Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, November 29, 1997

November 28, 1997

Toronto Sun

There he was in all his glory -- the boss of the world's largest police state -- being given the famous White hat treatment by Calgary's smiling Mayor Al Duerr.

To put it mildly, Chinese President Jiang Zemin didn't look like the image of a real western bronc buster.

But he must have felt that the White Hatting had given him a big leg up in his wide-open propaganda campaign.

That's the one to make the world believe that he and his fellow-Communist party leadership gang are just another bunch of democracy-style politicians -- nice guys trying to build a nice economy.

And if a guy like Duerr --supposedly urged on by the pro-China Chretien federal government -- is willing to be a sucker in the game, then why not grab the White hat.

After all, it would look good not just in the world's media, but it would tell the 1.2-billion people of Red China that they had better keep their mouths shut when it comes to demanding freedom and democracy.

And that goes double for the people of Tibet, whose country was invaded by the Chinese and is still being subjected to a form of genocide that is resulting in the replacement of the Tibetans by the Chinese invaders.

And why shouldn't Jiang believe that?

After all, the free world-especially Canadians -- act as if we have a great love and admiration for China's Boss of Bosses.

So, the Chinese should shut up and get back to working for peanuts -- or worse, as free prison labor -- in turning out those extra-cheap products, especially clothing, that we in the West buy so eagerly. And to hell with the fact that such products not only help keep Jiang and his gang in power, but they undermine our own manufacturers who can't compete with China's dirt-cheap labor costs.

Jiang must have had a real laugh at the way Mayor Duerr, Premier Ralph Klein and Andre Desmarais(who just happens to be the multi-millionaire son-in-law of Prime Minister Chretien) fell all over him.

The truth is Jiang is far more of a hardline communist boss than most believe.

After all, he was trained in the Soviet Union of the 1950s. He was made head of the Communist party in June of 1989 to replace Zhao Ziyang, who had opposed the use of military force to crush the pro-democracy demonstrations.

How can we in the West forget the use of tanks and submachine-gun- wielding soldiers to mow down the unarmed students in Tiananmen Square?

Previously, when he was the Beijing-appointed Mayor of Shanghai, Jiang closed a liberal newspaper.

He also used force to break up a pro-democracy demonstration at the same time as the students were being slaughtered in the Chinese capital.

If Canada's leaders are so anxious to find a real Chinese hero to honor, they should take a look at Wei Jingsheng, the 47-year-old father of China's pro-democracy movement. He had been in prison since 1979, except for a short period when he was freed for political propaganda.

Finally, suffering various illnesses, he was sent into exile to the U.S. recently as part of Jiang's campaign to counter charges about his harsh reatment of dissidents.

Wei said in New York: "I have waited decades for this chance to exercise my right to free speech, but the Chinese people have been waiting for centuries. Right now, there are several thousand political prisoners still suffering in Chinese Communist Party jails ... Our conscience as human beings will not allow us to forget them, not even for a single moment.

"I consider my release to be only a small victory for human rights and democracy."

Now, if Mayor Duerr, Premier Klein, Andre Desmarais and his father-in-law would like to show some real gumption, they would invite Wei to Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. They'd give him a state dinner and Duerr would give him the full White hat treatment.

But, don't hold your breath.

That would require a bit of courage -- and money-grubbing Canadian leaders don't want to anger Jiang and mess up those fat trade deals with the Beijing Butchers.