Reuters: Dutch Move Raises Falun Gong Stakes for China

BEIJING, Feb 7, 2001 -- (Reuters) A last-minute decision by the Dutch foreign minister to scrap a trip to China after Chinese lecturing over Falun Gong has set a precedent that could come back to haunt Beijing, diplomats and analysts say. China played down the decision, saying it stemmed from a "scheduling conflict". Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan invited Jozias Van Aartsen to reschedule his trip. But Van Aartsen's spokesman said the scheduled February 7-13 visit was postponed because Beijing publicly opposed a planned meeting between Dutch diplomats and members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement in Hong Kong. Beijing-based diplomats said the Dutch case could backfire on the Chinese if other foreign leaders follow suit and rejected Chinese efforts to dictate their itineraries. "The Netherlands made a strong statement and the Chinese may be happy that they prevented official foreign contact with Falun Gong," said one Western diplomat on Wednesday. "But what happens if others follow the Dutch example?" The diplomat cited the example of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader who regularly meets world leaders "despite, if not because of" Chinese hectoring. A Falun Gong spokeswoman in Hong Kong said the meeting with Dutch diplomats was intended to be an opportunity to air grievances about China's crackdown on the movement -- outlawed in China but legal in the Chinese-controlled former British colony. CLASH IN PERCEPTIONS The row was the second clash of perceptions over the Falun Gong crackdown in 24 hours between China and outsiders and comes as Beijing is trying to win the right to host the 2008 Olympics and avoid censure by the UN Human Rights Commission. China portrays its no-holds-barred campaign against Falun Gong as necessary to protect Chinese from an "[Chinese government's slanderous word]", but outsiders are alarmed by the many reported abuses since the government banned the spiritual movement in July 1999. Falun Gong says 50,000 followers have been detained and many sent to labor camps without trial. Human rights groups estimate that about 100 believers have died in detention. A representative of the United Nations Human Rights Commission told reporters in Hong Kong on Tuesday the territory's government had no case against a legal body which obeyed the law. "So long as they are acting within the law, there can be no objection and I don't think any government can take objection to them," said former Indian chief justice P.N. Bhagwati. He is one of two UN delegates visiting Hong Kong this week to assess respect for human rights since Britain handed the territory back to China in 1997. Beijing's increasingly vocal charges that Falun Gong is turning the territory into an anti-China base have raised fears that China might soon curb Hong Kong's freedoms in violation of a pledge to maintain them for 50 years after the handover. RISK TO OLYMPICS, RIGHTS DIPLOMACY But analysts said failing a Hong Kong litmus test was only one risk China ran with a crackdown which has intensified since a fiery suicide attempt by five purported Falun Gong followers at Tiananmen Square on January 23. One woman died of her injuries. Her 12-year-old daughter, in hospital with burns over 40 percent of her body, is the centerpiece of the current Party campaign to depict Falun Gong as [Chinese government's slanderous words]. Far more is at stake this year, beginning with Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics. International Olympic Committee officials will visit the Chinese capital in just two weeks and some voting members have already raised human rights concerns. "They seem to have used the self-immolations effectively inside China," said another Western diplomat. "But it is a different story overseas," the envoy added, saying the Falun Gong crackdown had featured prominently in many Western countries' diplomatic dialogue with the Chinese. Before the Dutch row, the United States and China exchanged sharp criticisms after the George W. Bush administration issued its first public condemnation of Beijing's crackdown. DOMESTIC PRIORITIES China's tactics could work against its annual human rights diplomacy, sapping any goodwill it gets from concessions timed to escape criticism of its record next month, when the UN Human Rights Commission opens its annual session in Geneva. This year, China has indicated its parliament might soon ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Beijing was applauded for signing in 1997. "Often with these kinds of concessions, domestic priorities still come first and the government has already made clear its hard-line position against Falun Gong," said Sophia Woodman, research director for Human Rights in China.