%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  Editorial Board of CBS Incident Committee  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

		       Friday, June 3, 1994   (No. 2)

=============================================================================
 ***  Part I. General Information  ***
=============================================================================
Table of Contents						   # of Lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Possible Legal Assistance on CBS Incident ............................  17
2. Some CBS phone numbers ...............................................  72
3. CBS Is In Bad Shape .................................................. 108
4. Advocacy contacts .................................................... 120
5. Internet Connections ................................................. 160
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----------------------------------------------
1. Possible Legal Assistance on CBS Incident
----------------------------------------------
From: Qingsong  Zhang 

The following is a list of possible legal assistance on the
CBS incident. We need to contact these groups.

Zhang Qingsong
IFCSS Newsletter Editor-in-Chief

=============================================================
***  WEST COAST  ***

Asian Pacific Legal Center
1010 Flower St.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90015
ph: (213) 748-2022

Asian Law Caucus
468 Bush St. 3rd Fl.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118 (94108?)
ph: (415) 391-1655

Break the Silence Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence
P.O.Box 2165
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94126
ph: (415) 982-2959

Intergroup Clearinghouse
995 Market St. rm 1114
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
ph: (415) 896-1355
service: assistance in reporting, information/referral

***  EAST COAST  ***

Asian Americans United
801 Arch Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19107
ph: (215) 925-1539

Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV)
191 East 3rd St.
NEW YORK, NY 10009
ph: (212) 473-6485

U.S. Department Civil Rights Division
call (202) 514-2000 to report incidents involving servious injuries or
property damage

U.S. Justice Department's Community Relations Service Federal Hate
Violence Hotline (800) 347-HATE
call to report incidents involving physical or verbal harassment

-------------------------------------
2. Some CBS phone numbers
-------------------------------------
From: XIAO@scri.fsu.edu

I have made phone calls to the following CBS offices.

1. CBS switchboard:  (212) 975-4321.

   At this phone number you can inquire phone numbers of any CBS personnel, 
you'll be transfered to the Communication's Department where they will find
the phone numbers for you.

   You can also ask to register your complaint, you will then be transfered
to recording machines to make a recording.

2. CBS Evening News:  (212) 975-3691

   Here at Evening News you can talk to a person who takes down the complaint
about the CBS report slandering Chinese.  You might be advised by the person
to write a letter, but since you already called, you should get her to write
down whatever you have to say and pass it to the guilty party.

3. Eric Ober's office:  (212) 975-6581

   Mr. Ober is the president of CBS Evening News, vice president of CBS
and he is responsible to authorize the news program (all news programs)
to air.

4. Connie Chung's office:  (212) 975-7192

   Ms. Connie Chung is not only the person who read the report.  She came
up with the original idea.  She and the Producer Tom Anderson went to China
to meet Premier Li Peng to produce this news piece.  Another Executive
Producer of this program is Eric Sorenson.

-------------------------------------------------
3. CBS Is In Bad Shape.
--------------------------------------------------
From: hua7291@med2s0.engr.ccny.cuny.edu (Mi Mi)

Time Mag.: CBS's stock went down 11%. Eight station were aquired by Fox
The eight are> Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta,Cleveland, Tampa,
               Phoenix,Milwaukee, and Austin TX.
CBS is in bad shape.

Mi Mi 

-------------------------------------
4. Advocacy contacts
-------------------------------------
From: 

Two groups come to mind that might be of help
in your advocacy:

Asian American Journalists Association
1765 Sutter St.
Rm. 1000
San Francisco, CA
94115
(415) 346-2051

One of their concerns is how Asian Americans
are portrayed in the media. It is ironic that
Connie Chung is a recent member of the associa-
tion.

Another group that specifically deals with
media portrayals (both positive and negative)
is the 

Media Action Network of Asian Americans
(213) 486-4434

This group is based in L.A. and has been a
vigilant watchdog of cartoons, statements
by non-Asians in the entertainment industry,
movie images, radio comments, and advertisements.


Don't reinvent the wheel! Link up with these
groups and others to learn tactics and strategy
(and to gain support, of course).

THE_One and only!
tfeng@hel4.brl.mil

-------------------------------------------------
5. Internet Connections 
--------------------------------------------------
From: YANG Chang-Qing 

Here is what I have so far:

president@whitehouse.gov !President
vice.president@whitehouse.gov !Vice President
nightly@nbc.com !NBC Nightly News
bwreader@mgh.com !Business Week Magazine
71154.1006@compuserve.com !U.S. News & World Report Magazine

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%   Executive Editor of CBS Incident Committee: Miao Ye     %
%   Sign on/off at listserv@ifcss.org, with mailbody as:    %
%    sub fcbs-l Firstname Lastname, or signoff fcbs-l       %
%   Post at fcbs-l@ifcss.org                                %
%   Anonymous ftp at  ifcss.org:/ifcss/cbs                  %
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  Editorial Board of CBS Incident Committee  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

		       Friday, June 3, 1994   (No. 2)

=============================================================================
  ***  Part II.  The Letter To the Legal Referral Service  ***
=============================================================================
From: hua7291@med2s0.engr.ccny.cuny.edu (Mi Mi)

Hi, everyone, the following is my letter to the Legal Referral 
Service. I just finished it today and faxed it to the local 
service.

