BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Some 1,000 people attended a rally in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House on October 29 in opposition to the Chinese revolution and the policies of the ruling Communist Party there. The protest was called to coincide with Chinese president Jiang Zemin's meeting with President William Clinton. The gathering had a clearly rightist focus to it, though it was billed as a protest against human rights violations in China. Groups sponsoring this event included the right-wing Family Research Council, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, the AFL-CIO, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, the Sierra Club, and International Campaign for Tibet. Prominently displayed at the rally site was a sizable banner held up by several people stating, "Since Oct. 1, 1949 over 36,950,000 Chinese People have died from persecution. What is there to celebrate?" Among the signs displayed on placards were many identifying the AFL-CIO, one of which read, "Made in China = Slave Labor."

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, was one of the keynote speakers. "The Chinese government violates every standard of human decency," he charged. It "deprives people of its religious freedom, is destroying the environment, and denies its people freedom of association, including the right to form unions." He claimed that China "has the largest system of forced labor camps on the earth" and called for Washington to end its Most Favored Nation trade policy with Beijing.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Democrat from Minnesota, demanded that "the president of China lead his country for human rights and democracy." He also urged Clinton to call for international inspection of prisons in China and Tibet.

Actor Richard Gere, representing the International Campaign for Tibet, told the audience, "I'm sending greetings on behalf of the 1.2 billion Chinese who have no voice." A number of the protesters displayed "Save Tibet" stickers and signs.

"The media says this is an unusual coalition," stated Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization that opposes abortion rights and gay rights. But, "I'd rather be part of this unusual coalition than the one across the street - the Man from Hope and the Butcher of Beijing," he stated. "We're here today because we're standing for American values," continued Bauer. He called for "American elites to stand for American values like those who died for them at Tiananmen Square."  
 
 
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