MUZZLING DISSENT

December 30, 1998
		Although personal freedom in increasing in China, the Communist government in Beijing is cracking down on high-profile dissidents. After this background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth discusses the latest arrests with a panel of dissidents and China experts.

Dec. 30, 1998: A discussion of the latest crackdown on dissidents. July 7, 1998: The Tibetan question. June 29, 1998: President Clinton challenges China on human rights issues. June 24, 1998: Three dissidents discuss Clinton's visit to China. June 15, 1998: The Chinese ambassador on Clinton's trip April 27, 1998: An interview Chinese dissident Wang Dan Dec. 10, 1997: An interview with Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng   Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China Human Rights Watch	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: On Sunday, a labor activist in Southern China became the fourth dissident in a week sentenced to a lengthy jail term. Zhang Shanguang had been trying to set up an association to protect the rights of laid-off workers, but the crime cited in his conviction was "illegally providing intelligence to overseas enemy organizations and people." ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: This -- apparently because he gave an interview to Radio Free Asia, a Washington-based, U.S. Government-funded organization, which beams political and other news and analysis to China. Authorities there regularly try to block the broadcasts. In the interview Zhang described a farmers' protest against excessive taxes in Hunan Province and another demonstration there that resulted in violence and death. RICHARD RICHTER, President, Radio Free Asia: He didn't advocate any kind of violent overthrow of the government or anything like that; he said it all should happen through democratic procedures; and it wasn't a particularly fire-brandy kind of interview. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Nevertheless, Zhang got 10 years in prison at least partly for doing the interview. Middle Eastern war at one point.
	A crackdown on the China Democracy Party.
	The other three dissidents sentenced last week were among the founding members of the fledgling - and illegal -- China Democracy Party. They were well known and their trials drew protests. They are: Xu Wenli: jailed December 21st for 13 years on charges of subversion. In a statement scrawled from prison this week he called his trial "political persecution" and said political pluralism in China is "historically inevitable;" Qin Yongmin: jailed December 22nd for 12 years also on charges of Subversion; and Wang Youcai: jailed December 21st for 11 years on charges of subversion. His wife attended the trial and said the judge cut off her husband's presentation in court. She wept as she described his arrest, calling it "brutal." The arrests come six months after President Clinton visited China and in a joint press conference with President Jiang Zemin called for the freeing of some political prisoners. PRESIDENT CLINTON: There are some people who are incarcerated now for offenses no longer on the books in China, reflecting real progress in present Chinese practice, and the Chinese, in my view -- we should acknowledge that. But the question then arises -- is there some way that these people might be released? Is there some procedure through which we could move?
	China says it supports human rights.
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: President Jiang repeated China's often-stated position of respect for human rights. JIANG ZEMIN: (speaking through interpreter) The Chinese nation always respects and maintains the dignity and the rights of the people. Today the Chinese government solemnly commits itself to the promotion and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: In October, China signed - but has not yet ratified -- a United Nations document called the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, guaranteeing freedom of association and expression. And since last summer, there has been a flowering of certain kinds of intellectual freedom in China, including a series of plays dealing with sensitive subjects and "salon" discussions in bookstores on topics like freedom and human rights. But at the same time more than 30 people have been jailed for trying to start the Democracy Party. And President Jiang Zemin made it clear in two speeches this month that his tolerance for dissent has limits. In a talk December 23rd, he warned against "infiltration by both domestic and foreign hostile forces" and said "any factors that could jeopardize our stability must be annihilated in the earliest stages." And in an earlier speech he said, "The western mode of political systems must never be copied." ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Yesterday the Chinese government announced the sentencing of two dissidents who had been living in New York City and had sneaked into China to promote democracy.