WASHINGTON, June 4 /U.S. Newswire/ — In an interview with Friends of
Falun
Gong USA, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Mark Palmer called upon the
U.S.
government to support true democracy in China by exposing corrupt
Communist
officials and warned that former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang
Zemin
is the “greatest threat to regional and American security.”
Ambassador Palmer discussed the accountability of the Jiang regime in
the
persecution of Falun Gong, and the corruption of the Party’s elite, who
have
brought vast sums of money out of China into the United States and other
countries.
Palmer is one of the founders of Friends of Falun Gong USA, a human
rights
organization established to support the freedom of belief of those who
practice Falun Gong. The organization is sponsoring a civil lawsuit
against
Jiang and the Falun Gong Control Office, also known as Office 6-10,
which he
established. Jiang banned the spiritual discipline in 1999 and
instituted a
severe repression that has resulted in more than 700 deaths and hundreds
of
thousands of arrests. He has been charged with torture and genocide in
China
and for conspiracy to deprive practitioners of their civil rights here
in
the United States.
Citing the Communist dictator’s creation of internal and external
enemies to
justify the use of force, Palmer stated, “Our problem is not with China
or
even with the Government of China. Our problem is with Jiang Zemin and
those
around him.”
Palmer noted that President Bush has called for democracy in China. He
recommended that one of the best ways to do that is “to focus attention
and
actions on those directly responsible for the continuing violations of
human
rights.”
When asked about Party leaders with illegal assets in the U.S., Palmer
suggested the majority of Chinese people would support the U.S. exposing
them. “It would encourage them to demand an honest, accountable system
in
China, one in which judges act according to the law and not the
Communist
bosses and their personal interests.”
Mark Palmer was U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 1986-90 when Hungarians,
Poles and others went into the streets and demanded and got their
freedom
from an oppressive communist system. He served as Deputy Assistant
Secretary
of State from 1982-86.
The interview is available at:
http://www.fofg.org/news/news_story.php?do
c_id =485
http://www.usnewswire.com/
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=133-06042003
6/4/03 1:06:39 PM
Posting date: 5/June/2003
Original article date: 4/June/2003
Category: Media Reports
