Published by: World Tibet Network News Friday, October 17, 1997

By Patricia Wilson

WASHINGTON, Thursday October 16, 1997 (Reuters) - Human rights groups and labor unions, environmentalists and anti-nuclear protesters, exiled Tibetans and religious leaders all promised Thursday to punctuate Chinese President Jiang Zemin's U.S. trip with protests.

With the state visit 10 days away, plans for coast-to-coast demonstrations against Beijing's policies began to coalesce among an array of groups with vastly different agendas.

"The coalition is much broader than usual, reflecting a grass-roots disaffection with China," said John Ackerly of the International Campaign for Tibet. "I can guarantee it will be energetic."

Jiang can expect to see evidence of that at every stop on his six-day tour which starts in Hawaii Oct. 26, reaches its climax with formal welcoming ceremonies, a 21-gun salute and black-tie state dinner at the White House, and winds up with an expected trip to the most visible symbol of American freedom as well as a speech at renowned Harvard University.

China's policies on a whole raft of issues, including human rights, Tibet, Taiwan, trade, religious freedom, arms sales, nuclear proliferation and family planning have stirred strong emotions in Congress and among various segments of the American population.

Many find Jiang's proposed visit to Philadelphia's Liberty Bell, rung in 1776 to proclaim the separation of the colonies from Britain, and to Independence Hall, where the U.S. Declaration of Independence was adopted, particularly galling.

He may also tour Williamsburg, Va., the restored colonial capital.

"It's as if he's taking a victory lap of the United States after Tiananmen Square -- it's almost like the Founding Fathers' tour," complained Abigail Abrash of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people were killed when Chinese troops cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989.

"The Chinese have kept substance to a minimum and maximized the symbolism," she said, adding that the Oct. 29 summit between Jiang and President Clinton simply amounted to one more "big photo opportunity."

Abrash and others are co-ordinating a major rally in Lafayette Park opposite the White House which will include protesters and speakers from a diverse political spectrum.

Joining environmentalists, anti-nuclear activists, human rights proponents and unionists will be religious leaders, the conservative Family Research Council and even members of Clinton's own Democratic Party who had demanded major progress in China before Jiang was granted a state visit.

"The administration is preparing to give the president of China a red carpet welcome when hundreds, perhaps thousands, of political and religious dissidents are rotting in prison and Chinese authorities are carrying out massive human rights abuses in Tibet," complained Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat.

"Giving Jiang a 21-gun salute at the White House sends a terrible message," he said.

Among those listed to address the rally are actor Richard Gere, a longtime crusader for Tibet, and Tong Yi, now a graduate student at New York's Columbia University and a former assistant to China's leading dissident Wei Jingsheng.

Organized labor, backed by most of the same groups taking part in the Washington rally, is co-ordinating protests in every city Jiang visits. A large community of Taiwanese students and Tibet supporters plans to demonstrate at Harvard.

Human Rights Watch/Asia will issue a scathing report to coincide with the Jiang visit, alleging in detail how the situation in China has worsened over the past year.

"We don't believe that President Jiang Zemin should be welcomed into the Oval Office until and unless China takes significant steps to improve human rights," Washington director Mike Jendrzejczyk said.

While Clinton entertains Jiang, who is making the first state visit between the two countries since February 1989, and more than 100 formally attired guests at a glittering White House state dinner, less than two blocks away the International Campaign for Tibet will hold its own version.

"We're calling it the stateless dinner," Ackerly said.