U.S. lawmakers, human rights groups and Falun Gong [practitioners] protested human rights abuses in China on Wednesday, ahead of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's trip to the United States later this month.
'Our message today to the People's Republic of China is that the American people want to believe that your government is serious about working with us against terrorism and about supporting human rights,' said Benjamin Gilman, a Republican House of Representatives member from New York, during the rally. 'Until China opens up its political system and until China ends its repression, it should not expect our nation's cooperation,' said Gilman, one of four Congressmen present at the protest.
About 200 people rallied in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, holding placards with messages such as 'Urgent appeal: Stop Jiang Zemin State Run Terrorism.'
Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, said President George W. Bush should make human rights the cornerstone of US-China relations.
'How you take care of your own people...is all important,' Smith said. 'It will tell you whether you are a part of the world of civilized nations or whether or not you are a pariah nation.'
The rally is intended to press Bush to address human rights problems in China when he meets Jiang at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Oct. 25.
'My younger brother, a medical doctor, was recently sentenced to jail for 10 years for not giving up his belief in Falun Gong,' said Haying He, representing a nongovernmental organisation helping members of the spiritual movement.
'I hope that one day no one else will ever have to go through what my family has gone through,' Haying said.
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