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
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