. It is not in this way that the struggle for democracy in China will one day manage to move forward". It is with these words that Wei fights back on being released from prison. He continues to repeat this message at each and every meeting. He is clearly referring to the hypocrisy of the many years during which the Western governments adopted a policy of sticking their heads in the sand. Without waiting for an answer, he immediately gives Bill Clinton a piece of advice : "Do not think that democracy in China is the natural result of economic reforms. When you do business with the Communists, only pay when the goods have been delivered". He also calls for the immediate closure of the "laogai" and concentration camps, democratic reforms together with economic reforms, but also a refusal to allow the fragile Chinese economy to collapse.

This, in short, reflects the way of thinking of the candidate whose name has been put up four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and who has attempted to open a breach in the policy adopted by the Italian government and which is aligned with that defended by the European Commissioner, Sir Leon Brittain : that is to say, solely interested in highly advantageous economic dealings with Beijing.

* News agencies

The State or private TV news channels barely mentioned the visit. In contrast to this and with just a few exceptions, the written press published interviews with Wei and analysed his visit to Italy. Some significant headlines :

- "Wei criticizes the Italian government" (Il sole 24 ore, April 22)

- "The Chinese giant and the Italian dwarf" (Il Giornale, April 23)

- "The Chinese dissident castigates Italy and Europe" (Il Corriere della Sera, April 23)

- "Wei Jingsheng : Italy has snubbed me" (La Reppublica, April 23)

- "Silence and business deals" (Il Manifesto, April 23)

>> TIBET CHINA TELEX

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GENEVA/54 COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The Radical Party, in its capacity of Category 1 Non-Governmental Organization, intervened in the UN Commission on Human Rights regarding religious freedom in Tibet. In its intervention, it focused more especially on the detention of the 11th Panchem Lama and on the 6-year prison sentence handed down on Chadrel Rinpoche, a monk at the Tashilumpo Monastery. The Radical Party has, moreover, called on China to hand over documents to the "UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances" on the state of health of the young Panchem Lama.

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CHINA/EXPULSION OF WANG DAN

On April 19, Olivier DUPUIS, the Secretary of the Radical Party, made the following statement on WANG Dan's expulsion from China : "these expulsions, similar to those which took place during the old Soviet regime, have no special meaning in terms of assimilation and acceptance of democratic principles and a state of law by the Chinese Communist Party. They do, however, show that in relations with Beijing, the policy which consists of kow-towing to the demands of a dictatorial regime, which appears to be the policy currently being followed by the European Union and its Member States, is not the only possible one".

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EP/CHINA/HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

On March 11, the European Deputy, Gianfranco DELL'ALBA put the following oral question to the Council of General Affairs, which in its note of February 23 had decided, in view of the initial "encouraging results" achieved in the Chinea-EU dialogue on human rights, not to present a resolution on human rights violations in China during the UN Commission meeting in Geneva. The quite extraordinary response given by the Council includes the signing by Beijing of the convention on economic, social and cultural rights and the invitation addressed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China in these initial encouraging results. For those who are happy with very little, this is no doubt acceptable.

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RADIO VOICE OF TIBET/HOME PAGE

Radio VOT has now also installed a home page on the Internet. The address is : www.vot.org. It also has a real audio system to listen to Tibetan programmes.

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MAY 1/RP INITIATIVE

On May 1 in Turin, the radicals of the Piemont city handed out post cards calling for the release of the Panchem Lama. On this occasion, the RP's Giulio MANFREDI made a statement in which he invited Italian mayors to dedicate Labour Day to the right of more than one billion Chinese to personal freedoms, including the right to trade union representation.

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RADICAL RADIO/WEI JINGSHENG

"THE FAMOUS PERSONALITY"

Interviewed by Radical Radio, the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lamberto DINI, told of his dismay at not having been able to meet the "famous personality" visiting Italy. During the interview, Mr DINI, nevertheless, reaffirmed his commitment to backing the request for a meeting between the Dalai Lama and Kofi Annan, as called for by the 1,300 MPs who signed the RP's petition.

