World Tibet Network News Tuesday, February 03, 1998

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Three American religious leaders, appointed by President Clinton to observe and discuss the climate for religious freedom in China, had a closed-door meeting at the White House with the president and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation; Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of the Roman Catholic diocese of Newark, N.J.; and Dr. Don Argue, president of the National Association of Evangelicals will head a delegation leaving for China on Feb. 8 for a three-week visit.

The group will be in China from Feb. 9 through March 3, and will visit Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, and Hong Kong. The group will also visit Lhasa, Tibet.

At a White House press briefing this afternoon, Dr. Argue said the three leaders agreed they would not talk, prior to the trip, about the concerns they plan to address with Chinese leaders. But he says the delegation will hold a full-scale news conference after returning from China.

Rabbi Schneier said, "We look to this mission as not a one-time event; it's the beginning of a process."

Archbishop McCarrick said, "We're looking forward to our trip being helpful: helpful to the United States, helpful to China, helpful to the cause of religion everywhere. So, we ask you to pray for that, too."

The Chinese government agreed to host the religious delegation as a result of the U.S.-China Summit in Washington in October.