To the editor:

On Thursday, Wang Bing-Bing asserted that China has many of the same basic human rights as Americans do.

Much of what he says is vague and ranges from half-truths to outright lies.

He claims that the Chinese have voting rights. This is partially true.

Like in the old Soviet Union, the Communist Party nominates a candidate; the voters can either elect or reject this candidate by crossing out the name on the ballot, they may not vote for another person and they may also have this right suspended, depending on the whims of the government

He also mentions survival rights. These exist in theory, except if you are pro-life. Everyone knows about China’s one child per family policy, but not everyone knows exactly what goes on.

If a woman happens to be pregnant with her second child and the government finds out, they will send a doctor who will force her to abort the pregnancy, and then they will sterilize the woman.

Free-speech rights and parade gathering (demonstration) rights in China are outright laughable.

The only speech that is free among Chinese citizens is speech that the government approves of. The same is true for demonstrations.

Any rhetoric that is deemed inappropriate by the government is brutally suppressed, clearly shown in the images of Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese definition for a criminal is very loose, making the assertion that China must act against them is also questionable. All of China’s courts of law (when actually used) are nothing more then kangaroo courts run by the government.

It is a politician rather than an independent judge or jury who has the ultimate say on whether or not a person will be convicted of a crime.

Once in prison, there may or may not be rights given to the prisoners in writing, but these rights are disregarded completely in practice. Labor camps exist, and there is much documentation about the torture of members of the Falun Gong religious movement.

Mr. Wang claims that the United Nations has said that China is not violating human rights; this is misleading.

The United Nations has not certified that China is meeting or attempting to meet international human rights standards. It has simply failed to adopt a resolution criticizing China’s record on human rights owing much credit to Chinese interference.

Mr. Wang, I know you know about the widespread abuse of rights in China. I believe that letter was not for us but a small measure intended to gain the favor of your country’s government and ruling party.

If you think that Americans actually believe and will repeat what you say, then you are indeed a fool.

John Brillhart

Sophomore

Computer engineering