You may do the following:

1) Download this letter, make changes necessary if you think so, 
put on your name, address and phone number on the upper right 
hand side of the letter; sign your name on it,

2) Check your yellow pages, in the lawyers section, find you 
local Bar Association's Legal Referral Service, call them up and 
get their fax numbers, or their addresses;

3) Fax, or mail this letter to them for reviewing. 

4) When they provide you with they recommendations, try to 
contact these lawyers to find out what they think of this case. 
It will cost you some dollars for the initial consultation fee. 

5) if their responses are positive, then we can plan our next 
step in legal action.

6) The lawyers fee can be in the amount of millions. We can not 
afford that, Just want to see if we can strike a deal with the 
lawyers if they agree to collect charges ONLY after we win and 
CBS PAYS the compensation. Lawyers usually will get you a  
contract to make a portion of the compensation fee as their 
awards. This, will put the lawyers also on the line, so they have 
to fight until we win. We have assure them there are tens of 
thousands CSS behind us, and we are willing to and capable of 
providing them with supporting evidences.

7) Lawyers are categorized into many professions. Not every 
lawyer is qualified for class action suit, just as you can not 
pick any lawyer to help you to apply your green card.

Do not wait for someone else do it for you. Do it yourselves, and 
do it NOW.

Mi Mi Sr.

Coordinator of the CBS Incident Committee

=================================================================

Attention: Legal Referral Service

Dear Sirs/Madame,

	I am writing to you on behalf of the Independent 
Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS), to 
seek a qualified lawyer to bring a class action suit 
against Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), for its 
evening news program, Eye on America, hosted by Ms. 
Connie Chung, on May 19th, 1994. We, as Chinese students 
and scholars who are currently studying in the US, feel 
being insulted and are outraged by Ms. Connie Chung's 
grossly exaggerated report on Chinese espionage in this 
country, particularly by the implications she made 
beyond the facts in her comments. Not only has the 
program defamed the Chinese nationals and other Chinese 
Americans as a whole group by creating an impression 
that every ordinary Chinese who has come to this country 
could be a potential spy and Americans should watch out 
on their Chinese neighbors, it also has gone so far as 
to advise the employers around the country to be 
suspicious on their Chinese employees or job applicants 
because these people are from China.  Rarely have we 
seen such an openly and blatant advocating for 
discrimination against an ethnic group.

	We must point out, in this program, many totally 
unrelated facts are deliberately put together to make 
points. Ms. Connie Chung began with the fact that "A 
Chinese student or scientist or businessperson applies 
for a visa to go to the US". Then she went on to claim 
that the Ministry of State Security then recruits them 
as spies, and tell them to lay low. She claimed such a 
Chinese spy, Mr.  Kao Yen Men, was caught 23 years 
later. The fact is, when the Mr. Kao came to the US 
twenty three years ago, there was no diplomatic relation 
between China and US.  It was in the era of Cold War and 
Vietnam War. Not a single ordinary mainland Chinese 
could possibly set his or her foot on  the soil of 
America. It is very unlikely that this Mr. Kao was even 
a  P.R.C. citizen.  It was not until 1978, more than 
seven years later than  Mr. Kao Yen Men had come to 
shore, did that planeloads of ordinary  Chinese 
students, scientists and businessmen begin arriving.  
Even so, most of the Chinese students and scientists 
were J-1 visa holders, or  exchange visitors, who were 
subject to the vigorously imposed "two-year-home-
residency" requirement by US Information Agency and 
Immigration And Naturalization Service.  There was no 
way for these potential "fish"  even to think about the 
"bottom".  By deliberately putting Mr. Kao's totally  
unrelated case together with the planeloads of ordinary 
Chinese people,  CBS was implying that the latter could 
be all potential spies. So, CBS is instigating the 
wildest imagination of and fabricating the largest 
espionage network ever in the history of humanity. The 
impression left by this report, is that any Chinese, no 
matter how innocent he/she looks or is, could be a 
potential spy. 

Most importantly, the report hinted that any Chinese who 
is hired by an American Company might steal national 
secrets for China, even against their own wills, since, 
as Connie Chung exclaims, the "Ministry of State 
Security will be watching their family members in China" 
and thus forcing them into submission. We are concerned 
that these irresponsible statements are producing an 
even stronger discrimination against people with Chinese 
origin.

As the coordinator appointed by the Independent 
Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS), I 
hereby am seeking the possibility of locating a law firm 
in order to bring a class action suit against CBS 
networks. 

IFCSS represents tens of thousands Chinese students and 
scholars nationwide, and is credited with the successful 
effort in lobbying the Congress to enact the Chinese 
Student Protection Act of 1992, which in turn is 
providing blanket protection to all of the Chinese who 
entered United States before April 11, 1990, shortly 
after the pro-democracy movement of 1989. Most of them 
are participants or sympathizers of pre-democracy movement. 
This is the group which Ms. Connie Chung had pointed her 
finger as " A Chinese student or scientist or 
businessperson" who had applied "for a visa to go to the 
US". 

