CHINA CRISIS NEWS BULLETIN
#38 - 4/20/2000
Monitoring News of the Persecution
of Falun Gong
FALUN GONG TO CHINA: YOUR ACCUSATIONS ARE
"GROUNDLESS"
BEIJING, Apr 20, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) The outlawed Falungong spiritual group Thursday repudiated a campaign against it by the Chinese government and called for "peaceful dialogue" to overcome differences. "China's denunciation of Falungong as a 'pawn' of the United States is entirely unfounded," a statement by Zhang Erping, spokesman for the group's exiled members said. "Instead of engaging us in dialogue to peacefully resolve our differences, the People's Republic of China continues to resort to name-calling, groundless accusations and flawed arguments," Zhang said in the statement e-mailed to AFP. Zhang also said the failure Tuesday of the UN Human Rights Commission to censure China's human rights record and widespread violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was "disappointing."á
CHINA DEFEATS CENSURE MOTION IN GENEVA: Human Rights Groups Protest
WHAT HAPPENED? Washington Post: April 18 -- China today defeated a U.S. effort to censure it for human rights abuses, thwarting months of high-level lobbying of foreign governments by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and other senior U.S. officials. Meeting in Geneva, the 53-member U.N. Human Rights Commission voted 22 to 18 in favor of a procedural motion, introduced by China, that blocked consideration of the U.S.-sponsored resolution criticizing Beijing. This is the 10th straight year that China has sidestepped attempts to spotlight its human rights practices." HOW DID THE COUNTRIES VOTE? (Agence France Press) Twenty-two members of the 53-member panel voted for the no-action motion, 18 opposed, 12 abstained, and one delegate was absent. Among those who voted in favor of the Chinese motion was Russia, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Morocco and Venezuela. Those who abstained included Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador... Xinhua took pains to point out it was the ninth time since 1990 the commission has rejected similar draft resolutions, and the fact the U.S. resolution did not have a co-sponsor.á
WHAT ABOUT EUROPE? (New York Times) "...leaders of those European Union countries in favor of co-sponsoring the resolution... did not go out of their way to lobby other countries for sponsorship. The European Union's commitments on these human rights issues are concerned with how their relationship plays with Beijing," the official said. In its efforts to get co-sponsorship, the United States encountered a recently developed tactic of the Beijing government in which China offers countries "dialogue not confrontation." Under this rubric, China holds closed-door meetings with governments who say they are concerned about Beijing's rights record. Australia and Canada are among those that conduct such a dialogue with China.á
WHY DID THE MOTION FAIL? (New York Times) "In assessing the defeat for the administration, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth, applauded the State Department's efforts but said they were not adequately backed by the White House. "This never became a White House issue," Mr. Roth said. In response, an administration official said the national security adviser Samuel R. Berger, had brought the issue up with counterparts in other countries. In reviewing the vote, Mr. Roth said it was clear that among countries that abstained there were at least seven that could have been persuaded, with a White House campaign, to vote in favor of the United States. Four votes needed to be changed from abstentions into votes against the Chinese motion for a substantive discussion of the United State resolution to move ahead. A tie would have allowed discussions at the commission to proceed."á
THREE MORE DEATHS IN CUSTODY REPORTED
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three members of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group died in Chinese police custody in March and April, bringing the total of such deaths to 15 since last year, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Thursday....á
One of the dead practitioners, Zhang Zhengang, a 36-year-old banker from Jiangsu province, was beaten unconscious and forcibly taken from the hospital to a crematorium on March 30, it said.á
"It is possible that Zhang Zhengang was still alive when he was cremated," the center said in a statement.á
IN THE MEDIA: The Wall Street Journal front page investigates the murder in custody of practitioner Chen Zixiu-but, unfortunately, runs it days AFTER the UN human rights vote. (WSJ April 20) "After again refusing to give up Falun Gong, she was beaten and jolted with the stun stick, according to two prisoners who heard the incident and one who caught glimpses of it through a door. Her cellmates heard her curse the officials, saying the central government would punish them once they were exposed. But in an answer that Falun Gong adherents say they heard repeatedly in different parts of the country, the Weifang officials told Ms. Chen that they had been told by the central government that "no measures are too excessive to wipe out Falun Gong"... April 19 (AFP) - China has banned members of the Falungong spiritual movement from sitting for university entrance exams, as it shifts its crackdown to the sect's younger practitioners. An Education Ministry spokesman told AFP that under the new guidelines each school would decide if any of their students would not be eligible to sit the nationwide exams because of their connection with the banned group.... April 19 (AFP) Falungong continues to demonstrate on Tiananmen,: "A Chinese official said Wednesday the ongoing crackdown on the outlawed Falungong spiritual sect will be a long-term and complicated 'struggle,'" and said every day Falungong followers were protesting on Tiananmen Square... As of March 25, 91 Falungong-related cases involving 99 people had been heard by Chinese courts resulting in prison sentences for 84 of the defendants, the official said.á
UPCOMING EVENT IN NEW YORK CITY: Sunday, April 23, 2000 12:15 PM to 1:45 PM: Lincoln Center (62nd at Amsterdam), Damrosch Park, New York City: Several hundred Falun Dafa practitioners will be demonstrating and teaching the slow, graceful exercises that are part of this ancient and advanced form of Chinese qigong practice. Interviews with practitioners recently returned from detention in China will be available, as well as photo opportunities. Media representatives welcome.á
FOR MORE INFORMATION, or to request an interview, please contact Rachlin Management & Media Group: 1-212-501-8080. Also visit visit http://www.falundafa.org and http://minghui.ca