December 6, 1999

Clinton Criticizes on Human Rights

Filed at 4:50 p.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton, in a human rights speech Monday, criticized China's crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

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the president marked the 51st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted at the urging of Eleanor Roosevelt to assert that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

The speech marked Clinton's first comments about China's detention and imprisonment of members of the Falun Gong movement. The president called it a "troubling example" of the government acting against those "who test the limits of freedom."

"Its targets are not political dissidents, and their practices and beliefs are unfamiliar to us," Clinton said. "But the principle still surely must be the same: freedom of conscience and freedom of association. And our interest surely must be the same: seeing China maintain stability and growth at home by meeting -- not stifling -- the growing demands of its people for openness and accountability." Thousands of Falun Gong followers reportedly have been detained since the government banned the group four months ago as a threat to its rule. Adherents say Falun Gong, which draws on ideas from Buddhism, Taoism and China's traditional practice of slow-motion exercises and meditation, promotes health and morality.

National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said the administration has criticized China's actions against Falun Gong, but Monday's speech represented Clinton's first direct remarks. He said Clinton felt it was important to make a statement, particularly in light of the human rights anniversary.