California Officials' Joint Letter Initiated to Call for the Release of Teng Chunyan and Chen Gang Receives Warm Response from Their Colleagues

1. Chuck Reed, San Jose City Councilman
2. Stan Bogosian, Saratoga City Councilman

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On November 2, 2001, California Saratoga City Councilman Stan Bogosian and San Jose City Councilman Chuck Reed wrote a joint letter to President Bush and called on other California elected officials to co-sign it. The letter condemned Jiang Zemin's regime for its persecution of Falun Gong and urged President Bush to help release Teng Chunyan and Chen Gang.

The letter also circulated a notice on the actions that Jiang Zemin's regime has systematically taken that violate the rights of American scholars as well as the attempts to subtly intimidate elected American officials.

Within a short time after the letter was circulated, it received warm responses from other California officials.

The following is the content of the letter.

November 2, 2001

Dear President Bush,

As local elected officials, we request that you communicate to the Chinese government that further persecution of the Falun gong practitioners in China is completely unacceptable. In particular, we request that the Chinese government release Dr. Chunyan Teng (a permanent United States resident) and Mr. Gang Chen who have been detained for their association with Falun Gong.

Last week, we joined other elected officials in welcoming to San Jose practitioners of Falun Gong who had walked the length of California to call attention to the human rights abuses in China. It was an inspiring experience, and reminded us of the reason the men and women of our armed forces are risking their lives to defend the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

We would also like to bring to your attention the fact that the Chinese government has extended the persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong beyond the borders of China into the United States. There has been a systematic effort by Chinese consulate officials to interfere with the constitutional rights of practitioners to peaceably assemble in our country, and through subtle intimidation, local elected officials have been pressured not to recognize the practice of Falun Gong. Many of the local officials who issued proclamations recognizing Falun Gong have received letters from the Chinese government requesting that those proclamations be rescinded. In some cases, those requests were made in person by representatives of the Chinese Consulate. Mr. President, we ask you to inform the government of China that interference to our democratic process in this country must stop.

Today, China is in the process of becoming a full-fledged member of the worldwide trading community. And we cannot over emphasize the importance to Silicon Valley of a healthy trading relationship with China. However, this relationship must not come at the cost of violation of basic human rights. In the past century, history has shown us that ignoring these principles for short-term gains results in large loss of life in the long run.

As representatives of our communities, we stand together to request your leadership in obtaining the release of Dr. Teng and Mr. Chen, as well as the release of all people who are detained in China simply for the practice of their beliefs. It is our conviction that America will be stronger for those efforts.

Sincerely,

Chuck Reed	Stan Bogosian
San Jose City Council	Saratoga City Council

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California elected officials who have so far co-signed the letter:

San Jose Councilmember William Forrest

San Jose Councilmember David Cortese

San Jose Councilmember Ken Yeager

Monte Sereno Mayor Barbara

Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer

Santa Cruz Mayor Christopher Krohn

Sunnyvale Councilmember John Howe

City of West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem Sal Guarriello

San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly

Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey

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