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Sincerely yours,



Signed


Enclosure:
Transcript of The CBS Evening News

CHUNG: Coming up next, Eye on American. Tonight, the biggest spy 
network in American. We'll tell you who's running it and how.

CONNIE CHUNG, co-anchor:

The recent Ames spy case served as a reminder that the espionage 
business in this country is still thriving; that you don't always 
find spies in trench coats and that you could find them in the 
house next door.  In a special investigation, CBS News found out 
how China is grooming agents to keep an Eye on American.

Unidentified Woman: Only US citizens continue straight ahead.

CHUNG: Every day, planeloads of Chinese citizens arrive legally 
in the United States, ordinary people.  But to the Chinese 
government, some of them may be future spies, who a few years 
down the road, will be activated to steal American's military and 
technological secrets, whether they want to or not.

Are there any other countries that you know of that have this 
kind of spy network operating here in the United States?

Mr. NICHOLAS EFTIMIADES(Defense Information Agency): No, not-
certainly not to this -to this degree.

CHUNG: Nicholas Eftimiades, who works for an American spy agency, 
the Defense information Agency. His new book on Chinese 
intelligence raises serious questions for American government and 
business.

Mr. EFTIMIADES: I don't think we can say at this point any 
Western government is prepared to deal with this type of 
espionage threat, because it's different from anything that we've 
known to date.

CHUNG: It all starts here in Beijing. A Chinese student or 
scientist or businessperson applies for a visa to go to the US. 
Then the Ministry of State Security starts asking questions: What 
can you learn in the States? Will you be working with computers? 
Will you be loyal to China? And most importantly, can you be 
patient? Eftimiades says the prospective spies are trained, paid 
and warned to stay in touch. 'Remember,' they are told, 'we'll be 
watching your family members in China.' 'Lay low until you're 
contacted,' they are told. It could be years.

Mr.EFTIMIADES: Let me put it to you in the terms that the Chinese 
Intelligence Services describes it: Chen di yu, which is a 
Ministry of State Security slang term for fish on the bottom of 
the ocean. This has been defined in Western espionage as sleeper 
agents.

CHUNG: So they just sit there like fish at the bottom of the 
ocean and do nothing?

Mr. EFTIMIADES: They wait.

CHUNG: Until they have to surface.

Mr EFTIMIADES: Exactly.

CHUNG: This man is one of those Chinese fish at the bottom of the 
American ocean. Call him a reluctant spy. He's afraid he'll be 
contacted soon to hand over state-of-the-art computer programs.

Unidentified Man #1: Never forget, you belong to our 
organization.

CHUNG:'never forget,' they told him, 'you belong to our 
organization.'

Man #1: You were sent by our organization.

CHUNG:'You were sent by our organization, and this organization 
belongs to the Communist Party.'

Man #1: ...Communist Party.

CHUNG: Twenty-three years ago this man, Kao Yen Men, came to the 
US. In recent years, he lived a quiet life in this house in 
Charlotte, North Carolina. And he even bought a restaurant in 
downtown Charlotte. His neighbors never knew what he was up to.

Unidentified Man #2: I really didn't know what to think. I mean, 
you know, we came down to this nice little Southern city, and the 
next thing you know I'm down the street from a spy. I thought 
this was, like, a little fiction movie or something, but...

CHUNG: Some movie.  After a six-year FBI investigation, Kao was 
arrested and charged with trying to steal the advanced Mark 48 
torpedo, engines for the FA-18 Hornet jet fighter and radar for 
the F-16 Falcon jet.  Kao was caught, but security expert Pat 
Pattakos says most American companies are too naive about the 
Chinese spy threat.

Mr. Arion "PAT" PATTAKOS(Beta Analytics): Right now a lot of 
people don't really think of protecting themselves.

CHUNG: Especially when the target is information and computer 
data...

Mr. PATTAKOS: They'll look at all of this information here that 
they can access.

Unidentified Man #3: Yes.

CHUNG: ... all part of the more and more accessible information 
superhighway.

Mr. PATTAKOS: I mean, it's very easy to know when a truck is 
missing in front of you place. I mean, it's gone. It's a physical 
object. But think about information. Information is more 
intangible, and people may not know-realize that it's lost.

CHUNG: Pattakos says a new national strategy between business and 
government can trap the spies.  Eftimiades is much less 
optimistic.

Mr. EFTIMIADES: Once these spies get into American society, once 
they're deeply rooted into our structure, our society's 
structure, we're not going to be able to detect them. there is no 
way to stop them at that point.

