(Clearwisdom.net)
September 5, 2002
George W. Bush, President
United States of America
The White House
Dear Mr. President:
PACE (Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers) International Union is deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government, as led by President Jiang Zemin. This persecution has been on-going for three years in China and there is evidence that Jiang's government has, in fact, applied pressure on many other countries to deny Falun Gong practitioners their basic human rights. We know that your administration has raised this issue before with the Chinese government and we ask that you do so once again, with conviction, during Jiang's pending visit in October. The leaders of our nation must continue to raise the issue of the persecution of the Falun Gong until it ceases and until those who have been unlawfully imprisoned are set free.
It is no secret that over the past three years Chinese authorities have detained thousands and thousands of Chinese citizens simply for practicing the spiritual exercises and self-improvement teachings of Falun Gong. Amnesty International and a host of other organizations have reported that tens of thousands of innocent people in China have been arrested and sent to slave labor camps without a benefit of trial. According to these organizations, not only have thousands of Falun Gong practitioners lost their jobs, homes and families, but also over four hundred have lost their lives as a result of being tortured by the police. The recent House Concurrent Resolution 188, references that the suppression of Falun Gong has been now expanded beyond the confines of China's borders to the United States where Chinese Consulate and Embassy personnel have harassed practitioners and in turn, U.S. officials for their support of the group.
What is of particular concern to us is China's use of forced labor in its campaign against Falun Gong. China's labor camps are notorious for their use of slave labor and inhumane working and living conditions. Those imprisoned in these camps report that they are forced to work long hours, sometimes twenty a day, without earning any monetary compensation.
According to the Falun Gong practitioners that have been imprisoned in these camps, they have been forced to manufacture goods that in many instances are exported to the United States. This is of great concern to me, my fellow officers and our three hundred thousand members as we see our ability to earn a living wage being eroded by the unconscionable use of this "slave" labor. Not only are the Chinese citizens' rights being violated through this situation but the livelihood of the American worker is threatened as well. We can ill afford the economic impact created by permitting the Chinese government to use forced labor to produce goods that are imported to our country, or any other country for that matter. It is unjust. It is deplorable. It is unacceptable. It is detrimental to America and must not continue unchallenged.
Thank you in advance for voicing our concerns with Jiang Zemin during his upcoming visit.
Sincerely,
Sincerely,
Boyd
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James E. Pannell
International
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Administrative Vice President
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Chair, Committee on Human Rights
CC: Honorable Thomas Daschle, Senate Majority Leader
Honorable Joseph Biden, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Honorable Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Honorable Richard Gephardt, House Minority Leader
Honorable Fred Thompson, Senator, Tennessee
Honorable Bill Frist, Senator, Tennessee
John J. Sweeney, President, AFL-CJO
PACE International Executive Board
PACE Rank & File Advisory Board
PACE Rank & File Committee on Human Rights
Wei Jianging, Chair, All China Federation of Trade Unions