Bo Chi <chi@vlsi> (02/14/91)
* C h i n a N e w s D i g e s t *
(News General)
February 12, 1991
Table of Contents # of Lines
News Briefs ................................................................13
1. Wang Juntao, Chen Ziming Sentenced 13 Years .............................88
2. Chen Ziming: Hunger Strike and Protest on Court .........................20
3. Leader Says Taiwan Still Technically at War with Mainland ...............33
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News Briefs ................................................................13
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From: <chenh@ucs.indiana.edu>
Source: AP via DJ
-Iraqi Deputy Premier Saadoun Hammadi says in Tunis that his country is
ready to negotiate an end to the Persian Gulf war, but insists that the U.S.
must not take part in any talks.
-The commander of French forces in the Persian Gulf says that the ground war
will begin in several weeks," when the air campaign has accomplished its
mission".
- A Cairo newspaper said Iraq had secretly told three of its friendly
nations that 15,000 Iraqi soldiers have been killed by allied bombing.
- The Soviet Union sent special envoy Yevgeny Primakov to Baghdad in hope
of discussing the Gulf war with Saddam Hussein. Primakov carried no specific
peace initiative.
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1. Wang Juntao, Chen Ziming Sentenced 13 Years .............................88
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From: Zuofeng Li < zuofeng@pollux.wustl.edu >
Source: UPI, Feb. 12, 1991
By SARAH LUBMAN
BEIJING -- A court sentenced two prominent dissidents Tuesday to 13 years in
prison each as the alleged masterminds of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the
heaviest terms in dozens of political trials over the Tiananmen Square
protests.
Two other intellectuals also branded as ``black hands'' in the student-led
movement were also sentenced. One was pardoned and freed for his ``willingness
to repent,'' and another received a six-year prison term.
The four had been charged with the ``counterrevolutionary'' crime of sedition,
a much more serious charge than those leveled against students, workers and
others sentenced since the trials began in late December.
The sentences were announced by the Beijing Intermediate Court after a full
day of hearings. Uniformed police blocked the street around the court building
and harassed foreign reporters trying to read the public notice board outside.
Editor Wang Juntao, 33, and economist Chen Ziming, 39, were sentenced to 13
years imprisonment each because they ``have shown no willingness to repent,''
the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Liu Gang, a 29-year-old physicist, was given six years imprisonment. Legal
scholar Chen Xiaoping, 30, was ``exempted from criminal punishment'' because
he had surrendered voluntarily and showed ``willingness to repent,'' Xinhua
said.
The sentences of Wang and Chen Ziming were the heaviest given so far in three
dozen trials of Tiananmen Spring dissidents. Veteran human rights activist Ren
Wanding was earlier given seven years.
The trials, closed to foreign observers, have been assailed by Western
governments and human rights groups as unfair prosecutions with preordained
outcomes. Defendants have been unable to choose their own lawyers or present
proper defenses.
Wang and Chen, both veteran dissidents of past democracy campaigns, were
accused of stirring up the protests, organizing opposition to the government
and interfering with martial law forces called in to suppress the movement.
``Chen and Wang wantonly incited some persons to subvert the people's
government and the socialist system, gathered together illegal organizations
in Beijing and conducted a series of activities to subvert the people's
government,'' Xinhua said.
A Western diplomat who monitors human rights in China said the harsh sentences
against the two appeared to be a message warning dissidents of their fates
should they choose to defy the government.
``The government's policy is, we'll be lenient if you recognize your mistakes
and cooperate with us,'' the diplomat said.
``They've probably been waiting to get (Chen and Wang) for years and now
they've got them.''
Both Wang and Chen reportedly refused to admit their guilt. A defiant Chen
faced the court Monday but denied the charges of ``counter-revolution'' as
untrue and demanded further evidence, according to sources familiar with the
proceedings.
The court refused to provide proof of several of the 17 separate accusations
against Chen, whose lawyer was given less than a week to prepare for the
trial.
Chen appeared in court visibly weakened by a fast begun Feb. 7 in a last-ditch
bid to demand more time to prepare his defense, one source said.
``He did not acknowledge his guilt, and denied all the charges against him,''
the source said, adding that Chen's lawyer protested the lack of time given
by the court to prepare.
When the pro-democracy movement began spreading on college campuses in the
spring of 1989, Wang and Chen agreed at first to support it and provide advice
but keep low profiles, according to a recently published interview with an
unidentified member of their group.
They abandoned their cautious stance following the government's May 20, 1989,
imposition of martial law in Beijing, organizing the Joint Liaison Group to
direct a movement that had gone beyond the students' abilities to control.
Wang, Chen and other members of the group were arrested after the army's
bloody June 4, 1989, crackdown and have been held since at maximum-security
Qincheng prison.
Other intellectuals linked to Wang and Chen, such as Beijing University law
doctorate Li Jinjin and researcher Wang Zichang, are said to remain under
detention with no notice of the charges against them.
Authorities appear to be paralyzed over the fate of senior party officials
imprisoned for their alleged roles in the protests. Among them are Bao Tong,
secretary to deposed party head Zhao Ziyang, and Bao's assistant, Gao Shan.
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2. Chen Ziming: Hunger Strike and Protest on Court .........................20
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From: <chenh@ucs.indiana.edu>, <chemman@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Source: AP NEWS 2/11/91
BEIJING - Looking pale and thin from a 4-day hunger strike, a leading
democracy activist told a court Monday that the sedition charge against him
was ''unfair and incorrect,'' sources close to his family said.
Chen Ziming, founder of a private research institute, began the hunger strike
Thursday.
He wanted to postpone the trial so his lawyer could prepare a defense. Chen's
lawyer was allowed access to government materials only last week after charges
were formally lodged.
Chen's mother and sister weren't allowed to speak with him, so it wasn't known
if he had resumed eating.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he told the court
several times during the 6-hour session that he was tired.
But he rejected as ''unfair and incorrect'' the charge that he plotted to
overthrow the Communist government during the 1989 demonstrations.
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3. Leader Says Taiwan Still Technically at War with Mainland ...............33
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From: Zuofeng Li < zuofeng@pollux.wustl.edu >
Source: UPI, Feb. 12, 1991
By JEFF HOFFMAN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Premier Hau Pei-tsun said Tuesday that despite steadily
warming relations with mainland China, Taiwan remains technically in a state
of war with its giant communist neighbor.
While Taiwan intends by May to end a 43-year-old Period of Mobilization for
Suppression of the Rebellion, which many observers say could pave the way for
Taipei's recognition of communist authority in China and for negotiations on
reunification, Hau told reporters that the move is simply a necessary step in
Taiwan's democratization.
The ending of the Period of Mobilization will nullify a set of temporary
provisions to the island's Constitution that give the president and the
military extraordinary powers and compromised constitutionally guaranteed
rights.
The ending of the period of rebellion does not mean Taiwan is abandoning its
anti-communist stance, nor does it mean it is no longer at war with the
communist authorities on the mainland, Hau said.
War could erupt at any time, he said, until both sides have agreed to a
permanent cease-fire. Taiwan's Kuomintang government, which retreated here
from China in 1949, has said it will not negotiate with Beijing until
democratic reforms have been adopted on the mainland.
Hau said Taipei would adjust its position as the situation changes, but
stressed that the road from mutual non-recognition to mutual recognition will
be a long one.
Hau said Taiwan would only agree to reunification under a democratic system.
Hau, 71, a former defense minister and Taiwan's highest ranking general,
assumed the premiership in June.
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| Editor of this issue: JD < B366JDX@UTARLVM1.BITNET > |
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