************************************************************** IFCSS Headquarters News Release No. 5119 March 07 ,1994 ************************************************************** Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) 733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 440, Washington, D.C.20005 Tel. (202)347-0017 Fax: (202)347-0018 Email: ifcss@wam.umd.edu A Letter to President Clinton ============================= IFCSS HQ Note: The detention of Wei Jingsheng and other dissidents once again demonstrated the necessity to provide protection for Chinese students and scholars who came to the U.S. after April 11, 1990. The following letter is drafted as part of the effort to obtain such protection. IFCSS HQ calls upon all the local Chinese student organizations to sign the following letter. We need a strong voice. Please reply to this account: ifcss@wam.umd.edu or call IFCSS HQ: 1-202-347-0017. 1-202-347-0018 (fax) with organization's name, contact person, address and phone #. ==================================================================== The Honorable William J. Clinton President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC Dear Mr. President: We, the undersigned Chinese student organizations in the United States, are writing to request that protection be provided for Chinese students and scholars who would face possible persecution and reprisal upon return to China. Last week, the Chinese government detained Wei Jingsheng and about ten other dissidents. This morning, The Washington Post and New York Times reported that a 1989 Democracy Movement student leader, was taken away by the police. Another student leader, Ma Shaofang, has disappeared. The fact that such detentions took place while Assistant Secretary John Shattuck was still in China and Secretary Christopher is due to visit China once again demonstrates the unpredictability of the fate of those Chinese who dare to express their disagreement with the Chinese Communist Party. During the prodemocracy movement in 1989, most of us participated in the peaceful demonstrations in Beijing and other Chinese cities. Later on, many of us were imprisoned or persecuted and almost all of us were forced to express approval for the massacre and the subsequent crackdown. For many of us, it was only after undergoing many difficulties that permission was granted for us to leave the country. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 granted Chinese students who came to the U.S. before April 1, 1990 the option to adjust their status to permanent residency on the grounds that because their participation in the prodemocracy demonstrations in the U.S. in 1989, they might be subjected to persecution or reprisal upon return to China. While we appreciate such protection provided for our fellow students, we feel that as individuals who have already been subjected to persecution or reprisal and who are more likely to face the same inhumane treatment, we need protection as much as our fellow students who came to the U.S. before the above-mentioned cutoff date. Some of us have graduated and many are due to graduate soon. As we look at the current human rights situation in China, we cannot but feel fear for what might happen to us when we go back. Because of our "counter-revolutionary" records and our continued efforts in the U.S. to promote democracy and freedom for China, we have every reason to believe that what is happening to Wei Jingsheng and others today will happen to us tomorrow. Therefore, we ask that a two-year extension be granted to us upon expiration of our valid visa status and that such an extension be renewable depending on human rights situation in China. We thank you for your commitment to improvement of human rights in China. (signatures)