WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1997

For Further Information:

Sidney Jones, (NY) 212-972-8400, ext. 290; Mickey Spiegel, ext. 291

Mike Jendrzejczyk, (DC) 202-371-6592, ext. 113

Mike Farrell, (LA) 818-789-5766

CLINTON URGED TO ACT ON CHINA AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

Fifty-nine leading members of the Hollywood entertainment industry wrote to President Clinton last week urging him to "exert strong leadership" on human rights by moving now to circulate and actively promote a resolution on China at the upcoming annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. (Text of letter and signers, attached).

The Commission meets from March 10-April 18, but Chinese officials are already actively lobbying against any attempt to put forward even a mildly-worded resolution criticizing China's human rights record. The Clinton Administration has yet to take any action to draft a resolution or begin lobbying other governments on the 53-member Commission. At her confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, incoming Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the Administration would wait to see whether China makes any progress on human rights in the weeks before the Commission meets before formally going ahead with a resolution.

"Unless the White House acts now, any effort to hold China accountable for its worsening human rights record will be doomed from the start," said Sidney Jones, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch/Asia. "Thus far, the Administration seems willing to settle for a token effort at Geneva, dragging its feet on the kind of high-level lobbying that's needed to make a serious, multilateral push."

At the 1996 meeting of the Commission, Beijing used trade and aid deals to pressure other governments into supporting a procedural motion (27 to 20 with 6 abstentions) that kept a resolution on China off the agenda, preventing a debate or a vote on the resolution itself. In 1995, on the other hand, a resolution on China was debated and nearly adopted, losing by only one vote. Despite a well-documented pattern of grave and systematic abuse of human rights record, the Chinese government has never been censured by the Commission, the highest U.N. body charged with overseeing implementation of international human rights norms.

On January 23, the Human Rights Working Group of the European Union (EU) is scheduled to meet in Brussels to discuss possible action on China in Geneva. But clear US leadership is needed to counter Chinese pressure on the EU to back off on a resolution in exchange for promises of future human rights improvements. Chinese foreign minister Qian Qichen visited France recently and lobbied against any Commission action. Beijing has also publicly warned the U.S. that its support for a resolution would undermine U.S.-Sino relations and contradict Clinton's "constructive engagement" policy. "If the US is really serious about improving its ties with China, it should respect China first (and) should not interfere in China's internal affairs," said the official China Daily on January 15, 1997.

"We believe that the U.S. should continue to speak out on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of association, a free press and other fundamental human rights in China and Tibet," said the Hollywood figures in their letter sent to President Clinton on January 14. They referred to Beijing's attempts to impose censorship on the film industry, including its opposition to a film on the Dalai Lama produced by Walt Disney Company, and noted, "While we are supportive of seeking good relations with China, respect for freedom of association must underpin ties between our two countries."

January 14, 1997

President William J. Clinton

The White House

Washington, DC

Dear President Clinton:

On December 10, we wrote to the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. to express our concern about the Chinese government's attempt to impose worldwide censorship on any artistic production that does not meet with its approval, including the feature film on the Dalai Lama being produced by the Walt Disney Company. This most recent episode is only the latest in a series of efforts by the Chinese authorities to censor the film industry and to shut down other avenues through which information and ideas are circulated. While we are supportive of seeking good relations with China, respect for freedom of expression must underpin ties between our two countries.

We believe that the U.S. should continue to speak out on behalf of freedom of expression, freedom of association, a free press and other fundamental human rights in China and Tibet. We urge you to exert strong leadership in this area by sponsoring a resolution on China at the annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva in March. This is the appropriate international forum to hold China accountable for its international human rights obligations. At this past year's Commission meeting, the Chinese government succeeded in preventing a resolution on China from even coming up for debate or vote, lobbying governments around the world for months in advance.

We hope that your Administration will take the lead, working with other governments, to begin now actively circulating and promoting a resolution on China at the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

Sincerely,

Steve Allen, Edward Asner, Rene Auberjonois, Alec Baldwin, Ed Begley, Jr. Alan Bergman, Andrew Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Steven Bochko, Martin Campbell, Jill Clayburgh, Andrew Davis, Jonathan Demme, Mr. and Mrs. Blake Edwards, Nora Ephron, Shelley Fabares, Mike Farrell, Sally Field, Harrison Ford, James Garner, Costa Gavras, Larry Gelbart, George Roy Hill, Ron Howard, Norman Jewison, Barry Kemp, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Sidney Lumet, Richard Masur, Albert Maysles, Paul Mazursky, Joan Micklin-Silver, Robert Mulligan, Edward James Olmos, Marcel Ophuls, Alan Pakula, Hannah Pakula, Gregory Peck, Arthur Penn, Frank Pierson, Sarah Pillsbury, Sidney Pollack, Gene Reynolds, David W. Rintels, Tim Robbins, Phil Alden Robinson, Herbert Ross, Susan Sarandon, Ed Saxon, John Sayles, Paul Schrader, George Stevens, Jr., Oliver Stone, Barbra Streisand, Lawrence Turman, Alfre Woodard, Edward Zwick