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Dear
Mr. Colin Powell, Please accept our suggestion to
you and express our foundation’s situation about Taiwan-China
relationship. BEIJING, Aug. 20 -- A frail and
aging Tibetan monk who presides over one of China's largest and most
important centers of Buddhist teaching appears to have been removed from
his remote mountain complex, a monitoring group said. The action
came as Chinese authorities pressed ahead with a campaign to expel
thousands of followers who had spontaneously gathered there. Monitoring groups, witnesses and
other sources say the United Front Work Department, a Communist Party
organization that manages relations with religious groups, is directing
the clampdown. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 monks and nuns lived at
Serthar, and the department's goal is to reduce the population to 1,000
monks and 400 nuns by October, these sources said. The timing of the crackdown could complicate relations with the United States during President Bush's October visit to China. The Bush administration has said pressing for greater religious freedom will be a priority in its dealings with Beijing. China is in the midst of a nationwide squeeze on religion, jailing thousands of followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, razing hundreds of Christian churches and arresting Catholic clergy loyal to the Vatican. The Chinese government banned the
Falun Gong’s practice in 1999, calling practitioners, who often gather
in public places to perform its yoga-like exercises, an "evil
cult." Dozens of Falun Gong leaders were
arrested after weeks of demonstrations throughout China after the ban, and
the demonstrators say 263 persons have been tortured and killed since the
ban began. The executive memorandum by
John Track on August 10, 2001 could express the ideas of China’s
respectability … Now that the International Olympic
Committee has awarded the 2008 Games to China, many Americans remain
concerned that Beijing's penchant for repression of dissent at home and
aggressive behavior toward its neighbors could compromise this well-loved
symbol of international cooperation and goodwill. Indeed, few have
forgotten the hardest lesson of the Olympics' checkered past: Merely
awarding the Games--with the spirit of peace, fellowship, and
humanitarianism that they engender in participants and
observers--did not prevent at least two host countries from crushing the
rights of citizens or committing aggressions against neighbors once the
torch was extinguished. The Games in China will not begin
for another seven years, time enough for the United States and other
freedom-loving countries to compel Beijing to adopt true Olympic values
and to demonstrate good behavior both beyond its borders and at home by
treating all people fairly. Their expectations, as well as any
repercussions for China's belligerence, must be made clear. China and Human Rights. Many
consider China's worsening record on human rights, described in the last
State Department human rights report, to be an affront to the ideals of
the Olympics. In the past year, thousands of unregistered churches have
been closed or destroyed, and several Protestant and Catholic churches
were bulldozed into rubble just days before Christmas. On Good Friday
2001, authorities arrested not only a Catholic bishop, but also some
priests and 13 believers. In Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Xinjiang,
China continues to repress religious observances in order to control
groups seeking independence. At least 1,600 political prisoners were in
jail at the end of 2000, including some in psychiatric hospitals on forced
medication. The recent arrests of
Chinese-American scholars on clearly false espionage charges demonstrates
the entrenched determination of China's thought-control apparatus. Though
the detainees were eventually released, they are sad proof that a Chinese
person can hope to have his minimal judicial rights respected in his
native land only if he carries a foreign passport. Recent revelations in
The Washington Post concerning China's routine use of torture and
brutality against adherents of Falun Gong meditative practices--apparently
for no reason other than the government's fear that the Falun Gong may
become a subversive organization--underscore the depth of the regime's
ruthlessness. Aggressiveness Abroad. Many
consider China's increasing harassment of Taiwan an affront to Olympic
values as well. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducts an average of
three large-scale military exercises annually on the coast opposite
Taiwan. Each year, these maneuvers have become more sophisticated and the
equipment more advanced. China has deployed 200 short-range missiles
within range of Taiwan targets and reportedly intends to have 5,000
missiles in place within five years. On July 26, the PLA's newspaper
declared, "the campaign to win the Olympics showed the world that
there is now a brand new power that breaks through brambles and thorns and
will not stop before reaching its goal." Then the paper vowed that
"no foreign power will be successful in their attempts to use the
Taiwan Question to interfere in China's internal affairs." This is
hardly the language of a host that hopes to be seen as a model of
international goodwill. Influencing China to Change. The
President, members of his Administration, and Congress can set the tone
for international expectations of China as host. The message: that the
purpose of the Olympics is to promote world peace, rooted in a belief that
the human family is more alike in pursuing excellence than disparate, and
militaristic urges are incompatible with that value system. Secretary of State Colin Powell
laid the groundwork for this effort during a July 28 visit to Beijing. He
said, "the United States looks forward to seeing the changes in the
next seven years that this historic event is bound to stimulate." If
the United States expects to influence China to change its behavior, it
must make these expectations clear before President Bush travels to China
in October. For example, Washington should make clear to Beijing that the
international community expects it to: ˙Welcome rather
than repress the profound contributions that religious beliefs, practices,
and charitable works make to society; ˙Encourage political reform; ˙Commit to the rule of law based on
international norms; and ˙Eschew military
bluster against Taiwan while accepting Taiwan's offers to discuss their
differences as equals. What Washington Should Do. To this
end, America's leaders should: ˙Caution China
that its use of force against Taiwan could spark an international boycott
of the 2008 Games. Moreover, egregious acts short of force could warrant
Administration support for advertising and spectator boycotts. ˙Insist that
visitors to China be free of official threats to their person and property
because of their political, social, or religious views. The State
Department should stiffen its warning on travel to China, which merely
cautions Americans of the risk of detention "if they have at any time
engaged in activities or published writings critical of Chinese government
policies." ˙Keep the focus
on China's behavior. Congress, for example, could require the State
Department to make quarterly updates of its human rights reports on China
as well as regular written reports on China's aggressive behavior toward
its neighbors and nations littoral to the South China Sea. Such reports
would indicate whether more concrete sanctions were needed. Conclusion. Linking the 2008
Olympics directly to peace in the Asia-Pacific region would provide
effective leverage over China's behavior for the next seven years. It also
would demonstrate that Washington is committed to furthering human rights
and democratic principles, and that affronts to those values will not be
ignored. We thought that in order to
qualify as a host for the Olympics, two additional rules must be met: first,
the hosting country must adhere to the UN constitution -- giving up the
use of arms to settle any internal or external disputes; and second, the
hosting country must amend, to the satisfaction of the Un Committee, any
violations of human rights pointed out by that committee. We feel that these two
restrictions will be helpful in making sure that the Olympic spirit is
strictly adhered to by any host country. Furthermore, we do not wish
to see the Olympics become an endorser of authoritarian regimes. If
that happens, the world's justice and peace will surely be endangered. It
is hard not to feel a tinge of sorrow for the Olympics, when one sees
Beijing beaming with such confidence, and it is even harder to not feel
disdain for the power of politics and money, which seems to be making the
Olympics go round. In short, Beijing is trying to
wage an economic unification war on Taiwan, but it seems not to realize
that economic logic ultimately cannot be separated from a free and
democratic political system. It's still too early to tell whether in the
final analysis, Beijing will use an economic unification war to
annex Taiwan, or end up falling apart due to the bankruptcy of its
economic logic. On these grounds, we can conclude that Taiwan in the
process of its contacts with China still has no reason to be pessimistic. So, Taiwan needs your support.
Yours Sincerely,
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