Chinese Exile Tells U.N. Panel of Repression

An exiled leader of last June’s pro-democracy movement went before the U.N. Human Rights Commission today and condemned Beijing for continued repression in a speech that a Chinese delegate failed to stop.

Wu’er Kaixi told the 43-nation panel that “systematic violations of human rights” continue in his native country and urged the international community to keep a close watch on the situation there.

Wu’er, 22, who is continuing his studies in the United States, said underground resistance networks are still trying to organize in major Chinese cities.

As soon as Wu’er began speaking, the Chinese delegate to the commission, given the floor on a point of order, protested his presence.

“This speaker is a criminal wanted by the Chinese security organs,” said the delegate, Shiqiu Chen. “He is here as a tool of certain anti-Chinese elements abroad who engage in slanderous attacks on China.”