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------------------------ World Tibet Network News ---------------------- Published by: The Canada-Tibet Committee Editorial Board: Brian Given <bgiven@ccs.carleton.ca> Nima Dorjee <cv531@freenet.cwru.edu> Conrad Richter <conradr@utcc.utoronto.ca> Tseten Samdup <tibetlondon@gn.apc.org> Submissions and subscriptions to: wtn-editors@utcc.utoronto.ca or fax to: +44-71-722-0362 (U.K.) Send us your comments, announcements, news or items for discussion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue ID 94/05/19 GMT 11:15 Complied by Tseten Samdup --------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Spokesman expresses "appreciation" for US stance on Tibet 2) Gyaincain Norbu delivers work report at people's congress session 3) Gyaincain Norbu tells Xinhua: "Tibet has no way out without further reforms" 4) Tibet CPPCC opposes splittism, promotes patriotism --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Spokesman expresses "appreciation" for US stance on Tibet --------------------------------------------------------------------- Spokesman expresses "appreciation" for US stance on Tibet Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1032 gmt 17 May 94 BBC SWB 19 May 1994 Text of report A Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement today [17th May] expressing appreciation for the statement made by a US State Department spokesman that the United States does not recognize a Tibetan government in-exile. The Foreign Ministry spokesman also hoped that the US government will conscientiously keep its promise. On 16th May, a US State Department spokesman issued a statement reiterating: It has been the United States' long-standing policy that Tibet is part of China. Neither the United States, nor any other country, regards Tibet as a sovereign nation. The United States does not recognize a Tibetan government-in-exile. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "We appreciate this statement by the United States. We hope the US government will conscientiously keep its promise. " The spokesman said: Everyone knows that Tibet is an inalienable part of China. Tibetan affairs are entirely China's internal affairs which do not tolerate interference by any other foreign countries. The spokesman reiterated: The central government's policy towards the Dalai Lama and his followers has been consistent and specific, and it has never changed. There have been avenues for contacts between the central government and the Dalai Lama's representatives. The door of negotiations has always been open. The spokesman indicated: As long as the Dalai Lama recognizes Tibet as an inalienable part of China, completely renounces the proposition for "Tibet independence" and discontinues the activities of splitting the motherland, the central government is ready to negotiate with the Dalai Lama at any time. Any issue, except "Tibet independence" is negotiable. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Gyaincain Norbu delivers work report at people's congress session --------------------------------------------------------------------- Gyaincain Norbu delivers work report at people's congress session Summary: Tibet regional government chairman Gyaincain Norbu delivers work report at opening of regional people's congress in Lhasa, speaks on the economy, the political situation and national unity, describing general situation as "good"; 1993 GNP rose 8.1% to 3.65bn yuan, per-capita income of peasants and herders stood at 521 yuan; production of food "basically met" urban needs, progress cited in infrastructure, industry, trade and tourism, education and culture, he "carefully" announces that all policies have been implemented ",- from 1980 to 1993, 220m yuan was spent on regional policies, "of which lOOm was spent on temples and monasteries"; in a report issued the next day, he is cited giving details of plans to speed up construction of infrastructure with an increase in fixed-asset investment of 50m yuan, 1994 economic growth rate of 8% proposed, increasing income of herders and farmers "should be taken as the core of the work". (a) Zhongguo Xinwen She news agency, Beijing, in Chinese 1037gmt 15 May 94 BBC SWB 19 May 1994 Text of report (FE/I 999 G/10 1201) Lhasa, I5th May: At the second session of the sixth autonomous regional people's congress held here today, Gyaincain Norbu, chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government, said: "Tibet's economy is continuing to develop, its political situation has stabilized further and nationality unity continued to strengthen. New progress has been made in all social undertakings and the general situation is good. " The second session of the sixth autonomous regional people's congress solemnly opened this afternoon in the autonomous regional people's hall. Deputies from all areas and all fronts and of all nationalities in Tibet attended the session. All autonomous regional political consultative conference delegates who participated in the second session of the sixth meeting of the autonomous regional political conference on 13th May attended the session as nonvoting members. Gyaincain Norbu, who was reelected chairman of the autonomous regional government last year, gave a report on the work of the government on behalf of the regional government and accepted the comments of the participating deputies. Reviewing government work, Chairman Gyaincain Norbu said: Over the past year, governments at all levels have adhered to economic development as the central task, have closely rallied around the goal of establishing a socialist market structure, and have deepened reform, opened up wider and promoted the development of the productive forces. In 1993, the region achieved a GNP of 3.65bn yuan, an increase of 8.1 % over the previous year in terms of comparable prices. The economies of agricultural and pastoral areas have developed steadily. Last year, peasants and herders had a per-capita income of 521 yuan; and the production of vegetables, meats and butter basically met the daily needs of urban and rural residents. Industry, communications