6/4/03 1:06:39 PM

WASHINGTON, June 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In an interview with Friends of Falun Gong USA, former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Mark Palmer called upon the U.S. government to support true democracy in China by exposing corrupt Communist officials and warned that former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin is the "greatest threat to regional and American security."

Ambassador Palmer discussed the accountability of the Jiang regime in the persecution of Falun Gong, and the corruption of the Party's elite, who have brought vast sums of money out of China into the United States and other countries.

Palmer is one of the founders of Friends of Falun Gong USA, a human rights organization established to support the freedom of belief of those who practice Falun Gong. The organization is sponsoring a civil lawsuit against Jiang and the Falun Gong Control Office, also known as Office 6-10, which he established. Jiang banned the spiritual discipline in 1999 and instituted a severe repression that has resulted in more than 700 deaths and hundreds of thousands of arrests. He has been charged with torture and genocide in China and for conspiracy to deprive practitioners of their civil rights here in the United States.

Citing the Communist dictator's creation of internal and external enemies to justify the use of force, Palmer stated, "Our problem is not with China or even with the Government of China. Our problem is with Jiang Zemin and those around him."

Palmer noted that President Bush has called for democracy in China. He recommended that one of the best ways to do that is "to focus attention and actions on those directly responsible for the continuing violations of human rights."

When asked about Party leaders with illegal assets in the U.S., Palmer suggested the majority of Chinese people would support the U.S. exposing them. "It would encourage them to demand an honest, accountable system in China, one in which judges act according to the law and not the Communist bosses and their personal interests."

Mark Palmer was U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 1986-90 when Hungarians, Poles and others went into the streets and demanded and got their freedom from an oppressive communist system. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State from 1982-86.

The interview is available at: http://www.fofg.org/news/news_story.php?doc_id =485

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=133-06042003