PROTESTS GREET JIANG

Indeed, China's abysmal human rights record was the focus of the wrath that greeted President Jiang Zemin during his state visit this fall, virtually from the time he first stepped off the plane in Hawaii. Among the most omnipresent voices were AIUSA members representing active local and campus chapters at every stop on the Chinese President's itinerary.

Claire Hunusz, Area Coordinator for Hawaii, described an Amnesty delegation encamped outside the Governor's mansion as a "welcoming committee" for Jiang. Another 100 protesters demonstrated outside his hotel before he left Hawaii for the mainland.

Those protests were to grow in intensity and volume, climaxing in massive demonstrations in Washington, DC. As Jiang arrived in the capital, AIUSA, in conjunction with Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China, called on President Clinton to hold the Chinese Government accountable.

Meanwhile, Tong Yi, former assistant to Wei Jingsheng, met in Washington with other Chinese dissidents and Congressional leaders, who urged Jiang to release Wei. Another well-known dissident, Harry Wu, told the gathered Senators to condemn the reported sale of organs "harvested" from executed prisoners in China.

"I want this practice stopped," Wu said. "I want Congress and the administration to do all it can during [Jiang's] visit to tell him we know this is going on in China today."

Outside the halls of Congress, Amnesty joined a broad coalition of groups in organizing events throughout Washington -- particularly a massive gathering in Lafayette Park, across from the White House. A large replica of the Goddess of Liberty, the symbol of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement, was erected in the park and became a focal point of the protests.

The massive public outcry apparently moved President Clinton to speak up more forcefully than ever on human rights. At a joint press conference, Clinton told the Chinese leader that he risked being on the "wrong side of history" in his opposition to freedom and democracy.

In the Boston area, Jiang was again greeted by protesters as he traveled to Harvard University for a speech. Despite the university's efforts to tightly control the event, the presidential motorcade was forced to run a gauntlet of protesters to get to the auditorium. The Boston Globe later estimated the crowd at 5,000.

The chants of the protesters were audible inside the auditorium as Jiang spoke, and he later acknowledged hearing them. In fact, it was during the Harvard speech that Jiang came as close to taking responsibility for the deaths in Tiananmen Square as any Chinese official has to date, stating simply that "mistakes" may have been made.

When the Chinese leader landed in Los Angeles for the final stop on his U.S.. tour, he was met by demonstrations yet again. Local AIUSA members gathered outside the Century Plaza Hotel with other protesters for a candlelight vigil to give the Chinese leader a ringing sendoff.

Lisa Mahoney of Amnesty's China Co-Group summed up the spirit of the protests.

"As I stood across from the Century Plaza," she said, "amid Tibetan Monks, Chinese pro-democracy activists, concerned Hong Kong citizens, Christian activists and all the other groups, I wished our prisoners of conscience could see this. I think Jiang's comment at Harvard said a lot. Let's hope this experience leaves a lasting impact on him."

- Excerpted from the Winter 1998 issue of Amnesty Action