MONTREAL, October 12,1995, (Montreal Mirror) -- You can credit Chinese Premier Li Peng for having brought together a number of community groups this week. The much despised Chinese statesman will be in Montreal Friday when Prime Minister Jean Chretien extends the welcome mat to his comrade. Chretien will be joined by Canada's premiers minus Quebec's Jacques Parizeau. But don't expect Chinese-, Mongolians-, Vietnamese-, Tibetan- and Nepalese-Montrealers to share in Chretien's enthusiasm.

Thubten (Sam) Samdup, president and founder of the Canada-Tibet Committee, says his organization has joined with human rights activists and cultural community groups to denounce loud and clear the state-run dinner in Montreal. They will be at the Sheraton Hotel on Rene Levesque at 6:00 pm when Peng arrives for his soiree.

For many people, Peng best represents China's imperialist fancies in Southeast Asia. In 1950, China invaded and annexed Tibet. According to Samdup, Peng personally imposed martial law on Tibet in 1988. Amnesty International has persistently condemned China for its human-rights abuses against Tibetan monks and pro-independence activists.

But it's not just over Peng that Samdup and the others will be making noise. "This man in being wined and dined by our government with our money," Samdup added. We're very upset. Can you imagine the Canadian government inviting Saddam Hussein to a dinner? Many Chinese and Tibetans see this man [Peng] as same."

Local Chinese-Canadian activists say Peng all but pulled the trigger on hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Zhao Wang, for the Alliance for a Democratic China, said Peng represents all that is conservative, old and regressive in China. "When you see his face, it's a thousand years old," said Wang. He added that the alliance with Tibetan-Canadians represents a solid opposition to the poor state of minorities in China.

Last week, Parizeau said he wouldn't be meeting with Li Peng during the all premiers' banquet. Instead, Parizeau wants a private meeting. Samdup said there was talk in the coalition of allowing a Pequiste to speak at the demonstration. But that would only give the phony impression that the Parti Quebecois is more vocal on the issue of Chinese human-rights abuses and turn the issue into a referendum platform, says Samdup.