Henry C.K. Liu
>From the HK Standard - April 8 1997
Dissident presses Nato case
By Fong Tak-ho
AMID a dispute between China and Nato over the Kosovo issue, a Chongqing-based dissident wrote to President Jiang Zemin and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaquan to call for Beijing to drop its opposition to the alliance's military action against Yugoslavia.
Wang Jianlin, a member of the China Development Union, said that Beijing leaders were opposing to the military action because they did not accept human rights was as important an issue as a country's sovereignty.
China was obviously alarmed by Nato concerns over human rights conditions as it could set a precedent for a later interference should problems be found in Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia, Mr Wang said in the letter dated 5 April.
Beijing has been fierce in attacking separatist activities in Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. And the West has expressed repeatedly its concerns over rights after the crushing of the separatist activities in those ethnic Chinese minority-dominated regions.
Mr Wang also said that Beijing's attitude would harm its national interests since China now needs capital, market opportunities and technology from the Nato member countries.
The mainland was hoping too to gain more aircraft from Russia since both Moscow and Beijing were opposing the attacks, Mr Wang claimed.
He argued that Chinese media should not merely report the negative side of Nato attacks. The media have kept up a barrage of criticism since air strikes started two weeks ago.