Over 400 Chinese lawyers, intellectuals, and civic leaders recommend specific
actions for President Obama to take during his upcoming trip to China, which will
restore confidence in the Administration’s promise to “lead once more”
in the struggle for freedom around the world.
“We therefore ask you to unequivocally re-state America’s human rights policy to the Chinese leaders, as well as to the Chinese people, during your November visit, and emphasize that continued improvement of US-China relations depends on China’s progress on human rights..” Excerpt from letter signed by over 400 Chinese citizens living inside China and abroad.
November 11, 2009
Washington, DC – Initiatives for China announced today that a letter to President Obama signed by over 400 leading Chinese citizens living inside China and abroad has been presented to top Administration officials.
While praising President Obama for his inaugural promise “to lead once more” in the struggle for freedom around the world, the signatories expressed profound concern over the apparent “incongruity” between the Administration’s rhetoric and its actions.
The letter recommends five actions the group hopes that President Obama will take during his trip to China. They include a request that the President personally ask for the release of political prisoners, including Charter 08 author, Mr. Liu Xiaobo and Dr. Wang Bingzhang. Dr. Wang is ailing and serving a life sentence for his pro-democracy writings. A letter to president Obama from Dr. Wang’s children was included with the request to President Obama.
“It is important that President Obama hears the concern of Chinese citizens with their specific recommendations as he embarks on this historic trip to China. We pray that the President will follow the courageous leadership shown by JFK and Ronald Regan at they confronted Soviet communism,” commented Dr. Yang Jianli, Harvard Fellow, President of Initiatives for China, and organizer of the letter.
The letter follows a statement issued by ethnic and religious leaders from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and neighboring countries at the conclusion of the Fifth Interethnic/Interfaith Leadership Conference held last month in Washington DC. The statement pledged a commitment to nonviolence and a call for Internet freedom, freedom of movement, and a return to the rule of law in China.
Complete Text of Letter to President Obama
Dear President Obama:
We are Chinese citizens living in China and abroad. Our homeland encompasses 20 percent of humanity. This fact alone dictates that China must be the cornerstone of America’s leadership on human rights.
For the past 60 years, China has been governed by a one-party state whose disregard for fundamental human values and the political rights of religious and cultural groups, which has been documented by innumerable Congressional hearings, international commissions, and human rights organizations. This month, the Congressional Executive Commission on China issued its annual report, which reiterated the Chinese government’s systematic disregard for the rights of its citizens. Commission Chairman, Senator Byron L. Dorgan and Cochairman, Representative Sander M. Levin, stated that the report documented a “period of declining human rights for Chinese citizens.”
Clearly, the policies of past administrations, however well-intentioned, are are, in fact, enabling the denial of human freedoms in China. No amount of trade and economic progress should blind us to this fact.
It is with this in mind, that we welcomed your administration. We also applaud your recognition as a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Your inaugural words, “that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more” have resonated around the world
We are therefore profoundly concerned about the apparent incongruity between your words and the actions of your administration. From Secretary Clinton’s most discouraging remarks at the beginning of your administration to your recent decision to postpone your meeting with His Holiness The Dalai Lama, we are left with the impression at home and abroad that the United States is no longer willing to lead.
U.S. advocacy for human rights has been critical to the advancement of freedom around the world, including China. Abandonment of this cornerstone of U.S. engagement will not only continue to damage America’s reputation, but, more importantly, it will demoralize the millions of Chinese who are fighting daily for their basic rights and freedom. It can also jeopardize the chances for China’s peaceful transition to democracy, resulting in long-term strategic problems for the United States and increasing domestic instability in China. We stand wholeheartedly behind engagement with China, but it must be principled engagement, firmly rooted in universal values.
We therefore ask you to unequivocally re-state America’s human rights policy to the Chinese leaders, as well as to the Chinese people, during your November visit, and emphasize that continued improvement of US-China relations depends on China’s progress on human rights. Specifically, we ask you to use your power of persuasion and your skill in international diplomacy to effect the following actions:
1. Request the release of political prisoners and rights-defense journalists (suggested list attached)
2. Attend a family church service (we can suggest a specific church) while you are in Beijing, and urge the Chinese Government to stop the persecution of family churches and other religious groups such as the Falun Gong
3. Host a meeting in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing with Liu Xia, wife of distinguished Chinese intellectual and author of Charter 08, Liu Xiaobo, who is currently in prison and charged with state subversion.
4. Urge the Chinese government to publicly address the real history of the June 4, 1989 massacre and redress the injustice suffered by those who died or were injured.
5. Encourage greater dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, and between the Chinese government and the Uyghurs, and call for an independent, open, fair, judicial process for cases related to the events of 3/14/2008 and 7/5/2009.
At Tiananmen Square in 1989 many among us were modeling our efforts on American democracy. The Goddess of Democracy, a statue erected by the students in Tiananmen Square now stands on Massachusetts Avenue, in line of sight of the U.S. Capitol, as a permanent tribute to the hundreds of millions of victims of communist style governance. We urge you to take a ride past this statue, to recognize that the tyranny of communism still rules over 20 percent of humanity, to reflect on the fact that the victims of 60 years of Chinese Communist policies outnumber those of Hitler and Stalin combined. We urge you to recommit your administration to the cause of liberty by taking the above steps toward renewing America’s leadership on human rights.
{This letter has been organized by Initiatives for China}
Conference Statement
The following statement was adopted by acclamation by the delegates to the Fifth Interethnic/Interfaith Leadership Conference held in Washington, D.C., October 8-10. Organized by Initiatives for China, and cosponsored by major ethinic, religious groups including China Aid, the International Campaign for Tibet, and the Uyghur American Association.
We, the delegates to the FIFTH INTERETHNIC / INTERFAITH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, reflecting the diversity of regional, religious, and ethnic groups under the rule of the People’s Republic of China, do declare our support for the following principles, which will govern our words and actions as we pursue our common desire to bring justice, the rule of law, and mutual respect for us all:
- Commitment to nonviolence and peaceful discourse in the expression and pursuit of our rights and freedoms as human beings, distinct nations, and religious groups
- Rejection of Inflammatory, demonizing, and divisive rhetoric,which only breeds violence and mistrust
- Cooperation in the development of constructive actions which support truth, understanding, mutual respect and good will between all individuals and religious groups, and results in a stable, just, and equal society for all. Specifically we pledge cooperative action toward achievement of the following:
- Communication freedom
- The freedom of departure and return to homelands as prescribed by international law and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- The right to legal redress of grievances under the rule of law, without government subversion of the judicial process. In particular, we call for an independent, open, fair, judicial process for cases related to the events of 3/14/2008 and 7/5/2009.
- We urge all organizations, corporations, and political leaders to vigorously support and advance our commitment to these principles in the conduct of their activities with the government of China.
Adopted by acclamation this tenth day of October, 2009