Senator Brownback Sends Message of Support and Hope to Wife of Imprisoned Chinese Intellectual, Liu Xiaobo
Please click HERE to view letter
Washington, DC., December 22, 2009. In a magnanimous holiday gesture, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas took a moment from the hectic pre-holiday activity on Capitol Hill to send a letter of encouragement and support to Liu Xia, wife of imprisoned Chinese intellectual and democracy activist, Liu Xiaobo, who is under arrest and awaits imminent imprisonment by the Chinese government.
A staunch supporter for a peaceful transition to democratic values and the rule of law in China, Senator Brownback conveyed his “deepest respect for individuals like your husband, who risk their own well-being in the struggle for democracy and basic human rights in China.”
Mr. Liu Xiaobo, widely respected in China for his well-reasoned and measured criticism of the Chinese Government, was detained by Chinese authorities as Charter 08 appeared on the Internet on December 10, 2008. This document outlined the failures of the Chinese government’s 60 years of autocratic rule and proposed 19 specific recommendations for restoring the rule of law and individual rights to Chinese citizens. In June of 2009, Mr. Liu was charged with “subversion of the state”, a statute of the Chinese criminal code used to justify stiff jail sentences for individuals who have become politically undesirable. It is anticipated that Mr. Liu will soon be sentenced to a long prison term.
Initiatives for China applauds Senator Brownbacks courageous support for this brave patriot of Chinese Democracy. According to Dr. Yang Jianli, President of Initiatives for China and Harvard Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, “The loud and clear voice of Senator Brownback is most welocome and appreciated at this time of heightened repression of my fellow citizens by the ruling communist party.”
Late in 2008, Senator Brownback teamed with Senator Casey of Pennsyvania in a bipartisan action in support of the struggle for democracy in China, with the introduction of a resolution supporting the ideals of Charter 08 and condemning the arrest of Liu Xiaobo.
For more information visit http://brownback.senate.gov/public/ and http://www.initiativesforchina.org