and production have experienced comparatively substantial growth. Infrastructure developments with an emphasis on energy, communications and telecommunications have proceeded smoothly; positive trends have been maintained for the development of foreign trade and tourism; new developments have been made in urban and rural market systems; and business and the markets have been brisk. New developments have been made in many social undertakings, including education, public health, sport, science, technology and culture; and the work on nationality religions has been strengthened further. In the government work report, Gyaincain Norbu carefully announced: All policies have been implemented. From 1980 to the end of 1993, a total of 220m yuan was spent on this implementation, and of that approximately 100m was spent on temples and monasteries. United front, nationality and religion policies have been thoroughly completed, thus consolidating and developing a stable and united political situation. (b) Zhongguo Xinwen She news agency, Beijing, in English 1427 gmt 16 May 94 Excerpt from report Lhasa, 16th May: Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government Mr Gyaincain Norbu, speaking in the 2nd session of the standing committee of 6th regional people's congress, said that Tibet would further strengthen infrastructural construction on energy, transport and communications this year in a bid to increase the strength for development of the national economy. The chairman added that the boosting of the infrastructural construction had to go further to arouse enthusiasm for investment of various kinds in order to step by step create diversification of investment and various channels for capital. Talking of construction on infrastructural facilities, Mr Gyaincain Norbu said that the budgetary fixed asset investment for the region this year rose by 50m renminbi over last year. The money would be used to ensure construction on key follow-up items and those which have already been construction has received] including a power plant, highways between China and Nepal, between Qinghai and Tibet and between Sichuan and Tibet, restoration to an airport and comprehensive development of water conservancy items. . . (c) Zhongguo Xinwen She news agency, Beijing, in English 1104 gmt 1 7 May 94 Text of report Lhasa, 17th May: Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Mr Gyaincain Norbu disclosed at the second session of the 6th autonomous region's people' congress that the region planned to have its Gross National Product reach 4.01bn renminbi this year and to maintain 8 % economic growth. With the deepening of reform and opening to the outside world there, the region's economy has showed fast development in recent years with the GNP of the region last year increasing by 8.1 % than that of the year before. To achieve the goal of continuous, rapid and healthy development set for this year's economic sector, Mr Gyaincain Norbu called for authorities at various levels of the region to put their emphases on the following economic works: The increase in income of farmers and herdsmen should be taken as the core of the work, and economic development in farming and pastoral areas should speed up. Investment in farming and animal husbandry would be increased with production funds offered by the regional government this year expected to increase by 13.7 % over last year's budget. The developing programmes such as "one river, two tributaries" have had funds of 120m renminbi in place. Township enterprises and diversified businesses there should be also greatly developed. Various kinds of enterprises should enhance their beneficial results to realize increase of production, marketing and profits at the same pace based on market. Natural resources there as well as animal husbandry products, forest products and mineral products should be fully exploited. Foreign trade and tourism in the region should also be further developed with exports expanded and border trade boosted. Market construction should be speeded up to cultivate unified and open market system. Primary commodity fairs in counties and towns and a financial market with bank funding as its core should be greatly developed. So should be with individually- and privately-owned economy. [sentence as received] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Gyaincain Norbu tells Xinhua: "Tibet has no way out without further reforms" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0857gmt 18 May 94 BBC SWB 19 May 1994 Text of report Lhasa, 18th May: The goal of the central government's substantial investment in the Tibet Autonomous Region over the past 40 years has been to lay a solid economic foundation and accumulate more strength for Tibet's future development, a senior Tibetan official said here today. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Gyaincain Norbu, chairman of the regional people's government, said the state financial input is aimed at developing land resources instead of merely providing financial assistance to an underdeveloped area. He admitted that Tibet is the most economically underdeveloped region in China. However, he said, the central government and people all across the country have shown special concern and support for Tibet. The central government has stipulated a series of preferential policies towards Tibet and earmarked an enormous amount of money to help Tibet step up its economic development. In return, people of various nationalities in Tibet have also made great contributions towards safeguarding and building up this remote southwestern part of the country. According to Gyaincain Norbu, who was elected chairman in 1990, the central government has invested some 20bn yuan (2.3bn US dollars) in Tibet over the past 40 years. This has helped the region achieve sustained economic growth, national unity and social progress. In 1993, Tibet produced 3.65bn yuan (400m US dollars) in GNP, an increase of 8.1 % over the previous year. The region registered fast development in agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, infrastructure construction and foreign