AP: Iceland, Lithuania, the U.S.: China pushes fight against dissent abroad
Monday, Jul. 08, 2002 Iceland, Lithuania BEIJING (AP) -- The Chinese president was arriving, and no one wanted trouble. So last month,
just before Jiang's visit, Iceland's government took action. Five dozen foreigners linked to the Falun Gong spiritual movement were detained. Icelandic agents
showed up at American airports to keep Falun Gong [practitioners] off Reykjavik-bound planes. [...] Four days later, when Jiang visited Lithuania, things were similar. Tibetan protesters were kept
at a distance -- according to instructions from China, the Lithuanian government said. Those
carrying Tibetan flags were dragged off. "I could not guarantee that Chinese security officers
would not shoot them on the spot," Raimundas Kairys, the Lithuanian Interior Ministry's
security chief, said in Vilnius. China, which says it opposes interference in other nations' affairs, is, some assert, doing just
that lately -- ensuring the dissent that it stifles at home doesn't bubble up while Beijing's
leaders are in the spotlight abroad. [...] In recent years, the Chinese government has pushed Australia to crack down on Falun Gong
activity. In the United States, mayors of smaller cities who honored Falun Gong with proclamations
received calls from Chinese diplomats condemning [Falun Gong]. Some scoffed; some, like Westland,
Mich., rescinded the proclamation. Others said the diplomats mentioned the importance of Chinese-U.S.
trade ties. [...] But such pressure can backfire by antagonizing public opinion in the host country. In Lithuania, opposition politicians protested that their nation's dignity had been undermined by
its police. In Iceland, 300 prominent citizens took out a full-page newspaper ad apologizing to
Falun Gong for their government's "incomprehensible actions." And although Iceland's government said these actions were taken independently, not because of any
Chinese security requests, it did demand an explanation from Beijing's ambassador for the
interference in Icelandic affairs -- the exact sort of meddling that China would never tolerate.
"China is trying to maintain a double standard," Goldstein says. [...]
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