Dear Mr. President Jacques Chirac,
Mr. Chancellor Gerhard Schr"der,
Mr. President Clinton,
Mr. Prime Minister Tony Blair,
The reports, Beijing, Dec. 12 ---
Beijing Monday gave a cold display of zero tolerance to political
reform, sentencing two top activists to lengthy jail terms for
attempting to establish the opposition China Democracy Party.
The Beijing No. 1 intermediate court sentenced veteran activist
and CDP member Xu Wenli to 13 years in jail after finding him
guilty of subversion in a trial which lasted less than four
hours. Born in 1950 in the northern mainland Chinese province
of Anhui to parents who were both high-ranking communist officials.,
Wei was a typical Red Guard, raised on the communist
doctrine.
The violent cultural revolution shattered Wei faith in Chinese
communism, and he later spearheaded the Democracy Wall Movement
in 1978 for which he was imprisoned intermittently for a total
of 18 years, until 1997 when he was released on medical parole.
Wei praised the wisdom of the "New Taiwanese"
line advanced by President Lee Teng-hui earlier
this year aimed at calming the island's ethnic feud.
"Only when the mainland introduces democracy and the protection
of human rights can its unification with Taiwan materialize"
the dissident Wei remarked democratization of the mainland possible
? It is possible when Taiwan's people are concerned
about the democracy movement in mainland China, and about overseas
Chinese people's efforts to make the mainland a democratic society.
For the more; democratic countries support Taiwan's
democracy with "moral courage" is urgent need.
Wei deserved the help of all the free people in the world and
the Taiwan people in particular. "Several decades have
passed, mainland people have gradually come to realize that
the ease of autonomy is nothing but a pseudo-democracy,"
Wei pointed out "and now we feel that existence
of brawls is better than the absence of different voices"
"As I've seen and beard here (Taiwan) the
legislature, people from opposite parties are able to tolerate
and respect" Wei added (Dec. 22, 1998).