Interfere In Internal Affairs?

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Sept. 6, 2000 ---

Mainland China denounced on Tuesday as a ¡§political farce¡¨ a civil lawsuit filed in the United States against former Chinese Premier Li Peng over the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and demanded Washington squash the case.

¡§This is a political farce fabricated by a small handful of anti-China elements in the United States out of despicable motives,¡¨ said Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi.

¡§China demands the U.S. abide by international principles and take concrete measures to stop these people¡¦s mean activities,¡¨ he told a news conference.

He said Beijing had made ¡§solemn representation¡¨ to Washington to drop the case, filed by Chinese dissidents in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on August 31 as Li was attending parliamentary leaders¡¦ summit at the United Nations.

Mainland Chinese President Jiang Zemin, arrived in New York on Monday to attend the U.N. Millennium Summit and carry on a month-long campaign to spruce up the mainland¡¦s image in the United States.

The plaintiffs were Wang Dan jailed in mainland China before being released two years ago on medical parole to exile in the United States, three other dissidents and the brother of a woman shot and killed by troops near Beijing¡¦s Tiananmen Square.

They were seeking millions of dollars in damages, accusing Li of crimes against humanity for ordering troops and tanks to quell pro-democracy protests in June 1989.

The attack on crowds that had gathered for months of pro-democracy rallies killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of unarmed demonstrators.

The claims against Li include crimes against humanity, summary execution, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, assault and battery, wrongful death, inflicting intentional emotional distress on victims and their survivors, false imprisonment and denying protesters the right to demonstrate.

Human rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the dissidents, say that as premier, Li gave the order for the military to crack down on the protesters.

Face new problems on the issue for accusing Li-Peng over the 1989 Tiananment Square massacre that against humanity for ordering troops and tanks to quell pro-democracy protests there.

Mainland China denounced on September 5, 2000 as a ¡§political farce¡¨. This is a political farce fabricated by a small handful of anti-China elements in the United States out of despicable motives,¡¨ said Foreign Minister spokesman Sun Yuxi. We want something happen in this meaningful lawsuit in which the leaders in China could learn Human Rights and law of prosecution over democratic system.

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