trade. Gyaincain Norbu has stressed the importance of reform and social stability. "Tibet has no way out without further reforms or establishment of a socialist market economy," he said, adding that this is the key topic at the current session of the regional people's congress. He said Tibet's development depends on agriculture and animal husbandry, and the broad efforts of farmers and herdsmen. Only by developing these sectors and increasing the income of farmers and herdsmen, which make up 80% of Tibet's population, can reform, development and stability be guaranteed. The regional government will carry out the contract responsibility system, which enables farmers to make their own decisions in farm production and develop a diversified economy as well as township industries. Over the past few years, Tibet has invested over one billion yuan (110m US dollars) to carry out comprehensive agriculture development projects in the region's major valleys, such as the Yarlung Zangbo, Lhasa and Nianchu river valleys so as to build these areas into the region's bread baskets. The regional people's government has also planned a number of new construction projects, among which infrastructure will be the top priority. Hydroelectricity is the region's major power source and it has great potential for geothermal, solar and wind power development. Tibet is busy building such key construction projects as the Yamzhog Yumco power station and is renovating highways from Qinghai to Tibet and from Sichuan to Tibet, as well as the Bangda airport, he said. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Tibet CPPCC opposes splittism, promotes patriotism --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tibet CPPCC opposes splittism, promotes patriotism Central People's Broadcasting Station, Beijing, in Standard Chinese 1030 gmt 1 7 May 94 BBC SWB 19 May 1994 Text of report The Tibet autonomous regional committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference [CPPCC] has actively participated in and discussed governmental and political affairs, has strengthened democratic supervision and has become an important political force. In the past year, the Tibet CPPCC committee has regarded investigative and researching tasks as its regular work. It has offered advice and proposals to various localities. When launching education programmes to oppose splittism and enhance patriotism, the Tibet CPPCC committee has proceeded from Tibet's actual conditions, has forcefully publicized that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and has promulgated Tibet's accomplishments in implementing reform in the past 19 years. Therefore, it has been safeguarding the motherland's unity. At present, the Tibet CPPCC committee has become a decisive political force, thereby ensuring the thriving progress of various construction projects in Tibet. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ World Tibet Network News ---------------------- Published by: The Canada-Tibet Committee Editorial Board: Brian Given <bgiven@ccs.carleton.ca> Nima Dorjee <cv531@freenet.cwru.edu> Conrad Richter <conradr@utcc.utoronto.ca> Tseten Samdup <tibetlondon@gn.apc.org> Submissions and subscriptions to: wtn-editors@utcc.utoronto.ca or fax to: +44-71-722-0362 (U.K.) Send us your comments, announcements, news or items for discussion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue ID: 94/05/19 12:00 GMT Compiled by Conrad Richter Contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Dalai Lama in Moscow 2. Dalai Lama Meets Russian Lawmakers 3. Unannounced Congressional Staff Delegation Conducts Fact Finding Mission to Tibet 4. Unofficial Congressional Delegation Finds "Atmosphere of Fear" in Tibet 5. China Applauds U.S. Statement on Tibet 6. Rights Groups Cite Hidden Dissident Arrests in China 7. Vigil in Support of the Gari Fourteen 8. Tibetan Outreach Project at Lollapalooza Music Concerts 9. China Will Yield on a Trade Issue; End to Jamming Broadcasts Meets a U.S. Condition 10. Premier Li Comments on Clinton's Upcoming Decision on MFN 11. Letter: Information on Kusum Lingpa Rinpoche? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Dalai Lama in Moscow ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOSCOW, May 18, UPI -- The dalai lama arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on a visit that has already stirred controversy, with Russian government officials worried that the presence of the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader could mar fragile relations with neighboring China. The dalai lama's visit to Russia as the guest of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a group of lawmakers comes at a particularly sensitive time for Moscow. Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is due to travel to Beijing next week to bolster an economic and political relationship that has become increasingly vital for Russia. The dalai lama is tentatively scheduled to meet members of the Russian Parliament on Thursday, which the Russian government fears could antagonize Beijing. The Russian foreign ministry sought to prevent the meeting in a letter to Vladimir Lukin, the head of the international affairs committee of the State Duma, or lower house of Parliament. The letter, from Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Panov, asked lawmakers to refrain from meeting the dalai lama due to what it called "the complexity of relations with China." But some lawmakers were determined to meet the Tibetan leader and force the government to hand over archival documents showing Soviet complicity in the Chinese government's violent seizure of Tibet in the early 1950s. The dalai lama himself seemed unaware of the growing controversy around his visit, and offered a message of hope for Russians upon his arrival in Moscow. "I am deeply convinced that your great nation should not lose hope in itself and only thus you will finally get what you are striving for," the dalai lama was quoted saying by the official Itar-Tass news agency. The Tibetan said he remains optimistic about Tibet's future, though he said the Chinese government's position