Signatures Top 1,500 as More Influential Figures’ Support Campaign
As of September 23 at noon, there were 1,541 people who signed our online campaign to oppose China’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council.
In the past week, prominent figures from around the world have signed the letter and expressed their support in various ways.
The honorable Lee Cheuk-yan(李卓人先生), chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, has called on Hong Kong people from all walks of life to actively participate in the signatory campaign to support democratic progress. The honorable Emily Lau Wai-hing (劉慧卿女士), Chairperson of the Democratic Party (Hong Kong) is intending to lobby in person at the UN General Assembly, adding her voice on behalf of the victims of human rights abuses in China and providing an update on the real situation in Hong Kong in order to gain the international community’s support for direct elections in Hong Kong.
China Aid President Bob Fu, also a signatory, commented after signing the letter that China, as one of the most serious human rights abusers, is no by means qualified to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council. His organization China Aid extends its full support to this campaign with God’s blessings. Mr. Yu Jie, a well-known dissident writer says “it is my duty to support this campaign.”
Mr. Yang Sen-Hong (楊憲宏), chairman of the board of the Taiwan Association for China Human Rights and Ms. Chiu Ling-yao (邱齡瑤), the secretary-general of the organization, have not only signed the letter, but also are working hard to promote the signature campaign in Taiwan. Falungong practitioner and well-known professor Zhang Qingxi (張清溪) of the University of Taiwan, also joined the growing number of signatories.
During an interview with Sky TV, China human rights activist Hu Jia, who is under constant surveillance in China, says “allowing China to become a UN Human Rights Council member is like having a murderer become a judge. It is simply absurd. We want to stop it, and we must stop it.” Such a courageous public statement by Hu Jia deserves our upmost admiration and respect.
In the past week, prominent signatories also include the following:
Hong Kong: Qin Feipeng, Liu Tai, Chen Jian, Wu Fangtaim Chen Jingsheng, Chen Jinsong, Wan Bao, etc.
Taiwan: Zuo La, Kong Shiren, Qian Da, Huang Suhu, etc.
Mainland China: Ye Huo, Jing Cu, Su Yuanzhen, Wu Gaoxing, Ou Biaofeng, Su Guangda, Cao Xia, Yue Qilong, Zhang Yongpan, Che Hongnian, Hou Wenbao, Fan Yiping, Huang Xiaomin, etc. Others have requested that their names be revealed at the end of the campaign.
Overseas: Xu Wenli, Wang Min, Tang Yuansun, Hu Rao, Huang Ben, Wang Youcai, Chen Xiao, Li Dongdeng, Han Wu, Mu Wenbin, Liu Weimin, Shi Qing, Xu Yinglang, Yu Shixin, Li Qing, Wang Ce, Wang Longmeng, Pan Yongzhong, Peng Xiaoming, Wang Weizhong, Chen Yongling, Sun Baoqiang, Fang Yuan, Wang Fuchen, Luo Le, Jiang Jiaji (Son of Prisoner of Counscience Li Bifeng, Zhu Qiaofu, Zhu Xiaoyan (brother and sister of Prisoner of Conscience Zhu Yufu), Yang Zi, Xiang Lin, Han Guang, Jia Yutai, Wang Xuezhen, Ai Lifang, Chen Yangchao, Chen Zhixuan, Liu Gang (Sweden), Guo Chen, Zhang Jian, Chen Hanzhong, Wan Zhongguo, etc.
An additional one hundred signatures are from Tibetan, Uighur and Mongolian ethnic groups.
Dr. Yang Jianli, founder of Citizen Power for China, briefed this signatory campaign at the closing ceremony of Forum 2000 in Prague on September 9 and the participants responded enthusiastically and expressed their support, saying that such a serious challenge presented by the Chinese people to the United Nations would make the international community rethink and affirm the universal human rights standards that we all must uphold and respect. This campaign will help promote human rights in China and help to reform the UN as well.
Much attention was paid this week to the conviction and sentencing in China of Bo Xilai. Citizen Power for China is openly urging Bo’s family and his lawyers to present his case to the United Nations. During the trial, the Party discipline structure overrode China’s state laws, a move that is in obvious violation of China’s criminal laws and criminal procedure laws. Citizen Power for China urges Bo’s family and lawyers to submit Bo’s case to the UN human rights organizations to detail how his rights have been violated.
Dr. Han Lianchao, one of the major drivers behind the citizen power movement, stated that, “This signature campaign is meant to mobilize citizens on a large-scale. Through a series of similar campaigns, the participants and supporters of the citizen power movement can network and join forces. We want to use these activities to press the Chinese government at home and globally to make concessions which will be helpful to those prisoners of conscience inside China. Soon many of those newly arrested activists such as Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Zhao Changqing,Wang Gongquan, Li Huanjun, and others will be going to trial, and we feel this signature campaign is a way to provide strong support to their cases.”
Under the repression of China’s authoritarian regime, our voices have been diminished for too long. Now each and every signatory is a loud cry that must be heard. When all the cries for justice converge, it will echo around the world.
Dr. Han Lianchao: lianchao@gmail.com (703)528-