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MAY
18, 1999 4:41 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Senator
Paul Wellstone
Jim Farrell or Andrew McDonald (202) 224-8440
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| Wellstone
Urges Human Rights Improvements in China on 10th Anniversary of Tiananmen Massacre;
Resolution Remembers Tiananmen Square, Demands Concrete Reforms |
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WASHINGTON
- May 18 - On the eve of the 10th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre,
Senator Paul Wellstone, other Members of Congress and Chinese dissidents urged
an end to human rights abuses in China and called on Congress to make a clear
statement that the United States continues to stand with the forces of freedom
and democracy in China. The lawmakers announced that they will introduce a resolution
to remember Tiananmen Square, condemn human rights abuses in China and call on
the Chinese Government to make concrete human rights improvements.
"We stand today in solidarity with the brave people who marched in Tiananmen Square,
so that their memory lives on and the principles of freedom and democracy, for
which they died, endure," Wellstone said. "Unfortunately, in China, the shots
fired in the Tiananmen Square massacre still echo. Unfortunately the Chinese government
continues its crackdown on dissidents. Unfortunately, the Chinese government continues
to commit widespread human rights abuses. We need to keep up the pressure on the
Chinese to respect the commitments they have made to uphold internationally recognized
standards of human rights. I believe that Congress should make clear that at this
moment in history the U.S. stands with the courageous Chinese who are still struggling
to achieve the human rights and dignity they deserve. We are here today to send
a clear message that we stand with the forces of freedom and democracy in China
and that the memory of Tiananmen Square is with us still."
Last fall Chinese authorities undertook what has been called the toughest crackdown
on dissidents since the Tiananmen Square massacre. The State Department's Human
Rights report acknowledged that "China's human rights record has deteriorated
sharply over the past year." There has been a tightening of restrictions on free
expression, such as the adoption of strict new regulations on the formation of
non-governmental political and social organizations, and the imposition of tough
new regulations on film directors, computer software developers, artists and the
press if they "endanger social order.
The Tiananmen Square Anniversary resolution expresses sympathy to the families
of those killed at the democracy protests at Tiananmen Square and since and commends
Chinese citizens who are peacefully advocating for democracy and human rights.
The resolution condemns human rights abuses by the Chinese Government and calls
on that government to take several concrete steps toward improving human rights
in China such as releasing all prisoners of conscience, immediately ending all
harassment, detention, and imprisonment of Chinese citizens exercising their legitimate
rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of religion
and demonstrating its willingness to respect the rights of all Chinese citizens
by proceeding quickly to ratify and implement the International Covenant on Political
and Civil Rights which it signed on October 5, 1998.
Wellstone and Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) introduced a separate resolution
in the Senate in February calling for the U.S. to sponsor a resolution condemning
China's human rights record at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The
resolution passed 99-0 in the Senate and the Administration did proceed to introduce
a resolution in Geneva criticizing China's human rights practices. Consideration
of that resolution was blocked by the Chinese.
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