############################################################################ T h e E l e c t r o n i c N e w s l e t t e r o f I F C S S %=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%= _____________ _____________ ______________ / _____ }} / _________}} / __________}} / // }____}} { {{________ { {{_________ | || _____ \_________ }} \__________ }} \ \\____} }} _________} }} __________} }} _________ \____________// __{_____________// __{______________//____________ ]]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]] ]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]] ]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]] ]]] ]]] ]] %=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%= Press Desk October 20, 1994 No.94003 %=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%=%= IN THIS ISSUE: No of Lines ============================================================================ *** _____ Electronic Press Conference _____ *** 1. IFCSS HQ NR #6015: New Development on the CBS Incident ............... 81 *** __________ In the Community __________ *** 2. CBS Incident Committee's Special Report of Progress ................. 122 ============================================================================ ================= <<<<< Electronic Press Conference >>>>> ================== 1. IFCSS HQ NR #6015: New Development on the CBS Incident ............... 81 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: IFCSS HQ 10/17/94 Dear Chinese students and scholars, The fight against the CBS News' "Eye on America" program on May 19, 1994, has been going on for more than five months now. Many may have forgotten it, with so many things happening in the world. However, the members of the CBS Incident Committee (CBSIC) have not given up. They have devoted their precious time and scarce resources persistently in reaching out to other Chinese and Asian American organizations, civil rights organizations and government agencies in order to get our voice heard, and at the same time conducting a solid research to check out the facts from the first-hand data published by the US Government and from other sources. Our community did not swallowed the humiliation that the May 19 CBS program had thrown on us this time and has not been sitting idle ever since. Thousands of protest letters have been sent to CBS News. Many people have donated money to support the work of CBSIC. Rarely before have we ever seen such a unified effort to protect our own community. Now a new stage has been reached. On Tuesday, October 18, 1994, representatives of Chinese community were invited to a luncheon with the top management and the product team of the CBS News at the CBS News Headquarters in New York City. The participants representing the Chinese community included: Mr Huang Lin, National Coordinator of CBSIC (CUNY) Mr Xiao Dong, Research Coordinator of CBSIC (Florida State U) Mr Wang Ray, Spokesperson of CBSIC (SUNY Binghamton) Ms Lu Shuping, the NYC coordinator of CBSIC (NYU) Ms Li Yingying, Administrator Assistant (MIT GSC) Ms Ginny Gong, National President, Organization of Chinese Americans Mr Kung-Lee Wong, Executive Director, Committe of 100 Ms Sylvia Chin, President of the New York Chapter of APABA (Asian Pacific American Bar Association) Mr Luo Ning, President, IFCSS The hosts included: Mr Eric W. Ober, President, CBS News Mr Lane Venardos, Vice President, Hard News and Special Events Ms Connie Chung, Anchor Mr Tom Anderson, Program Producer Mr Allen Alter, Foreign Editor and several others (including one attorney) Mr. Ober opened the exchange with apologizing that the program had hurt the feeling of so many people of the Chinese community. The representatives of the Chinese community organizations stated our position and demanded open-air as well as written apologies by CBS News. The exchanges between the both sides were sometimes quite fierce (more details of the meeting will be coming out in our later reports). In the end, Mr. Ober said that the meeting had given CBS News an opportunity to learn our point of view and "sensitized" their understanding about our feelings on such issues. He promised that he would get back to us soon. Today, Mr. Ober sent a letter to Ms. Ginny Gong, the spokesperson of the groups present in the Tuesday meeting. The letter says: "We are fully aware that the vast majority of Chinese, Chinese Americans, and other Asian Americans are exactly what they seem to be: legitimate, law-abiding students, visitors, immigrants and citizens, both long and short-term. If our story did not convey that awareness, we fully apologize." "On this Friday's edition of The CBS Evening News, we will make a very serious effort to set the record straight. I hope you will be watching and will alert other members of the group that attended today's luncheon and the larger constituency they represent." We do not know what will be coming out tomorrow. We reserve our rights for taking further actions pending upon the CBS News show tomorrow. We urge the members of CSS community to watch the CBS Evening News tomorrow night and feed back your impression to us as soon as possible. No matter what will be the result, we Chinese in this country have come a long way. We do not silence ourselves any more. We stick all together and coordinate our actions well. And we are exploring our way to enter the mainstream society, not only as individuals, but also as a community. In striving for a more prosperous and strong community, in protecting our civil rights against the imminent tides of anti-immigrant prejudices and sentiments, we could learn a lot from this episode of the CBS Incident. Luo Ning President, IFCSS Oct. 20, 1994 ======================= <<<<< In the Community >>>>> ======================= 2. CBS Incident Committee's Special Report of Progress ................. 