on the once-independent mountainous province had not changed since 1970. The dalai lama is scheduled to meet members of the Russian Parliament on Thursday, and on Friday he will hold a prayer meeting attended by Russian Orthodox Church leaders and representatives of other confessions before returning to India on Saturday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Dalai Lama Meets Russian Lawmakers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOSCOW, May 19, UPI -- Russian lawmakers Thursday ignored a warning from the Foreign Ministry against meeting the visiting dalai lama. The Russian government is worried that any official contacts with the Tibetan Buddhist leader could upset China before next week's planned visit to Beijing by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Members of the State Duma ignored a written request to the foreign affairs committee from First Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Panov cautiomning lawmakers to refrain from meeting the dalai lama. Parliament joined the Russian Academy of Sciences in inviting the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to Moscow. Following his talks with lawmakers, the dalai lama addressed the controversy surrounding his visit to the Duma, saying, "I believe that relations must always be good, particularly when it has to do with such powerful countries as Russia and China. In this case, the meetings of political leaders are important." There were no plans to have the dalai lama meet President Boris Yeltsin or members of his government. The exiled Buddhist leader said, "Russia could draw many pieces of advice on practical economy from China. At the same time, Russia could advise China on liberalization." The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner, who tirelessly campaigns for human rights for Tibetans under Chinese rule, called for world pressure on China to improve the situation in Tibet and ultimately to restore sovereignty to the territory that was forcibly made into a Chinese province where Buddhist practices and civil rights are restricted. The Dalai Lama stressed that he supported non-violent tactics in trying to change the situation in Tibet. Beijing has frowned on any official government meetings with the Tibetan spiritual leader. A Russian parliamentary delegation has just returned from China, and the Russian prime minister leaves next week for a three-day political and economic trip. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Unannounced Congressional Staff Delegation Conducts Fact Finding Mission to Tibet ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kelsang Aukatsang, International Campaign for Tibet <ict@igc.apc.org> WASHINGTON, May 16, ICT [Press release] -- For the first time ever, this April a congressional staff delegation traveled to Tibet unaccompanied by Chinese authorities. After an official request for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff delegation to Tibet was denied by the Chinese Government, a small staff delegation spent 10 days in Tibet and Nepal on tourist visas investigating current conditions for the Tibetan people. The delegation members were able to speak with Tibetans in private and visit monasteries and other sites which would have been impossible if authorities were aware of the delegation. Undercover policeman and hidden surveillance cameras made speaking with Tibetans very difficult in Lhasa. However, traveling to other areas the delegation was able to hear first-hand accounts of patterns of cultural destruction. In a report issued today, the delegation finds that "China's policies in Tibet pose a grave threat to the survival of the Tibetan religion and culture." The bipartisan delegation recommends that the U.S. "should use all policy tools to call on the Chinese to immediately... enter into substantive negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, end government incentives for Chinese settlers to move to Tibet... and cease all discriminatory practices towards Tibetans." The delegation finds evidence of severe restrictions on the Tibetan's religious and cultural expression. It also cites concern about the large presence of Chinese civilians and "the pervasive military presence in the cities and along roads." The report also states that China's policies in Tibet are "turning Tibet into another province of China". The delegation consisted of staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), Congressman John Edward Porter (R-IL) and Congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld (D-WA), and was accompanied by a Tibetan-speaking staff member of the International Campaign for Tibet. In Nepal the delegation interviewed refugees who had recently fled Tibet, including an eleven year old boy whose parents had sent him into exile where they hoped he could receive a full Tibetan education, which is not possible in Tibet. In Tibet the delegation visited monasteries, schools, markets and Tibetan and Chinese neighborhoods of cities and villages. This report is released two weeks before President Clinton must decide whether China has complied with his May 1993 Executive Order conditioning future renewal of their Most Favored Nation trading status on an improvement in human rights, including a provision calling on China to protect "Tibet's distinctive religious and cultural heritage." [Contact: Rachel Lostumbo, +1-202-628-4123] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Unofficial Congressional Delegation Finds "Atmosphere of Fear" in Tibet ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- By JOHN LEICESTER BEIJING, May 17, AP -- U.S. congressional staff who secretly toured Tibet found Tibetans living in "an atmosphere of fear," persecuted by their Chinese rulers. Posing as tourists, the four-member delegation visited Nepal and Tibet for 10 days in April. They talked with Tibetans fleeing Chinese persecution and saw evidence of Tibetan culture being destroyed, they said in a report faxed Tuesday to news organizations in Beijing. President Clinton must decide by early June whether China deserves renewal of low-tariff trade