CHUNG: The FBI is trying to help American corporations protect 
themselves from espionage. The bureau has a program now to brief 
executives about how their companies could become targets. Dan.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%   Executive Editor of CBS Incident Committee: Miao Ye     %
%   Sign on/off at listserv@ifcss.org, with mailbody as:    %
%    sub fcbs-l Firstname Lastname, or signoff fcbs-l       %
%   Post at fcbs-l@ifcss.org                                %
%   Anonymous ftp at  ifcss.org:/ifcss/cbs                  %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  Editorial Board of CBS Incident Committee  %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

		       Friday, June 3, 1994   (No. 2)

=============================================================================
 ***  Part III.  Suggestions and Discussions  ***
=============================================================================
Table of Contents						   # of Lines
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1. The Roles of fcbs-l, the New Idea About Boycott and 
         the Goal of This Campaign .....................................   20
2. An All-out Effort to Get an Interview with CBS ......................  124
3. The Draft of the Public Letter to Protest CBS  ......................  211
4. Seeking Lawsuit and A New Petition Drive ............................  303
5. Boycott the CBS News ................................................  370
6. Stop Talking, Just Have a Protest ...................................  391
7. Discussions: Short Term and Long Term Goals .........................  449
=============================================================================
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Roles of fcbs-l, the New Idea About Boycott and the Goal of This Campaign
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: NLUO@msvax.mssm.edu
 
(1) Roles of fcbs-l and some considerations on specific actions 

   (a) I'd like to view fcbs-l as the campaign network to reach out to 
as many people as possible.  Once we get ourselves organized in fcbs-l 
and start to pump out products like news releases, sample protesting
letters, protest action calls, etc., I would like to ask all the friends
on fcbs-l to reach out and to pass the information to the friends around
each of you, rather than to look at each other or some magic entity and 
wonder "why hasn't somebody made a move?"

   (b) CSS are one of the most proficient group in the world in e-network
activities. We should make use of this strong point of us. Of course, we 
must be very careful about what image we want to present, because that is 
the ultimate goal of this campaign (I'll discuss in more detail about this 
in the following), and to whom mainly we are going to appeal.

     In comparison, street demonstration is much more costly and difficult
to manage.  I recommend that extreme caution be exerted on this move,
unless it has been carefully planned and organized.  A wrong move in public
will take a hundred times of effort to undo.

     The probing on possibility and desirability of lawsuit has begun.  We
should keep constant consultation with professional legal services on this
aspect.  This is NOT something that we can proceed with "trial by error". 
Patience and respect to the law are absolutely required.  I admire what
Mi Mi has done on this direction and would like to ask we all give him
support.

    (c) Boycott is another viable option.  We must realize that Chinese
community itself does not have much weight in against the media giant CBS. 
However, our purpose is to make public statement through boycott.  We
should probably not target entire CBS or Connie Chung as an individual, but
the CBS Evening News.  To make the public statement more effective, we
should not only call all the people supporting us to boycott the CBS
Evening News, but also to inform all companies doing commercials during the
program that we are going to boycott their products, after a specific date
if CBS has not made any apology or explanation in public.  The idea is to
push these companies to call CBS and ask "what's happening?"  Again, the
whole thing has to be planned and managed well:  Who are coordinating it? 
How to initiate?  How to keep the participants informed about which
companies to write/call?  How to tune the campaign in order to encourage
those companies which have responded to our call?  etc., etc..

(2) What is the goal of this campaign?

     This is the question we have to ask ourselves from the beginning.  In
my opinion, the goal is not "to show our muscle".  This is not because we
Chinese as a community has not built up any "muscle" yet, but because what
we seek is justice and respect we deserve.

     The selling point of CBS Evening News for decades has been that it is
"the advocate of the Liberals" in the US.  Therefore, if we succeed in
making the point that what the 5/19 program by Connie Chung was nothing
less but a revival of McCarthyism, then we can make our appeal among the
mainstream intellectuals and educated people in this country, and strike
home hard on CBS.

     I am fully aware that the CBS program is a typical kitsch behavior
toadying to the dark side of human nature exhibited in the anti-immigrant
and anti-Asian sentiments.  However, if we confront this directly, we may
find that we do not have many allies, especially among labor and the poor
sectors of the society.  Moreover, we are in no position to defend Chinese
government on its practice to recruit from ordinary Chinese people for
espionage with threatening tactics.

     On the other hand, if we stand firm in defending the individual rights
of an ordinary person, not just for Chinese, our campaign will have a solid
ground.  During the unforgettable time in 1989, Chinese people here in the
US had experienced strong support from American people unsurpassed in
history.  Such support can only come from shared feeling of common destiny. 
By doing so, our weakness in population size will become a strength,
because it demonstrates that our conviction in the founding principles of
this nation is so strong that it overcomes our fear in potential
repercussions due to our speaking out.

     Some people view that the strong support of American people to us
since 1989 is motivated purely by their self-interests.  If we do not
believe at all that there is the side of righteousness and justice in this
nation, we had better shut up and pack ourselves and go home, for no law
could do justice without the justice in the heart of people. 

     We must recognized that, although the underdevelopment of Chinese
community in this country is mainly due to the racial discrimination toward
Asians, in particular Chinese, in the past, to render this situation we can
not rely on any one but ourselves.  Only by standing up in defending the
principles on which this nation is founded, not just when we ourselves are
attacked, could we develop the self-awareness of our community in the right
direction, and eventually be recognized by the other members in the society
as a responsible member of the society, which is small, but not weak.

     In summary, we should not portray the campaign as "Chinese against
CBS".  Rather, we should present it as "principle of individual rights
against the dark side of human nature --- fear, frustration, paranoia, and
hatred".

