NEWS BRIEFS Oct-10-2002

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A coalition of human and religious rights advocates called on President Bush to make human rights a top agenda item in meetings with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in late October. Advocates said they were concerned that human rights would not play an important role as the Bush administration seeks economic and political gains in China. "By trading with China, what we are doing is sanctioning human rights abuses," said Harry Wu, executive director of the Laogai Research Foundation, during an Oct. 9 protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. Wu, a Catholic and a former Chinese political prisoner, said the human rights situation in China is worsening. He said that while certain high-profile political prisoners have been released from prison and have left for other countries thousands more remain imprisoned for their religious or political beliefs. "The Chinese communist regime is the No. 1 abuser of human rights in the world. No country has a worse record than China," Wu said.

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