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EP/NAGALAND/PROPOSED RESOLUTION

A draft emergency resolution for the Nagaland has been submitted by the MEPs Olivier DUPUIS and Gianfranco DELL'ALBA, members of the ARE Group. In the document, the EP, the Indian government and the Naga's representatives congratulate themselves on having extended the cease-fire and decided to embark on negotiations. The Naga's representatives have been asked to abandon violence, with the Burmese government having been requested to halt all military action and to open up political dialogue with the Naga's representatives.

>> MEETING

- Friday, May 29, 9 p.m., Cinisello Balsamo (Italy : "Lombardie Libertaire is organizing a concern in conjunction with the Municipality of Cinisello Balsamo entitled "Non-violence and Human Rights". Interventions by : Piero Verni, Chairman of Italy-Tibet and Paolo Pietrosanti from the Radical Party.

- June 13-14, Washington D.C., USA, (JFK Stadium) : 3rd Free Tibet Concert.

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LAST MINUTE/WANG YOUCAI ARRESTED

On May 3, another Tianamen Square leader was arrested in Beijing. The aim of this was to prevent Wang from taking part in the festivities organized for the centenary of deBeida, the capital's secondary school. The Head of State, Jiang Zemin, attended the festivities.

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We would like to ask all those who wish to advise us of meetings, information, initiatives, events organized in favour of Tibet and China to use our e-mail address : tibet.fax(agro.stm.it or to write to the editor.

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SECOND PAGE

As usual, the "TIBET-CHINA Fax" offers a collection of official texts and documents approved by Parliaments and international organizations. In this edition, we are publishing the text of the Tibet Resolution, which was approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies' Commission on Foreign Affairs. The first to sign the resolution the Lega Nord Deputy, Calzavara. The approved text is based on the document which the Radial Party submitted about one year ago to the Italian Parliament. It ought to be pointed out that the Chairman of the Commission, Achille OCCHETTO, worked hard to speed up discussions and the vote, thus preventing other texts from being submitted.

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ITALY/THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES' COMMISSION OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

RESOLUTION ON TIBET (unanimously approved on April 15, 1998)

The III Commission, considering that :

- in occupied Tibet, severe repression which takes the form of genocide, not only in cultural matters but is also seen to be systematic and practised via a massive influx of people from the People's Republic of China, with a view to wiping out the Tibetan population through dissolution;

- tens of thousands of political prisoners are held in the People's Republic of China's infamous "laogai", in which the conditions of detention are truly inhuman;

- the Dalai Lama, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize-winner and spiritual and political head of the Tibetan people, has with non-violent and Gandhian firmness steadfastly continued to call for dialogue and negotiations with the government in Beijing, with these to be held under the auspices of the United Nations and its Secretary General in order to bring about real autonomy for Tibet;

- the United Nation's General Assembly has repeatedly confronted the tragedy in its resolution No. 1353 (XIV 1995), in which human rights violations in Tibet and the invasion and occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China are clearly denounced;

- the resolutions on the situation in Tibet have recently been approved by the German Bundestag, the Chamber of Deputies and the Luxembourg Parliament;

calls on the Government :

- to act in order to ensure that a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China is organized as rapidly as possible, with a view to reaching possible agreement and with this agreement also guaranteeing the return of people in exile;

- to assist in and provide support for possible preliminary meetings to allow a resumption of the dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government;

- to deploy all possible political and diplomatic efforts to promote initiatives within the international agencies, more especially the Council of Europe and the United Nations, in favour of human rights in the People's Republic of China and, more particularly, for the immediate release of political prisoners in Tibet, eastern Turkistan and in Inner Mongolia and the closure of the "laogai".

The initial signatories : Calvazara, Leccese, Oreste Rossi, Rodeghiero