rights known as most-favored-nation status. Billions of dollars of trade are at stake. Clinton's decision will depend on how much progress China has made over human rights, including protecting "Tibet's distinctive religious and cultural heritage." The congressional staff report said Chinese policies, including encouraging ethnic Chinese to move to Tibet, threatened the remote Himalayan region's culture and religion. "The pervasive presence of Chinese military personnel and Chinese civilians, as well as the ongoing human rights violations against the Tibetan people have created an atmosphere of fear in Tibet," said the report, published Monday in Washington. The delegation was made up of staff from Rep. John Edward Porter, R-Ill., Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, D-Wash. The report called on Clinton to push the Chinese government into negotiating with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader who fled to India in 1959, nine years after Communist Chinese troops invaded and occupied Tibet. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that China was ready to talk with the Dalai Lama about anything except his demands for Tibetan independence. "The door for negotiations remains wide open," the spokesman said, adding talks could take place "at any time, which will cover any subject except the `independence of Tibet.'" The spokesman also welcomed a U.S. government statement Monday that reaffirmed Tibet as a part of China and that Washington didn't recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile headed by the Dalai Lama. "While expressing our appreciation, we hope that the U.S. government will honor its commitment in real earnest," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. Monday's U.S. statement was made after China reacted angrily earlier this month to new U.S. legislation that called for closer cultural relations with the people of Tibet. The legislation, passed by Congress in late April, also made provision for a U.S. information office to be established in Tibet and urged the State Department to list Tibet as a separate state. In the Tibetan capital Lhasa, the congressional staff delegation was told that days before their arrival police arrested several monks who staged a demonstration. Other Tibetans were also rounded up the following night, their report said. Human rights groups list hundreds of Tibetans who are imprisoned for demonstrating against Chinese rule in Tibet. China says it has had sovereignty over Tibet since the 13th century, but Tibetans say they enjoyed de facto independence for much of that time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. China Applauds U.S. Statement on Tibet ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEIJING, May 17, UPI -- China on Tuesday applauded the U.S. State Department's abrupt policy change on the contentious Tibet issue and reiterated its willingness to hold negotiations with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Attempting to place blame for lack of movement on the Tibet issue squarely on the Tibetan god-king's shoulders, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing is open to talks at any time. "As long as the Dalai Lama admits Tibet as an inalienable part of China, entirely gives up his stand for the independence of Tibet and stops his activities aimed at splitting the motherland, the central government is ready to hold negotiations with him at any time," the spokesman said via the official Xinhua news agency. Washington and Beijing are in the midst of a battle of wills over Tibet. U.S. President Bill Clinton wants Beijing to open negotiations with the Dalai Lama to allow him to return to Tibet as a religious leader, thus satisfying one of his criteria for extension of most- favored-nation status next month. Beijing would like to satisfy Washington's request and ensure the smooth ypassage of its lucrative MFN status, without which Beijing would lose a major export market. But it fears unrest if the spiritual leader is allowed back among his followers. The Foreign Ministry spokesman praised the U.S. government for backing down from a nasty and impractical political battle it had nothing to gain from. But he withheld complete support for the reconsidered U.S. position on the disputed territory, saying Beijing would wait until Washington takes concrete steps to back up its words. "While expressing our appreciation, we hope that the U.S. government will honor its commitment in real earnest," he said. U.S. State Department spokesman Mike McCurry on Monday reaffirmed Washington's commitment to official recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, saying the United States does not recognize the Dalai Lama- led government-in-exile and affirming that Tibet is a part of China. "As both a practical and legal matter, it would not be possible for the U.S. to establish offices or conduct programs (in Tibet) without the permission of the Chinese government," McCurry said. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act earmarked funds for a U.S. Information Service office in the Tibetan capial of Lhasa and a Tibetan language Radio Free Asia. Despite Chinese warnings, Clinton signed the bill into law late last month. The sweeping bill also tried to negate Washington's recognition of Chinese sovereignty in Tibet while claiming to supersede the 1982 Shanghai Communique, which bans the sale of sophisticated weaponry to Beijing's rival, Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday reaffirmed China's unequivocal stand on Tibetan soverignty. People's Liberation Army troops marched into Tibet in 1951 to enforce Beijing's claims, which it says go as far back as the 14th century. "As is known to all, Tibet is an inalienable part of China, and the Tibetan affair is entirely an internal affair of China, which brooks no interference by any foreign country," the spokesman said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Rights Groups Cite Hidden Dissident Arrests in China ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Lena H. Sun BEIJING, May 18, Washington Post -- Chinese