Published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday, October 10, 1996

For immediate release

Condemn the act of arresting chinese for expressing dissenting views of Tibetan self-determination

DHARAMSALA, 10 October- "We are extremely sorry to hear that Lui Xiaobo, the Chinese who dared suggest recently in an open letter that the Tibetans should be granted the right to self determination, has been jailed by the authorities," said Kalon Tashi Wangdi, the minister for the Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamsala, north India.

"The views expressed by Lui Xiaobo are shared by many enlightened Chinese thinkers both in and outside China. We deeply admire the courage and honesty of Lui Xiaobo in speaking up for the cause of the Tibetan people," Kalon Tashi Wangdi.

We appeal to the international community to urge the Chinese government to release Mr. Lui Xiaobo immediately."

"Such a knee-jerk reaction by the Chinese authorities of anyone who has a dissenting view is an indication of their nervousness as they jostle for position in the succession in a post-Deng China," Kalon Tashi Wangdi said.

"But such stifling of independent thought will never succeed in snuffing out the yearning for freedom and democracy in China and in Tibet, Kalon Tashi Wangdi said.

On 8 October Chinese dissident Lui Xiaobo was detained by the police in Beijing, one week after he and fellow dissident Wang Xizhe dared on 30 September to petition the government to grant the Tibetans the right of self-determination and to open channels of negotiations with His Holiness the Dalal Lama.

In the petition addressed to the Communist Party's Central Committee, Lui and Wang accused the communists of going back on pledges made before they came to power in 1949 that China's so- called ethnic minorities should have the right to self determination and even "the right to set up ail independent country."

Lui and Wang, both of whom served time in jail for their political activism, confirmed their petition's authenticity to the Associated Press based in Hong Kong.

"The Chinese government has made mistakes in Tibet, especially since the Cultural Revolution." said Wang.

"This way of doing things and the style of work has continued to the present day. It is wrong and is a major reason why the Communist Party has ultimately lost popular support," said the petition, released by the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China.

While they did not want to see China Divided, Wang and Lui said the Chinese majority should not "deny the right to self- determination of each ethnic minority."