     If we could succeed in contributing to the healthy development of our
community by our work in this campaign, then we have already won the war
against the prejudices among people, and gained a victory over our past
weaknesses, even if we may lose some battles against CBS.
----------------------------------------------------------
2. An All-out Effort to Get an Interview with CBS
----------------------------------------------------------
From: LAI@CEBAF.GOV

	I have seen all the messages on this net, although I really could 
not spend too much time on each one of them. I have to say that I have 
learnt a lot about ourselves by thinking about many of the good ideas and
suggestions. At the same time, I would also like to throw in my two cents.
Before I do that, I have to say this first, if anyone finds that my thinking
is too moderate, please forgive me, but please do understand that I am
all-out with every one in fighting for fairness, if nothing more.

	Among the many good ideas, should we concentrate on one or two?
That is my key point here. Experience told us "get hands on many things
is not nearly as good as get one thing done". We have to consider how big 
a bility we have in handling this issue. Also, we have to consider what is 
the most effective way to have our voice heard. Let's take a look at the 
various actions suggested.

	1. Protest letter. The IFCSS sent a letter to CBS, and we also
have a letter in hand. These are all nice and easy jobs, at least do
not hurt anything. But, they do not seem to me such effective means. 
After all, these letters could not be shown on TV.

	2. Sue CBS. What to sue? Do we have concrete evidences that
some of us are direct victim of this newscast? We have to remember that
the court recognizes nothing but the hard evidence. You can not win a case
by saying that there is such a potential damage to you. I asked some local
lawyers specifically about this case. They all said that it would be a no-win 
case. One lawyer even told me that he doubt if any lawyer would be willing
to take a case like this, which is aimed at news media. On the other hand,
even if some one would, you'd better believe that CBS can find a much better
one (money!) to defeat you (after all, the battle in court is really a
battle between lawyers), don't even mention how long it could be and whether 
we really have the sustained ability to do that. Also, we have to know the 
practice in the US about news media, which are very sensitive entities in 
terms of freedom of press. We all see so many junks stirred up by new media 
about those public figures, such as Bush, Clinton and many congress men, but 
yet we do not see the slightest possibility of legal action against news 
media. (One exception was GM vs NBC, which was not actually brought to court,
and GM had actual HARD EVIDENCE of being damaged by NBC's false presentation).

	3. Boycott CBS evening news. That is a good move, but again, how
effective is it? Does it serve the purpose of having our voice heard?
Probably not. Please do not take me wrong as if I opposed this action (as
a matter of fact, I do watch it at all!), I am just concerned with the
effectiveness of this action.

	4. Demonstration. Not such a bad idea, but how do we do it? I 
do not appose this either. The only question is: Are we going to be able
to organize one, I mean an effective one (or many)? I am not sure 
about it. A demonstration really needs a lot of detailed organization if
you want to attract some attention.

	Well, someone may say: "Shut up! Are you telling us to give up?".
Not really. Please think again about our GOAL and the EFFECTIVENESS. Are
we shooting Connie Chung? What about Connie Wang? Connie Brown? Connie
Whatever? If we direct our anger to Connie Chung without a clear message,
I guarentee you something like this will come out again from another mouth.
The only purpose (as far as I understand) of this protest is to send out
a signal: The Chinese community here feels that the newscast was a grossly
misleading message, it is a distorted, unfair and unjustified presentation.

	Based on my observation, I suggest that we concentrate on one
thing: An all-out effort to get an interview with CBS, AND demand such
an interview be aired. This is well within our ability, will well serve
our purpose, and yet will be much more effective than anyone of the above. 
If CBS rejects such a demand, we can go to the other two of the Big Three, 
or CNN, or PBS, or even local stations. I simply do not believe that
we will be turned down everywhere. Should that really happen, we have no 
choice but to resort to some more radical measures, no matter whether
effective or not then (better than nothing when no choice).

	One more thing I would like to say. I perfectly understand the 
emotions among many of us. But, please do not be overwhelmed by emotions 
when you are working on a serious issue. Otherwise, like we say, one step 
ahead of the truth would be a mistake.

	Let me stop here. If the majority agree that we should concentrate
on such an interview, then the next step would be how to prepare and how 
to get one of us on the show, and we have to do it quick before things are
cooled down.

	Thanks for your attention.

						Anzhi Lai
--------------------------------------------------------
3. The Draft of the Public Letter to Protest CBS
--------------------------------------------------------
From: 

Hi, Mr. Mi Mi Sr.,

First I'd like to say thank you for your time and effort for organizing this
committee.  As we all are all over the country and busy with our own stuff,
it is very admirable that you took the lead to organize this.

I don't know whether you noticed my previous mail.  In it I suggested that we
draft a protest letter and ask CSS all over the country to sign it.  I don't
know what you think about it, and who should write it.  I have seen some
letters circulating in the news, and based on them I also have a version of 
mine, which is included at the end of the mail.  I am wondering whether you
can take a look at it, and if necessary, distribute it to the list to ask
for revisions, so that we can distribute them on a wider scale later.

Again, thanks a lot for your time and effort!

Pei
----------------------

Hi Mi Mi Sr.,

Thank you for considering me again. 

After talking about this incident with some American friends, I think the
right way to protest is not to accuse CBS of lying --- after all, we do not
have the necessary information to prove that they are wrong --- but rather,
present CBS with the infomation we have, that we ourselves are innocent and 
were not "trained and paid to be a spy"; that the situation twenty-three 
years ago was very different from now, etc.  But such information can only
be provided on an individual bases, that each CSS can only speak for himself
or herself alone.