122 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mi Mi Lin Huang Dong Xiao Ray Wang Shuping Lu Yingying Li Special Delegation From CBS Incident Committee to CBS Luncheon of communication Dear Fellow Chinese: On May 19th, CBS aired that notorious news segment which has met with the strongest protest from our and other Asian communities. Tens of thousands of letters, faxes and phone calls poured in to voice one message --we, the Chinese, in this land enjoy just as much as civil rights as any other ethnic groups and gone are the days when anyone in this country thinks this group can be bullied or humiliated. It was under such circumstances, CBS Incident Committee came into being. It consists of 80 core members and more than 8,000 followers. The committee over a period of five months has coordinated a protest movement with a international scope, contacted relevant government agencies, media, civil rights groups and conducted thorough research on the so-called "spy myth." There were moments of frustration and there were moments of doubts. But what keeps firing us up and what keeps us going is the sense of support we receive from you all. We know that you are all behind us and with perseverance we, together, can make a difference. WE HAVE!!! On October 18th, as a special delegation, we went to the CBS headquarters and forcefully voiced our anger and demand. And the president of CBS News apologized for our hurt feelings and today he told us again in writing and promised on October 21st CBS Evening News, "a very serious effort to set the record straight." Even though we have yet to see what they will say in the program, we believe we have already scored a major victory against a media giant. In the tele-press-conference on October 20th, our victory was viewed as the unprecedented event in the history of Chinese in the United States for justice, and equality. We should be proud of our achievement! WE the Chinese people in the United States! We want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has been actively involved in this arduous fight for justice and dignity, thank those who have either contributed financially or those who volunteered their time or work in any stage of our work. Dear fellow Chinese, even though our fight with CBS might be drawing to a close, we believe our fight for equality in this country has barely started. We hope we can keep our fighting spirits alive and we hope we will continue to receive your support. We know together we can make a difference. Lin Huang Dong Xiao Ray Wang Shuping Lu Yinying Li and all the Members of CBS Incident Committee ================================================================= Attached: The letter of CBS News' President ----------------------------------------------------------------- CBS NEWS A Division of CBS Inc., New York, NY 10018 (212)876-8581 Eric W. Ober President October 20, 1994 Dear Ms. Gong: This letter is being written as we are still fresh from Tuesday's luncheon here as CBS, I am speaking for all the people from CBS News who attended the gathering when I say that we were impressed by the depth of the genuine feelings expressed by all of you. We also now appreciate how it is possible to misconstrue or misinterpret the report on efforts by the Chinese government to insinuate spies into the United States. We appreciated how members of the Chinese community felt they were unfairly singled out. We are fully aware that the vast majority of Chinese, Chinese Americans, and other Asian Americans are exactly what they seem to be: legitimate, law-abiding students, visitors, immigrants and citizens, both long and short-term. If our story did not convey that awareness, we fully apologize. After a series of discussions with the people at CBS News who were involved in the broadcast and its preparation, we have decided on a course of action. On this Friday's edition of The CBS Evening News, we will make a very serious effort to set the record straight. I hope you will be watching and will alert other members of the group that attended today's luncheon and the larger constituency they represent. I believe the dialogue we established will go a long way to re- establishing the historically strong relationship between the Chinese and Chinese American communities and CBS News. It is a relationship of which we are quite proud in the decades of service we believe we have performed informing America about developments in this country and all over the world. Sincerely, Eric Ober Ms. Ginny Gong National President Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc. 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 707 Washington, D.C. 20036 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % Mr. Mi Mi, Sr., Coordinator of CBS Incident Committee % % Sign on/off at listserv@ifcss.org, with mailbody as: % % sub fcbs-l Firstname Lastname, or signoff fcbs-l % % Post: fcbs-l@ifcss.org ftp//ifcss.org/ifcss/Legal/cbs % $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ Please make contributions payable to $ $ IFCSS/CBS Incident Fund, and mail it to $ $ Mr. Frank Chen / CBSIC $ $ 361 Ogden Avenue $ $ Jersey City, NJ 07307 $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ########################################################################### | Editor of this issue: DING Yungui | | - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | | IFCSS, 733 15th St. N.W., Suite 440, Washington, DC 20005. | | Phone: (202)347-0017; Fax: (202)347-0018 | | _______________________________________________________________________ | | The Press_Desk serves for multichannal communications among CSS & IFCSS.| | Please send your comments, questions, criticisms and anything concerning| | a healthy establishment of IFCSS to: | | | | To subscribe to IFCSS Press_Desk publications, please send mail to | | listserv@ifcss.org | | with the mail body: sub PBS-L last_name first_name (for signing on) | | or: unsub PBS-L last_name first_name (for signing off) | | For more information about IFCSS, its Service Program and publications, | | ftp/gopher to or use mosaic (www) to: http://ifcss.org:8001/| ###########################################################################