[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E911-E912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                             WEI JINGSHENG

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 13, 1997

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentlemen from 
California, Congressman Cox and Congressman Lantos, for arranging for 
this Special Order today.
  Wei Jingsheng is a brave, articulate, and nonviolent fighter for 
democracy. He is a hero who one day we hope will be officially leading 
China. But today he is someone who struggles just to stay alive during 
his second 14-year prison sentence. He is sick. He has lost all of his 
teeth. And yet he still displays incredible courage.
  Soon after the Tiannanmen Square massacre, in an incredible display 
of courage, Wei Jingsheng wrote to Deng Xiaoping stating:

       So, now that you've successfully carried out a military 
     coup to deal with a group of unarmed and politically 
     inexperienced students and citizens, how do you feel? * * * 
     I've long known that you are precisely the kind of idiot to 
     do something foolish like this, just as you've long known 
     that I am precisely the kind of idiot who will remain 
     stubborn to the end and take blows with his head up. We know 
     each other well; probably better than anyone can imagine. 
     It's just that we have an intimate mutual disgust that 
     probably also exceeds anyone's imagination.

  During the fall of 1992, Wei wrote a document titled, ``A Open Letter 
to Deng Xiaoping, The Director of the Tragedy of Tibet.'' In it he 
spoke of Deng's discrimination--or racism--against the Tibetans. And 
years before the current Panchen Lama was kidnaped by Deng's 
government, Wei wrote to Deng saying:

       * * * the Chinese government should do away with the 
     traditional policy of detaining Tibetan religious leaders as 
     hostages * * * The Chinese government should eliminate the 
     mentality of the so-called ``great Han empire. * * * It was 
     your one-sided propaganda that has resulted in this national 
     discrimination against Tibetans * * * No matter what excuses 
     you give the Tibetan People, they are not as stupid as you 
     think. They know that you are not sincere in helping them so 
     that they would not trust you.

  Now that Deng is gone the Chinese Government has an opportunity to 
set things straight with the democracy movement in China and the 
Tibetan people.
  We hope that the Chinese leaders read his letters and join the 
civilized world by releasing Wei and permitting the reforms that he 
calls for.
  I ask that the full text of his open letter be printed in the Record 
at this point.

  Open Letter to Deng Xiaoping, the Director of the Tragedy of Tibet--
                            October 5, 1992

       Mr. Deng Xiaoping: I personally know only a little about 
     Tibetan history. However, I believe that I am more clear-
     minded than you and your people. Therefore, I venture to 
     write this letter to you and hope that you would create an 
     academic atmosphere of free expression, so that people of 
     knowledge could put forward more insight with regard to this 
     issue and find out the problem. Only by doing so, could we 
     avoid losing the last opportunity of settling the issue and 
     avoid repeating the situation of the former Soviet Union and 
     Yugoslavia.
       The director of this tragedy is no other than you, Mr. Deng 
     Xiaoping. As early as in the 1940s, the rulers of Tibet 
     started the discussion of social reform in Tibet. What they 
     wanted was a social system like that in Britain or India and 
     moderate reform based on religious values. In accordance with 
     custom over several thousand years, they wanted to carry out 
     the reform by themselves. They did not like the idea of being 
     reformed by foreigners or foreigner-like Han people (KMT 
     managed to respect this tradition so that relations between 
     KMT and Tibet were more harmonious).
       During the early 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party was at 
     its height. Like all other communist parties, it had little 
     respect for sovereignty and national self-determination. 
     Meanwhile, India, which just gained independence from British 
     rule, could hardly afford to help Tibet in its struggle 
     against the Chinese Communist Party. Therefore, the effort to 
     refuse entry of the communists into Tibet ended in failure. 
     Moreover, the ignorance of the young Dalai Lama and the 
     corruption of the Tibetan bureaucracy were the major factors 
     for the communist troops' smooth occupation of Lhasa.
       Regretfully, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, 
     Mao Zedong and yourself included, became big-headed with the 
     ``victory'' of the Korea War and the recovery of the economy. 
     At the same time when you carried out the ``big leap 
     forward'' and ultra-leftist policies in the mainland, you 
     began to implement leftist policies in Tibet by deciding to 
     accelerate the democratic reform in Tibet. During the war and 
     for a long while afterward, the mutual discrimination and 
     contempt between the Tibetans and the Chinese added to the 
     hatred which caused the killing of innocent people by the 
     army, and torture by officials. The estrangement between the 
     peoples deepened and the national struggle for independence 
     escalated. The situation and pattern of confrontation 
     between the two sides was just like that between the 
     colonial powers and the colonies in the old days. It was 
     also like the situation in today's Yugoslavia.
       The societies that have already divided or are in the 
     process of division are those that over-emphasize a limitless 
     administrative power of one nation over other nations. The 
     toughest obstacle facing the societies that have already 
     achieved unity or in the process of achieving it is also the 
     over-emphasis of sovereignty. The advantage of unity is 
     obvious and the arguments against unity are also strong. Why 
     should people put emphasis only on the arguments against 
     unity? Can you find a case to show that unity could be 
     maintained only by high pressure? Even if you could find one, 
     it must be because the time for division has not come yet. 
     You have all along advocated anti-colonialism and national 
     independence. In fact, you do not understand what anti-
     colonialism and national independence are. You have only 
     taken it as a convenient tool. This is precisely the root 
     cause of your leftism.
       Up until 1949, China had never oppressed Tibet nor had it 
     forced Tibet to be a subject to China. The two sides had 
     achieved sovereign unity voluntarily. Even today, chances of 
     unity between China and Tibet are much better than that 
     within the Commonwealth of Independent States and the 
     European Community. In the early days of his forced exile, 
     the Dalai Lama did not demand independence. Nor is he 
     demanding it today. This shows there exists a very good 
     chance of unity. However, you have adhered to the old ideas 
     and policies and continued to