So I am convinced that being confrontational is not the best way.  A more
engaging approach would be more effective.  And I am considering changing
my draft letter.  

Since each CSS has his or her own opinion on this issue, I'd rather 
offer suggestions for the content of the letter as an individual, not as a 
committee member.  Of course I would also like to help distribute the letter.

And as a final note, I would also like to see the draft being broadcast to
the mailing list and discussed.  

Thank you!

Best Regards,

Pei Cao

---------------------- (enclosed letter ) ------------------------------------

Dear Ms. Connie Chune:

I read a transcript of your CBS news report on a Chinese spy on May 19th and I 
am very upset about your comments in the report.  Your comments are sending a
misleading message to the America that every person who has a Chinese origin
is a potential spy. It is totally untrue and extremely irresponsible.

I strongly protest your gross generalization in your report.  Can you say that 
every American in China is a potential spy because a CIA agent has been found 
in Beijing? Can you say every Anglo-American is a potential racist because one 
white man was found painting anti-Semitic graffiti in public place? Can you 
say that everyone African-American is a potential rapist because one black man 
was found guilty of raping?  No! Any sound-minded person would not think so 
and would not say, or even suggest such viciously irresponsible, racial-hatred 
provoking comments.

As a reporter whom millions of people watch every night, you should have
some basic professional ethics!  In this country where human rights and
equal-opportunity are highly treasured, do you realize your comments are 
incredibly racist?  

The damage your comments has done is serious and beyond estimate. How many
jobs will be affected because of the "spying" suspicion? How many people
will be rejected of employment because of this ridiculous allegation? How many
children will grow up in a hostile shadow of this "spying" hallucination? How
much racial hatred and distrust will grow due to this irresponsible allusion?
How many families have been buried in grief since May 19th? ...

I am very sad and indignant!  I believe we Chinese students deserve an
apology for what you said in May 19th CBS news report. I believe all people
who believe in human rights deserve an apology from you and CBS.

Sincerely,

Pei Cao

--------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Seeking Lawsuit and A New Petition Drive
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: zx11@postoffice.mail.cornell.edu  

Dear friends:

   From a forwarded mail to me, I know something going on in this net.
Probably there were two ways undergoing: 1). Seeking lawsuit; 2). A new
petition drive.

   Thanks for your hard work.

   I'd like to have several cents of considerations to share with you:

   1. It seems there haven't been a news report on World Journal (someone
told me there might be one in Xindao Daily). It will bring about wide
social effects on and draw massive attention from Chinese society if this 
story could be on World Journal, which will also be good for coordinative
action with other Chinese groups, like OCA. I talked with a reporter
in World Journal on May 21 and she promised it would be posted. I wish
it had been. Otherwise, could someone in this committee contact this
newspaper and share our concern with them again.

   2. Harsh argument usually doesn't work well. I talked with Ms. Qiu
Zhao-qi, a reporter in World Journal, a couple days ago. She told me a
similar essay was posted in New York Times in Feb. She was planning to
study this subject and might publish a full essay on this issue. She 
was willing to seek cooperations in this regard from Chinese students and
scholars, and try to get more complete information and data. I would 
recommend anyone who will be interested in this, to her for this 
cooperation. What I mean, theoretic studies on this issue from broader 
views are necessary.

   3. The following-up of current letters to CBS is more important than
a new round of protest letter. We 've letters from Li Xiaolin and IFCSS
Vice-president Shi Heping, both of them are quite reasonalbe. The former
was attached with individual's signatures and the latter from a nationwide
organization. CBS should have replies to them. Given their already-made
apology to Chinese Channel 26 TV in San Francisco, I believe CBS should 
seriously consider these two letters. Could this committee or just Mr. 
Li Xiaolin and IFCSS HQ staff contact the CBS headquarter immediately?

   4. About the overall strategy. Some friends think the filing lawsuit
will be a proper action. How about the alternative outcome? I mean, if 
CBS acknowledges its improper programing, and makes an apology, what 
should we do next? Do we still send the new round of protest letter to
CBS, ABC, NBC, and somewhere else? What are our primary goal, miniamal
and maximal? What could be the overall effects of this protest? We should
discuss these at least along our taking actions right now.
.
   5. To avoid the action of an organization, like IFCSS, always driven 
by events in future, I would propose the formation of a sort of working 
council in the framework of IFCSS, which could immediately respond to 
the "incident events" relevant to the interests of Chinese students and
scholars. The members of this council should be within our community 
very well and can sense any major or minor incidents which happen of a 
sudden in our community. It will be appropriate to engage many local CSSO
leaders and other activists in, in order to accumulate promptly the 
information of incidents occurring unexpectedly. To care the community
will definitely improve IFCSS' service to the community. We should make
IFCSS to be well known with regard to this available assistance. People 
need help on these occasions, and no one can deny that an organization 
could act stronger than an individual!

