chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (Bo Chi) (01/04/90)
| +---------I __L__ ___- i \ ------I +----+----+ | ___\_\_ | \./ | | -----+- | | | | | __ \/ | --+-- |--- | |---| | I----+----I | I__J/\ | __|__ | | | |---| | | | _____ \ | /| \ | | | L__-| | I I---------J / J \/ | | V | _/ * C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t * (ND Canada Service) -- Jan. 4 (I), 1990 Table of Contents # of Lines 1. China Denies Reports to Free Fang Lizhi .............................. 83 2. Message from Reader (1) ........................................... 7 3. Message from Reader (2) ........................................... 29 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. China Denies Reports to Free Fang Lizhi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- source: BEIJING (UPI) Jan. 03, 1989 BY: SCHWEISBERG, DAVID R. From: "J. Ding" <IZZYQ00@OAC.UCLA.EDU> China dismissed Wednesday as "speculation" reports of a deal to free the country's leading dissident from refuge in the U.S. Embassy but Western diplomats and Chinese sources said the negotiations were continuing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement came after a Hong Kong magazine reported the dissident, astrophysicist Fang Lizhi, and his wife, Li Shuxian, would be allowed to leave for Australia under an agreement negotiated with the United States. An Australian government spokesman in Canberra denied the report. But the Chinese statement fell short of a flat denial and appeared to leave the door open for a bargain. "The only way out for Fang Lizhi and Li Shuxian is to plead guilty immediately and mend their ways so as not to alienate themselves from the people," the Foreign Ministry said. Speculation about the couple's release has intensified since President Bush's controversial initiative last month to improve relations with Beijing. The administration is known to want concessions from China to stave off sharp criticism in Congress. Fang and Li have lived in the U.S. Embassy since taking refuge there last June 5, two days after the Chinese army fired on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing and brutally suppressed the massive demonstrations that swept the nation last spring. A week later, Chinese authorities issued arrest warrants for Fang and Li, charging they instigated what the government has branded a "counterrevolutionary rebellion." If captured, the couple face lengthy prison terms. "The recent rumors about the question of Fang Lizhi floating around abroad and overseas are speculation pure and simple," the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said, reiterating that the embassy refuge was "interference in China's internal affairs." Western diplomats and Chinese sources, although unaware of the details of the talks, said negotiations had been under way for some time and appeared to be nearing a conclusion. "It looks like something may happen within the next 10 days," one diplomat said, adding the couple would be allowed to leave for a third country, but the destination had not been fixed. The U.S. Embassy has declined to comment on Fang. Senior U.S. officials in Beijing privately have even attempted to play down reports from Washington quoting administration officials as saying a deal had been concluded. The Chinese statement appeared to leave room for some form of bargain, saying "this problem can only be solved according to the laws of China" and the United States was "obligated to work for its settlement." Western analysts believe the Fang issue has become a dispute between moderate Chinese leaders seeking improved relations with Washington and hardliners arguing that allowing the couple's release would show a lack of resolve. Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin told visiting Hong Kong newspaper executives last month that Fang would have to show "repentance," suggesting the leadership was seeking a face-saving device as a catalyst for releasing the couple. The Bush administration also faces a time problem, as Congress resumes session Jan. 23 amid simmering outrage over last month's surprise trip to Beijing by National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft in a bid to improve relations. Critics have derided the move as "kowtowing." Bush has also since eased economic sanctions imposed after June, freeing the export of three U.S.-made satellites to be launched by China. China has so far made only minimal concessions, granting long-delayed foreign press accreditation to a new Voice of America correspondent, withdrawing machine gun-toting guards from around U.S. Embassy buildings and halting harassment of U.S. diplomats. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Message from Reader (1) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >From O42M@UNB.CA Wed Jan 3, 1990 Dear Friends, If you have read an article in the 6th "Shen2 Zhou1 Xue2 Ren2" named "Xin1 Hai4 Ge3 Ming4 " (about the revolution 1911 and oversea Chinese in Japan), how do you think the examples for us? If you have not read it, I suguest you to read it and then think over. That articale is actually a recommendation from the older generation to us, the oversea students. One Cinese student 1990,1,3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Message from Reader (2) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- >From YE@SASK.USask.CA Thu Jan 4 05:42 EST 1990 Happy New Year!!! I've just finished reading a book "Revenge of Heaven" (Tian Chou), written by a Chinese Red Gaurd leader during the Great Cultural Revolution. This is an astonishing book. Dr. Liu Xiaobo has a sharp critisism on the Chinese literature after Gong of Four was overthrown. He said that no body says he is an evil in the Cultrual Revolution. Everyone pretended to be innocent and suffering. Everyone just showed his bitterness to the world. The intellectuals were even more enthusiastic on showing themselves as the most persecuted. This was a black hole of the Chinese literature. But this book just showed how a young boy and other youngsters became the revo- lutionary power which almost destroyed the whole nation, how the enthusiasm of the youngs was used as the tool of the dirty power struggle, how the people was deep in fighting and the society in crisis, ... It moved me. This book, unluckily, can only be avail- able outside China. I wish some day this book can be found in a bookstore inside China. It'll move the people. It will lead people to think back deep into their nature. I'd like to introduce this book to those who may be interested in. I think it can compensate Dr. Liu's regret though it is published outside China. It reflects that part of history. that part of history. ................................................................ The Revenge of Heaven (Tian Chou) by Gen Di available in Chinese and English versions ................................................................ ============================================================================= News Transmission chi@vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (or) ----------------------- --------------------- NDCadada Editor: Bo Chi chi@vlsi.waterloo.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thu Jan 4 16:19:57 EST 1990