Chicago Tribune: Rights in America

May 11, 2002

Chicago -- Zhijian Jin of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago seems to be upset with Falun Gong followers who are exercising their right to free speech by occupying the sidewalk in front of the Chinese consulate and using speakers to amplify their words.

They are "disturbing the normal working order of the consulate," he wrote in a May 2 letter to the editor. If this was China, these people would be harassed, arrested or worse. I have some advice for the consulate workers. There's a preacher on State Street who stands in the middle of the sidewalk and spews his views, disrupting my train of thought and forcing me to walk around him. I just smile and ignore the disruption. He has a right to be there and I have a right to ignore him.

This is America, not China.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-0205110043may11.story