Xing Zheng form Cornell University
  
------------------------------------
5. Boycott the CBS News
------------------------------------
From: <9406010154.AA18255@ifcss.org>

From: <60872893@WSUVM1.CSC.WSU.EDU>

I have two suggestions:

1. Let's boycott the CBS Evening News.  This will send a message to
Dan Rather and Connie Chung that if you do not care what you broadcast,
your audience have every right to abandon you.  Peter, Tom, and CNN
will deliver a better service.

2. Write letters to New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times
and other national newspapers to exprees our concern.  These papers
have Open-Ed or Editorials/Letters page to print views from the
readers.  However, letters must be well-designed, carefully worded,
and convincing.  But, please mention Connie Chung's name to make
her learn a lesson how much unfriendly to her brothers and sisters will
cost.

-----------------------------------------------------------
6. Stop Talking, Just Have a Protest
----------------------------------------------------------- 

Hi,

      I have been following this new group for 48 hours (?). 
What I have read is discussion, discussion, and nothing but
discussions. My two cents are

(1) Given the fact that there are more than 80,000 chinese
students and scholars in USA, have a few of Mr/Ms Li's 
opinion is really nothing. We really do not need to spend
time to educate them or to align the thought of everybody.

(2) Can we just stop talking and debating and arguing, and
just have a protest, in DC or NYC? Say the coming
weekend? Is there anyone who knows how to organize one and
can send a mesg to this newsgroup about the schedule?
Having 500 participants is good, having 50 participants is
OK, too.

I am not that patient, either do someting now, or forget
about it. I just do not enjoy reading those arguing, reasoning
and understanding. If chinese is discriminated badly here,
you really do not expect to change it overnight, anyway.

Let's just do a little thing and contribute a little to
improve the situation, in that sense, it does not have to be
perfect, lawsuit or protest.

JS
---------------------------------------

From: <0005678497@mcimail.com>
 
Yes, let's do somthing NOW! Count me in if you organize the protest. Could
you, JS, organize the protest if enough people respond to your appeal?

Xiaohong
----------------------------------------
From: 

Shi Jingping made a good point. The CBS incident is not like
the CSPA campaign in which you have a clear cut win or lose
situation (if the bill passes, we win, if not, we fail). In
this case, a show of indignity and protest is more important.
If we file a law suit, it may take a few years to have results.
For short term plans, I think sending protest letters, issuing
statements to news media, some protest rallies are more
effective.

As Jingping pointed out, we may seen another incident any time
in the future. At that time, people would pay attention to the
new incident and forget the CBS incident.

Zhang Qingsong

------------------------------------------------------------
7. Discussions: Short Term and Long Term Goals
------------------------------------------------------------
From: XIAO@scri.fsu.edu

I joined the list late and don't know who the committee members are and
what they are doing.  Would Mr. MiMi or whoever take a lead:

1.  Define a short term goal.
2.    Determine what actions to take to achieve the short term goal. 
3.    Organize people to do the research before taking actions.
4.    Organize people to take actions.

5.  Define a long term goal.
6.    Determine what actions to take to achieve the long term goal.
7.    Organize people to do the research before taking long term actions.
8.    Organize people to take actions toward long term goal.

I think the short term goal is to get CBS apologize in public.  So other
news organizations can learn a lesson and stop shitting on Chinese
community.  The long term goal is to prepare and file a law suit.

And please stop discussing everyone's minds and start doing something
for real.

Where are the committee members?  
-------------------------------------------
From: tao.tao@stjude.org

I read the posting to this list for ~3 days.  I am sorry to say that I grow
increasingly impatient and pessemistic.

What I would like to see are the followings:

1. Short-term-wise:  we should have some grassroot organization effort so
	all the css organizations can be motivated to write, phone, fax to
	CBS to protest its irresponsible act.  What I have to stress here
	is that EVERY CHINESE, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE FROM, ARE AT RISK.
	The naive americans will not distinguish where you are from.

2. Long-term-wise:  some organization should assume the leading role to
	file the class action law suit against CBS.  The suggestion of ACLU
	is a good thing to bear in mind, it is by far the most influential
	organization in the public mind (even though it may not be linked to
	good things all the time).  What we need is the publicity and the 
	damage of CBS' image and business interest.


agenda.

My 2 cents worth of opinion.

Tao

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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		       Friday, June 3, 1994   (No. 2)

==============================================================================
 ***  Paat IV. Community Activities  ***
============================================================================== 
Table of Contents						   # of Lines
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Post to non-Chinses Newsgroups .......................................   14
2. Calling CBS to protest ...............................................  146
==============================================================================
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Post to non-Chinses Newsgroups 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: he@server.uwindsor.ca (Herb Ho)
 
This is what I sent to another newsgroups, those read mostly
by Americans. One way to control the damage is make as many
people as possible know the absurdity of this story. To post
to non-Chinese newsgroups is just such a way. If you want, you
can re-post this message, too.

Herb
===============================================================
American patriots, those who love freedom and cherish their
human rights, GET BUSY! America is under threat! In a special
investigation, CBS has found, with the support of US government
agencies, that Chinese spies are lurking everywhere in America!
Yes, everywhere! It is the NO. 1 spectre haunting this
land, the bastion of democracy and liberty!

