Exiled Chinese Dissidents Seek Support in L.A.

A group of exiled Chinese dissidents who fled the country after a bloody June crackdown in Beijing urged their countrymen at a Los Angeles forum Saturday to support a movement to build a political force capable of challenging the Communist government.

The forum, which drew more than 1,500 people to the University of Southern California’s Bovard Auditorium, capped a weekend of activities hosted by Southern California Chinese groups for visiting leaders of Beijing’s pro-democracy movement.

Spurred by protest leaders Wuer Kaixi and Yan Jiaqi, guests at a fund-raising banquet in Chinatown on Friday night donated $90,000 for the new political movement, called the Democratic Chinese Front, organizers said. Supporters gathered again Saturday at the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard for a rally before attending the forum at USC.

“The Chinese people have never had such hope as they have today,” said Wuer, a 21-year-old freshman at Beijing Normal University who was chairman of the Union of University Students in Beijing during the protest movement that began in mid-April.

Funds raised this weekend will be used for the group’s political activities and the Democratic Chinese Front’s first convention, which is scheduled for late September, said Shen Tong, a speaker at Saturday’s forum.

Other speakers, including Su Wei, a former UCLA student who returned to Beijing three years ago to work as a scientist, told the audience that the group is committed to nonviolent means of achieving democracy in China.

Yan Jiaqi, a former president of the political department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, urged limited economic sanctions against China and said that the group supports efforts to draft and adopt a new Chinese constitution.

Wuer, who escaped from China and found sanctuary in France after the crackdown, has been a major draw during the fund-raising tour. Along with student leaders Wang Dan and Chai Ling, Wuer has been the darling of the worldwide Chinese-language media since the beginning of China’s pro-democracy movement. Wang Dan is believed to be held by Chinese authorities, and Chai Ling’s whereabouts are unknown.

Wuer is among a group of seven Beijing protest leaders traveling on temporary U.S. visas. The group recently attended an international convention of Chinese students in Chicago and visited Boston, New York, Washington and San Francisco on a fund-raising tour.

Wuer’s celebrity status in the Chinese community has been a crucial boost for the Democratic Chinese Front’s fund-raising efforts. A handwritten note he signed to pledge his dedication to the pro-democracy cause was auctioned off at Friday’s banquet for $3,000.