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Senator sounds off to
Beijing about Oregon mural
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON
A US senator has warned China to back off in the growing confrontation over a
mural painted on a brick wall in Corvallis, Oregon, that advocates independence
for Taiwan and Tibet.
“The mural will remain so long as the Americans who painted and host it wish it
to remain,” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon wrote in a letter to Chinese Ambassador
to the US Zhang Yesui (張業遂) lecturing China on the freedom of speech.
The letter, sent on Thursday, follows a statement about the mural made on the
floor of the US House of Representatives earlier this week by Representative
Peter DeFazio.
“I’m shocked, and appalled, that apparently Chinese professional diplomats have
failed to read the Constitution of the US before travelling here to represent
their country,” DeFazio said.
“This represents the basis of our representative democracy, our freedom of
speech, and our rights — and it will not be bullied by China or any other
overseas interest,” he added.
Taiwan-born businessman David Lin (林銘新) had a 3m by 30m mural painted on the
wall of a building he owns in downtown Corvallis. The mural shows Chinese police
beating Tibetan protesters and it supports independence for both Taiwan and
Tibet.
No sooner had the paint on the murald dried, than the Chinese Consulate General
in San Francisco wrote to Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning saying that “to avoid
our precious friendship from being tainted,” the mural should be removed.
When Manning replied that Lin had a constitutional right to display the mural
and that there was nothing that she could, or would, do to remove it, the
consulate general sent two of its diplomats to help persuade her in person.
Again, she backed Lin’s right to display the mural and the right of Taiwan-born
artist Chao Tsung-song (趙宗宋) to paint it.
A local newspaper published a story about the pressure from Beijing and the
situation attracted national attention with large numbers of US citizens —
including many Taiwanese Americans — offering their support to Manning and Lin.
This in turn led the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA)
to ask Congress to intervene.
“It has come to my attention that members of your diplomatic staff are trying to
restrict free speech rights in Oregon,” Wyden said in his letter to Zhang.
“I am writing to express my deep displeasure and concern with these actions,”
Wyden wrote.
He said limitations on speech and expression are incompatible with fundamental
human rights anywhere in the world and that China’s efforts to have the mural
removed are “a grave affront.”
“While these rights might not be respected in China, they are values that all
Americans hold dear. Any attempt by your government to suppress these rights is
unacceptable and must not be repeated,” Wyden wrote, adding: “I trust there will
be no further attempt to try and influence any other form of legal, artistic
expression in Oregon, or any other US state or territory.”
FAPA president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said: “We are pleased that Senator Wyden has
responded to our concerns and applaud him for coming down forcefully on the side
of freedom and democracy. The action by the consulate general of the PRC
[People’s Republic of China] in San Francisco was a flagrant interference in the
internal affairs of the US and a blatant attempt to silence people with
different views. This may work in China itself, but should have no place in the
US.”
Asked to comment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) defended the
consulate’s involvement.
“Chinese diplomats have the responsibility of expounding on China’s position to
the outside world and to other peoples in the world,” he said.
This story has been updated since first published.
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