Americans: Ask NOT what your country can do for you, but ASK
what you can do for your country! You can help your
beautiful country by helping these bodacious spies.
As many as they are, these spies, being from an
inferior race, are quite stupid and therefore quite easy to
catch. You see, they spy by using the computers, the information
highway, such as the E-Mail. Any time you see a Chinese get
close to a computer, get vigilant immediately. If you see
anything suspicious, such as downloading files from the
the computer, call 911 without any delay! This is not too much
your country asks of you. In case you think it is, you can still
help your country by at least staying away from the Chinese. If
you are a landlord, evict your Chinese tenants, for they may be
spies; if you are buying a new house, make sure you don't have
Chinese neighbours, for they may be spies; if you are an
employer, fire your Chinese employees and never hire them
again, for they may be spies; if you run a university, never
accept any Chinese students, for they may be spies; if you
are businessman, never do any business with the Chinese, for
they may be spies; indeed, never even go to a Chinese restaurant,
for the restauranteur may also be a spy -- their delicious food
may just be a bait. The Chinese spies are everywhere, built
into the American "society structure."  Talk to the FBI, fast!
They have programs to help you help your country!

================================================================
Okay. Now the CBS story, a battle cry against the Yellow Peril:
================================================================
...  you don't always find spies in trench coats, you could find
them next door. In a special investigation, CBS has found out how
China is grooming agents to keep an eye on America. Everyday,
planeloads of Chinese citizens arrive legally in the United States,
ordinary people. ......
   ....

     The FBI is helping American corporations to protect themselves
>from espionage. The bureau now has programs to brief executives on
how their companies could become targets.-- 
------The End---------
===================================================================

Those who have doubts about the threat of Yellow Peril:

The above is the text of that story I transcribed from
a VCR recording.

I have never watched or read a more outrageous news story
in any media anywhere. Try substituting every "Chinese" here
for "American", "China" for "America", and vice versa, you will
know what I mean.

Please read the story and then put yourself in
the shoe of any Chinese accused, distrusted, denied
employment, socially rejected, or criminally charged on
suspicion of being a spy, how do you think you can defend
yourself, if the allegations here are accepted as facts? You can
be branded a spy or a potential spy even if you "just sit there
and do nothing." And judging from the response over the netland,
Americans, after all these years of China-bashing,
usually don't question such stories at all. In fact, they
not only readily believe such stories, they can also imagine
more. So, someone in soc.rights.human wrote about "several"
Chinese spies being arrested, which I guess is even news to
both FBI and CBS.

The only Chinese spy case that CBS has managed to find as
illustration for its story involved a man who came to the US
23 years ago. He is obviously not one of the "planeloads of
Chinese" who now come to the US everyday. 23 years ago, Richard
Nixon had not visited China yet, and the two countries then were
not even posting diplomats to each other. No Chinese could have
possibly come to the US, especially in a private capacity, at
that time. The guy could not possibly be from mainland China.
While it is possible that the Chinese government somehow
recruited this man, possibly from Hong Kong or Taiwan, in
the US, the case sounds impossible. How can a restauranteur
possibly steal engines for jet fighters and then get it out of
the US? It is like a supermans' story. It seems the guy pleaded
guilty, though, after some plea bargaining, which looked more
like a setup.

The Chinese in North America have always been a largely passive
group of people, and that has a lot to do with intimidation of
one form or another. This is a very vulnerable group of people,
who over the years and decades have learned more to adapt to
overwhelming circumstances but less to stand up for themselves.
The Chinese as a people certainly have problems, so does China
as a country, just like other peoples and countries. We Chinese
should be working on these problems, as I was when I was in Beijing
as a political dissident. But the bashing and demonizing of the
Chinese in the West is not only excessive but also getting dangerous.
Never putting things into proper perspective, such bashing tends
to take on racial biases, couched in ideological terms. It hurts
just too many innocent people.

I must say that the Chinese are not the only ones at risk here.
If there is anything to be admired of America, it is the generally
open relationships between the ordinary people, and it is the
the principles of natural justice that Americans usually insist
on for everyone. If you create an atmosphere of suspicion among
some people against some other people, you will be lifting up
a stone to drop on your own feet, as a Chinese saying goes.

To give you an example, if the demonized Chinese can be attacked
by blatant fabrication or innuendo, what about the principle of
innocence until beyond guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

Human rights, human rights, where are human rights? I see only
human wrongs here.

Herb

-------------------------------
2. Calling CBS to protest 
-------------------------------
From: he@server.uwindsor.ca (Herb Ho)

I called CBS headquarters and got transferred to the director
of its Audience Services Department. I forgot the guy's name,
but either his first or his last name is something like Ray.

I urge everybody to call. There are a few things to pay
attention to, though.

One of the CBS defences is that it reported only an opinion,
and it was a US government opinion. We can counter by saying
that it was not an opinion piece, and if it was, then CBS is
duty-bound to present other opinions, which it did not.

(I believe that there is specific legislation in the US
requiring balanced presentation of opinions. It will be
great if some law students in the US can research the law in this
area.)

Remember to make specific demands in addition to making protests.
We can demand several things: An open apology and recanting of the
the story, another story presenting an opposite opinion, and
financial compensation.

Herb

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