April 15, 2001

For a month leading up to a crucial vote on China next week at the annual UN human rights meetings in Geneva, freed Falun Gong practitioner KunLun Zhang has been criss-crossing Europe to push for international censure of Beijing over its brutal crackdown on the [...] spiritual movement.

But Mr. Zhang, an acclaimed sculptor who has been living in Ottawa since his surprise release from a Chinese labour camp in January, says he'll be disappointed if the Canadian government that lobbied so hard for his freedom fails to co-sponsor a U.S. resolution that forcefully condemns China's ongoing persecution of tens of thousands of Falun Gong followers and millions of other Chinese citizens.

"Canada should take a strong stance because it has an excellent reputation around the world as a defender of human rights," Mr. Zhang said yesterday, through a translator, from Geneva.

But despite calls from Amnesty International, opposition MPs and a host of human rights organizations for Canada to co-sponsor the U.S. resolution, Canadian diplomats are not tipping their hands and are widely expected to take a softer stand.

Patrick Riel, a Foreign Affairs spokesman in Ottawa, said: "As always, Canada's decision to co-sponsor or support resolutions are based on whether the proposed language addresses our concerns and our assessment of the situation. Instructions will be provided to our delegation next week."

The text of the U.S. resolution expresses concern at continuing reports of China's "failure to protect internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms."

In particular, it criticizes China's "increasingly severe measures taken against adherents of movements such as Falun Gong who, in pursuing non-violent activities, sought to exercise their internationally recognized rights of freedom of conscience, belief and peaceful assembly."

Unless Canada formally announces it will stand side-by-side with the Americans and co-sponsor their resolution, there's a strong chance the country won't even have to formally register its concerns about China at the Geneva meetings.

As it has successfully done in previous years, the Chinese delegation will attempt to pre-empt an embarrassing debate on the U.S. resolution by seeking support for a "no action" motion that would scuttle the U.S. proposal even before it gets to a vote.

For several years, Canada has tied its hopes for reform in China to a controversial "bilateral dialogue" it has been holding with Beijing -- a one-on-one approach between the two countries that eschews sweeping international denunciations of China that might isolate it further from the West.

But it's a strategy that critics such as former Liberal cabinet minister Warren Allmand -- now head of the Rights and Democracy centre in Montreal -- say has been discredited by the intensification of human rights abuse of Chinese citizens in recent years.

"The government of Canada should take a principled decision on this matter and step forward to co-sponsor the resolution on China," Mr. Allmand said before the Geneva meetings began.

For nearly a decade after the 1989 killing of democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square by Chinese soldiers, Canada regularly co-sponsored resolutions against China at UN human rights meetings.

But in April 1997, Prime Minister Jean Chretien withdrew the government's open support for the resolution and announced the plan for a bilateral dialogue.

A Rights and Democracy report in March concluded that the bilateral dialogue "has not achieved its objectives and the UN human rights system has been weakened by manipulation and application of a double standard."

The report recommended that the Canadian strategy could only be effective if it went "hand-in-hand with strong action" at the UN meetings in Geneva.

The 53-member UN Commission on Human Rights, holding its annual six-week session in Geneva to examine violations worldwide, is scheduled to vote on a host of resolutions about specific countries on Wednesday.

European Union member states are said to be supportive of the U.S. resolution on China, but -- like Canada -- have not co-sponsored it officially.

However, China traditionally enjoys solid support among Asian and other developing countries, who traditionally back it in votes on alleged human rights abuses.

Mr. Zhang, a Canadian citizen who was arrested in China last summer for practising Falun Gong in a public park, spent three months in a forced labour camp before pressure from Canada prompted his release.

Since then, he has been a featured speaker at protests and meetings around the world aimed at promoting Falun Gong's cause and hardening international opinion against China's crackdown.

He's been in particularly hot demand in European cities as attention turned to the UN human rights gathering in Geneva.

"I've been to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Hamburg, Oslo, Helsinki, London, Paris and Brussels," said Mr. Zhang, 60.

"In every city I've made speeches and met with members of parliament and diplomats and journalists. People have been very sympathetic to what I've been through."

He says he'll be "disappointed" if the U.S. resolution fails to pass or never comes to a vote.

"I can't control voting results," he said. "But I am optimistic that as time passes the world will come to know the truth about what's happening in China and this is a very good opportunity to help reveal the persecution and let people see how evil it is."

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