In Washington, D.C., Initiatives for China President, Yang Jianli, will hold hunger strike at the Victims of Communism Memorial on Massachusetts Avenue.
9:00am -5:00pm
Victims of Communism Memorial
707 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20001
(4 blocks west of Union Station on east bound side of Mass. Ave.)
Washington, D.C. August 20, 2010– Outraged by the arrest of popular Chinese intellectual Liu Xianbin, democracy activists in major cities around the world will hold hunger strikes on Tuesday, August 24 in a show of solidarity with Liu and to appeal to the conscience of the world about the Chinese government’s crackdown on China’s intellectual community.
Under the mantra of “I am Liu Xianbin” dissidents will hold hunger strikes in front of Chinese consulates in Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, Berlin, Bangkok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Paris, and Washington, D.C. Similar hunger strikes will be held in undisclosed cities in Mainland China.
Dr. Yang Jianli, President of Initiatives for China, and organizer of the “I am Liu Xianbin” campaign, will hold a one day hunger strike under a replica of the Tiananmen Square Goddess of Democracy statue at the Victims of Communism Memorial on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C.
Liu Xianbin is a well respected writer and democracy advocate. He is one of the original collaborators and signatories to Charter 08, a document calling for democratic reform in China. He has already spent 13 years of his life in prison for his writings. Released for just a few months, Liu was arrested again His fellow writer and intellectual, Liu Xiabo, the lead author of Charter 08, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on December 25, 2009.
“This assault on the best and brightest minds of China is an assault on liberty everywhere.” said Dr.Yang in announcing the hunger strike. “Everyone who cherishes freedom of speech and thought must acknowledge this. We must stand up and tell the Chinese government: “I am Liu Xianbin. If you arrested that man then you must arrest me as well.”