[[Page E912]]

     trust old bureaucracy. What you are doing is to push Tibet 
     toward division. China has already lost nearly half of the 
     territory left from the Qing Dynasty. Should this go on, our 
     later generations would have to make a living by exporting 
     labor and to revitalize the Chinese nation would be out of 
     the question.
       There is lot to do to eliminate the evil consequences 
     caused by suppression and killings of the last 40 years and 
     to return the China-Tibet relationship to the traditional 
     track of normal development. The three pressing tasks are as 
     follows:
       1. First, mutual hatred and discrimination between the Han 
     people and the Tibetans must be rooted out, especially the 
     wrong concept in the minds of the Han about the Tibetans. Due 
     to the propaganda of the last 40 years, cadres in Tibet have 
     had a deep rooted discrimination against the Tibetans which, 
     in turn, has deepened the hatred among the Tibetans against 
     the Han. The real situation in this regard is beyond your 
     imagination and it is not at all like what your people have 
     told you.
       When I was imprisoned in Tibetan areas, I overheard a lot 
     of conversations which helped me to learn the discrimination 
     and contempt of the Han cadres against Tibetans. Everything 
     that has something to do with Tibet would be looked down 
     upon. It is even worse than discrimination of the white 
     people against the Indians. Frankly speaking, you yourselves 
     have this discrimination against the Tibetans and it has its 
     expressions in all the relevant documents, statements and 
     other propaganda materials. This has deepened the 
     estrangement between the Han people and the Tibetans which 
     would eventually lead to division.
       The labor camp in Qinghai Province which I was sent to was 
     in the place where the Tibetan army defeated the 100,000 
     troops led by General Xue Rengui. However, none of the cadres 
     in that region knew about the story. They all believed 
     that the Tibetans were ``enlightened'' because of a 
     Chinese princess. And they thought they were sent to Tibet 
     to help the Tibetans to reclaim the barren land where the 
     Tibetans had lived for generations. They acted and talked 
     just like colonialists. It was your one-sided propaganda 
     that has resulted in this national discrimination against 
     the Tibetans.
       2. Secondly, the government should speed up the development 
     of the market economy in Tibet and establish closer economic 
     relations between the inland areas and the Tibetan market. In 
     the last 40 years or so, the Tibetan market has suffered 
     great damage. The so-called ``socialist planned price'' fixed 
     for the products of Tibet's mineral resources and livestock, 
     which resembles colonialist exploitation, has caused 
     tremendous loss to the Tibetan economy. Your aid could in no 
     way make up their loss. What's more, most of your aid has 
     been used to support apparatus of suppression or scientific 
     research of the Han people. These include government offices 
     of various levels, hospitals and hotels for the Hans, 
     military facilities, observatories, geothermal power plants 
     which are not what most needed in the Tibetan economy. No 
     matter what excuses you give the Tibetan people, they are not 
     as stupid as you think. They know that you are not sincere in 
     helping them so that they would not trust you.
       3. Thirdly, the Chinese government should do away the 
     traditional policy of detaining Tibetan religious leaders as 
     hostages. Both religious and non-religious Tibetans have a 
     strong aversion to this policy. And this policy could hardly 
     prove your respect of human rights. The Chinese government 
     should eliminate the mentality of the so-called ``great Han 
     empire'' and sit at the negotiating table with the Dalai 
     Lama. He is concerned about your sincerity, because you 
     failed to win his trust in the past. Therefore, you should 
     let him choose the place for negotiation. He should be 
     allowed to return to Lhasa if he wants to do so. All these 
     are reasonable basic conditions. Even the appointment of the 
     Dalai Lama's negotiating aides has to be approved by the 
     Chinese Government. Isn't it too much?! To postpone the 
     negotiations with these excuses is an indication that your 
     people have no confidence in themselves. They are afraid that 
     all their nonsense would be exposed under the sun should 
     negotiations begin in real sincerity.
       You would be rewarding your people with the national 
     interest by continuing to tolerate them to act in defiance of 
     the law or public opinion. The chances of Tibet remaining as 
     part of China will be getting better with the beginning of 
     negotiations. Therefore, negotiations should start with no 
     pre-conditions. It would be desirable to invite the Dalai 
     Lama to return to Lhasa.
       The trend of the modern world is that unity is what will 
     happen sooner or later. The advantage of unity overshadows 
     its disadvantage. From what Dalai Lama has done in recent 
     years, I believe he understand better than I do about the 
     real issue.
                                                    Wei Jingsheng.

     

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