Published by: World Tibet Network News, 96/03/05 23:00 GMT

Contact: John Hocevar New York, NY (212) 481-3569

Jon Voss Chicago, IL (312) 221-9754

American Students Not Waiting for Clinton to Act on China

NEW YORK- Students for a Free Tibet, a nationwide organization with more than 80 campus chapters, will launch a divestment campaign targeting the US-China Business Council and its member corporations on March 9, 1996.

The campaign will be announced as a part of the Tibet Conference of the Americas in Washington DC, a national gathering of Tibetan organizations. Says Lodi Gyari, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, "The conference comes at a time when U.S. - China relations are again declining, partially as a result of the loss of credibility the U.S. sustained by de-linking human rights and trade. This country's China policy continues to be driven by business and trade concerns, making our voices about the desperate situation in Tibet even more important."

Students for a Free Tibet chapters and affiliates across the country will demand that universities divest from corporations which are conducting business with China without addressing and acting against the horrific human rights abuses in Tibet and China. The primary focus of the action will be the member corporations of the US/China Business Council, an organization that uses its considerable lobbying power to derail any measures that might upset business relations between the US and China. The Council is the main force behind the annual approval of Most-Favored Nation status to the People's Republic of China, and was instrumental in Clinton's May 1994 decision to de-link human rights and trade.

John Hocevar, director of Students for a Free Tibet, says that they support the Dalai Lama of Tibet's view that isolating China is counter-productive. "We are not opposed to continued diplomatic and economic relations with China. However, this is clearly not the same as condoning Western exploitation of Chinese and Tibetan workers, or the efforts of Western corporations to undermine forces of change in China and Tibet."

Students for a Free Tibet is calling on the US-China Business Council to adopt a statement of corporate responsibility in China and Tibet. They are demanding that member corporations also adopt a statement of corporate responsibility, as well as renounce their membership to the Council.