authorities made about 500 previously unknown arrests in the wake of the army's crackdown on democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square five years ago, and more than 200 of those arrested are still in prison, human rights groups reported today. The information, which comes from dissidents and their families, "serves again to demonstrate that known cases of political and religious imprisonment in China represent only the tip of the iceberg," according to the joint report by Human Rights Watch/Asia and Human Rights in China, both based in New York. Unlike the student leaders and prominent intellectuals whose cases have been the focus of international attention, the prisoners described in the report include peasants, factory workers and party bureaucrats who have received harsher sentences - many in excess of 10 years - than have intellectuals and students. Only 29 of the cases were previously known to human rights organizations. The information is only about arrests in Beijing, the report said, and China may be holding thousands of other such prisoners nationwide. Chinese authorities have reported that the country has more than 3,000 prisoners serving sentences for "counterrevolutionary" crimes, the label usually applied to political prisoners. By next week, President Clinton is expected to announce his decision on renewal of China's most-favored-nation trading status, which allows it to trade with the United States at standard tariffs rather than at higher, punitive tariffs Washington sometimes imposes on countries on grounds of governmental wrongdoing. Clinton has said he will not renew most-favored-nation status for China unless its government has made "significant, overall progress" in several human rights areas, including treatment of political prisoners. But the administration is under increasing pressure from the U.S. business community and some members of Congress to renew the trading status without conditions. Despite some recent releases of political and religious prisoners, human rights groups say China's overall human rights situation has deteriorated significantly in the past year. According to one published report, the government is preparing to charge China's most prominent political dissident, Wei Jingsheng, with treason. The Foreign Ministry today called the report "sheer fabrication." The government has been investigating Wei for unspecified "new crimes" since April 1, when he was arrested. According to an internal government directive, Wei is in trouble for meeting with the State Department's top human rights official in February and urging him to tell Clinton to press China on human rights. Authorities have also sought to portray Wei as a man of loose morals. They tried unsuccessfully to have the estranged husband of his secretary, Tong Yi, press charges of adultery against him, Chinese dissidents said. Tong is also in police custody. Wei was paroled in September after 14 1/2 years in prison for his pro-democracy activities. He violated police orders to stop his writings and meetings with foreign journalists. In its report today, the two rights groups said China is still using political prisoners and common criminals to prepare latex gloves for shipment to the United States and elsewhere. Clinton has said China must stop its exports of prison-labor goods to the United States if the trading status is to be renewed. At Beijing's No. 2 Prison, a 50-year-old man serving a 16-year sentence for "counterrevolutionary arson" inserted a note into a package of latex gloves for export last September. He was discovered by another prisoner, placed in a solitary confinement and beaten repeatedly by guards using electric batons, the report said. The prisoners detailed in the report are being held in that prison and at Qinghe Farm, a labor-reform camp in the nearby port of Tianjin. In January, Beijing No. 2 Prison was supposed to be a showcase for an inspection by the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the visit never took place and now China is again negotiating with the Red Cross on access to prisons. The talks are aimed at showing the Clinton administration that China is making progress on the humanitarian treatment of its prisoners, another one of the human rights conditions linked to most-favored-nation renewal. To prepare for the abortive January visit, prison authorities had ordered prisoners to buy new bedsheets, moved sick prisoners and those with "unattractive appearances" out of areas the Red Cross was to visit and installed glass panes in the windows. Window frames are normally covered with paper in winter. The glass was installed so hastily there was no time to put in putty, so the panes were held in by small clips, the report said. As a condition of retaining its trade status, the Clinton administration has also called on the Chinese government to make progress in protecting the distinctive cultural and religious heritage of Tibet, an autonomous region of China. A three-member congressional staff delegation that secretly toured Tibet in April has reported that "China's policies in Tibet pose a grave threat to the survival of the Tibetan religion and culture." Members of the staffs of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and Reps. John Edward Porter (R-Ill), and Jolene Unsoeld (D-Wash.) posed as tourists and traveled to Lhasa, Tibet's capital, and in the Tibetan countryside on a trip funded by two Tibetan human rights groups. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Vigil in Support of the Gari Fourteen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forwarded by: Kelsang Aukatsang, International Campaign for Tibet <ict@igc.apc.org> From: Maura Moynihan, International Campaign for Tibet WASHINGTON, May 18, ICT -- The International Campaign for Tibet is organizing a vigil on May 24th at 12 noon in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. on behalf of fourteen Tibetan Buddhist nuns from the Gari nunnery, a small cloister near Lhasa, Tibet's capital. These women were arrested on June 14, 1993 for allegedly staging an independence rally, although there is no evidence that the rally ever took place. They are presently incarcerated in Drapchi Prison, where it is feared they are being denied medical care and legal recourse, and are subject to the severe tortures applied to Tibetan prisoners of conscience in China's totalitarian criminal justice system. We encourage all Tibet support groups around the country to host sister vigils at appropriate sites to call attention to China's repression of freedom speech and freedom of assembly in Tibet, the ongoing persecution of Tibet's Buddhist clergy and China's flagrant violations of the 1993 MFN conditions which required China to make Roverall significant progressS on human rights and preservation of Tibet's culture. You can demonstrate at Chinese Consul offices, congressional offices, or hold press conferences in hotels or other public spaces. It is our responsibility to keep human rights on the forefront of our negotiations with China and to make use of our right of assembly and freedom of speech on behalf of our colleagues in Tibet who are imprisoned in the world's largest police state. If you have any questions please contact me at 202-628-4123. Good luck!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Tibetan Outreach Project at Lollapalooza Music Concerts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: International Committee of Lawyers for Tibet <iclt@igc.apc.org> By Erin Potts, Milarepa Fund SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, ICLT [Press release] -- For the past few months, the Milarepa Fund, a newly formed non-profit foundation, and several members of the Tibet support community have been working to make arrangements for Tibet political booths to be a part of the 1994 Lollapalooza Concert Tour. Lollapalooza is a series of concert/festivals that travel throughout the United States and Canada each summer and serves as a spotlight on social and political issues against the backdrop of modern music. Talent on this year's tour includes A Tribe Called Quest, George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, the Breeders, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, L7, Boredoms, the Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins and many others. In total, 16 musical acts and 50 poets will perform at every show of the tour. Lollapalooza has become one of the main cultural and musical events of the year, attracting over a million concert-goers during its two month tour. This means the Tibetan issue will have access to over a million young people who come to the concerts not only for the music but for exposure to new ideas and issues. We will be traveling with the Lollapalooza Festival to coordinate with the local Tibetan support community. We need volunteers to help at each show as well as funds to help support this project. If your group is interested in receiving more details, please contact me at (415) 255-9569, or write 76 Uranus Terrace, San Francisco, CA 94114. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. China Will Yield on a Trade Issue; End to Jamming Broadcasts Meets a U.S. Condition ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forwarded by: Lori Cayton <LCAYTON@macc.wisc.edu> By Thomas L. Friedman WASHINGTON, May 17, New York Times [May 18] -- China took another step today toward meeting President Clinton's human rights conditions, a sign of progress that the Administration quickly highlighted, apparently in an effort to prepare the for a decision to renew Beijing's trade benefits with only a few symbolic conditions attached. A senior Administration official briefing reporters in Jerusalem, where Secretary of State Warren Christopher is traveling, said that China had agreed to a visit by a team of American technicians to talk about halting its jamming of Voice of America radio broadcasts. "Significant progress" by China toward ending jamming of foreign radio and television broadcasts was one of seven human rights demands President Clinton set a year ago as his condition for renewing China's most-favored-nation trade benefits, which allow the lowest tariff rates. Of those seven demads, China had to make "significant progress" on five. They were to end the jamming, to account for political prisoners, to allow prisoners to be visited by the Red Cross, to ease the repression in Tibet and the pressure on Tibet and to take steps to begin adhering to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The two other Clinton demands were "mandatory," meaning China had to fulfill them entirely. They were to end the export of prison-made products to the United States and to allow the free emigration of certain dissidents who had been barred from leaving the country. What is significant is that the senior official also told reporters that China has largely met these two "mandatory" conditions. He cited the recent agreement between China and the United States curbing prison labor exports and the recent easing by Beijing on certain dissidents. In disclosing this progress -- which many human rights groups dismiss as symbolic gestures at best -- the Administration appeared to be trying to lay some groundwork for what is widely expected to be a decision by the President to renew China's trade benefits by the June 3 deadline, with a few symbolic conditions. Many top Administration officials seem to be coming to the conclusion that the public would easily accept a decision by the President to renew the trade status and to put this annual trade threat ritual behind him. they say that would be worth taking some hits from editorial writers. But Administration officials said that a decision still had to be made about the conditions that would be attached to that renewal, and that would depend in part on what the Chinese do in the next few days. Some advoate that the President renew China's trade status across the board, but couple it with political and dplomatic initiatives that would underscore a continued American commit- ment to human rights. For instance, 106 members of the House of Representatives, from both parties, wrote to President Clinton today asking hum to renew China's trade status