Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday, October 16 1996

By Steven Mufson

Washington Post Foreign Service

Wednesday, October 9 1996; Page A32

The Washington Post

BEIJING, Oct. 8 -- Chinese police today detained dissident Liu Xiaobo, a key figure from the 1989 democracy movement, and authorities appeared ready to arraign Wang Dan, a former student leader who has been in custody without charge for nearly 18 months. The moves come amid signs of rising activity on Chinese campuses, mostly reflecting nationalist sentiment aroused by a dispute with Japan over the sovereignty of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Moreover, they come at a time when Communist Party chief and President Jiang Zemin is trying to consolidate his position at a plenary session of the party here this week. More than a half-dozen plainclothesmen and uniformed police armed with a search warrant rifled Liu's apartment this morning, a relative told the Reuter news agency, and took away books, photographs, documents and articles Liu had written.

[On Wednesday, police notified Liu's wife that he was given an administrative sentence of three years in a labor camp, the Reuter news agency reported.]

Earlier, Reuter reported that Wang, 26, would be charged with counterrevolutionary incitement -- or subversion -- for which the jail term is up to seven years. A former student at Beijing University, Wang served four years in jail for counterrevolutionary activities as a leader of the 1989 demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.

Wang and Liu appeared in the documentary movie "Gate of Heavenly Peace," released last year, in which they assessed the strengths and failures of those demonstrations, which shook the government before being crushed by troops. Until now, Liu, a literary critic, has been one of the few prominent dissidents not in custody. On Sept. 30, he and veteran activist Wang Xizhe (no relation to Wang Dan) issued a statement urging China's Communist regime to honor a promise in 1945 to assure freedoms of religion, press and speech and the ability to form political parties and stage demonstrations.

The two demanded that Jiang be indicted and impeached for violating the constitution by saying the People's Liberation Army was under the "absolute leadership" of the party instead of the state.

They also called for talks between Chinese authorities and Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, saying that China had failed to live up to its promise to give Tibet autonomy.

In a complaint about China's failure to take a tougher position toward Japan over the disputed islands, the two made reference to China's missile firings off Taiwan prior to that island's March elections.

"Force can be used against Taiwan, force can be used against students, but force cannot be used against Japan. What is the reason?" Wang and Liu asked.

CAPTION: Liu Xiaobo, detained dissident, made a point in March 1995 interview.