DATE=12/24/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CHINA-DISSIDENTS(L) NUMBER=2-257448 BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO DATELINE=BEIJING CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The banned China Democracy Party has issued a bold call for an end to Communist one-party rule. V- O-A's Stephanie Ho reports the party had been relatively quiet amidst Beijing's moves to stamp it out. TEXT: The China Democracy Party sent a lengthy declaration to foreign news media in Beijing, rejecting key Chinese communist doctrines. It challenges the Communist Party's constitutional right to hold supreme power and the Chinese government's threat to use force to reunify Taiwan. The declaration also accuses Beijing of using the defense of national sovereignty as an excuse to commit human rights abuses. The China Democracy Party stopped short of calling for the overthrow of the Chinese government. But it argued that people have the right to abolish the government when their human rights are systematically and persistently violated. One China Democracy Party member in Beijing, He Depu, says there was no immediate government response, but added he believes the declaration could bring on more repression. The Chinese government has cracked down on the group - which it has declared illegal -- arresting many members and handing down stiff jail sentences. When it was founded in June,1998, the China Democracy Party said it had 500 members across the country. Mr. He declines to say how many members the party has now. He says the statement released Friday was written by a group in the China Democracy Party's Beijing headquarters. Mr. He says it is based on the ideas of longtime dissident and Party leader Xu Wenli, who was sentenced one year ago to 13 years in jail. (SIGNED) NEB/HO/FC/PLM 24-Dec-1999 06:17 AM EDT (24-Dec-1999 1117 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