unconditionally and to create a bilateral commission with beijing to address human rights issues, said Representative Jim McDermott, the Washington state Democrat who organized the letter. Others in the State Department and among the liberal Democratic wing in congress argue that the President should renew China's trade status with certain exceptions. They contned that it would be politically too embarrassing, and morally too dishonest, for the President to climb all the way down on his China policy. They argue that President Clinton could renew most-favored- nation status for exports from China's privately owned factories. But, they add, he should withold low tariff benefits from exports by China's tate-owned factories or factories owned by the military. The betting in Congress is that President Clinton's final decision will be a blend of these two approaches. That is, he will renew China's trade status, and couple that with a call for the creation of a bilateral human rights commission with Beijing, a voluntary code of conduct for American companies doing business in china and some symbolic economic sanctions to acknowledge the fact that China has not fulfilled all of the Administration's human rights demands. But any symbolic sanctions are likely to be very mild. Anything else would be very complicated to enact and is being vociferously opposed within the Administration by the Commerce Department, Treasury Department, the United States Customs Service, Council of Economic Advisers and the United States Trade Representative. Members of the Administration's economic team argue that sanctions targeted against state-owned industries would be impossible to enforce. For instance, a private Chinese shirt-maker may get all its silk or cotton at subsized rates from state-owned factories, then manufacture that silk into shirts in its privately owned factory and then export the shirts to the United States through a state-owned trading company. Moreover, the United States has recently struck a deal with China that insures Beijing's cooperation with the U.s. Customs Service to identify which of its products are made with prison labor, so they will not be exported to the United States. The Customs Service found it impossible to weed out these prison exports without Chinese cooperation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Premier Li Comments on Clinton's Upcoming Decision on MFN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forwarded by: Debra Guzman, Human Rights Network <DEBRA@OLN.comlink.apc.org> By Victor Beattie WASHINGTON, May 16, Voice of America -- INTRO: CHINESE PREMIER LI PENG HAS APPEALED TO PRESIDENT CLINTON TO ACT IN A STATESMAN-LIKE FASHION WHEN HE DECIDES WHETHER TO EXTEND CHINA'S TRADE BENEFITS. V-O-A'S VICTOR BEATTIE REPORTS MR. LI'S BRIEF APPEARANCE ON U-S TELEVISION (LATE MONDAY) COMES AS THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION WELCOMES THE LATEST RELEASE OF A CHINESE DISSIDENT. TEXT: PREMIER LI -- DURING A BRIEF INTERVIEW (CBS) -- SAYS CHINA HAS NEVER INTERFERED IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF OTHER COUNTRIES AND WILL NOT ALLOW OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE THE UNITED STATES TO INTERFERE IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF CHINA. SPEAKING THROUGH AN INTERPRETER, MR. LI WAS ASKED WHAT, IN HIS VIEW, WAS THE MAIN PROBLEM BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES IN THE AREA OF TRADE AND HUMAN RIGHTS. // LI ACTUALITY // THERE'S NO PROBLEM ON THE PART OF THE CHINESE SIDE. BUT I HOPE THAT PRESIDENT CLINTON WILL DEMONSTRATE THE COURAGE OF A STATESMAN AND OVERCOME THESE DIFFICULTIES AND MAKE A WISE DECISION. // END ACTUALITY // MR. CLINTON MUST DECIDE BY JUNE THIRD WHETHER TO RENEW MOST-FAVORED NATION TRADE STATUS FOR CHINA -- AN ISSUE HE HAS LINKED WITH IMPROVEMENT IN CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS. MONDAY, U-S STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN MICHAEL MCCURRY WELCOMED CHINA'S RECENT DECISON TO FREE DISSIDENT CHEN ZEMING FROM PRISON FOR MEDICAL REASONS. // MCCURRY ACTUALITY // WE CONTINUE TO CALL ON THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE ALL THOSE DETAINED SOLELY FOR THEIR PEACEFUL EXPRESSION OF THEIR POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS VIEWS. // END ACTUALITY // WHILE THE ADMINISTRATION ACKNOWLEDGES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN SOME AREAS OF HUMAN RIGHTS, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER GEORGE MITCHELL SAYS NOT ENOUGH IMPROVEMENT HAS BEEN MADE IN OTHERS. HE SAYS HE IS PREPARING LEGISLATION THAT WOULD IMPOSE SOME SANCTIONS ON CHINESE GOODS IF THE SITUATION DOES NOT IMPROVE IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. HIS REPUBLICAN COUNTERPART -- ROBERT DOLE -- REPEATED HIS CALL MONDAY FOR PRESIDENT CLINTON TO DECOUPLE HUMAN RIGHTS AND TRADE, ADMIT IT WAS A BAD POLICY AND RENEW M-F-N. SENATOR DOLE SAYS CHINA'S HELP IS VITAL ON SUCH ISSUES AS NORTH KOREA'S SUSPECTED NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM. U-S BUSINESS IS PRESSING FOR THE CONTINUATION OF M-F-N. ONE LAWMAKER ESTIMATES THAT REVOKING TRADE PRIVILEGES COULD COST AMERICAN BUSINESS MORE THAN 10-BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Letter: Information on Kusum Lingpa Rinpoche? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David O'Neil, CTC Victoria <David_O'Neil@fincc04.fin.gov.bc.ca> One of our Canada-Tibet Committee members is trying to find out some information on a Tibetan Lama that appears to be on some sort of tour through North America. If anyone has information on His Holiness Kusum Lingpa Rimpoche (from the Golok Region in Tibet?) and who is residing outside of Tibet, I would appreciate hearing it. The CTC member has received some sketchy information that, apparently, the Chinese 'authorities' are jailing the monks of his home monastery in Tibet in order to pressure him to return. Thanks to all who can help me in researching this question. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- GoldED 2.41+/#1067 * Origin: BODY DHARMA * Moderator, TIBET_NEWS - DharmaNet (96:101/33)