Chicago, IL
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's Armed Police (PAP) are the guardians of China's oppressive dictatorial regime. The PAP stand guard atop the watch towers of the Laogai, the Chinese gulag, and are the executioners of prisoners. The PLA acts with swift brutality, as evidenced by the massacre at Tiananmen Square, to crush any attempt to introduce democracy or promote basic human rights in China. Workers who seek to form genuine unions, religious believers, intellectuals and students are rounded up and confined in re-education camps in a continuing attempt by the Chinese authorities to break their spirit and prevent the establishment of independent organizations.
Just last month, huge worker demonstrations in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, were violently suppressed by the PAP. Ten thousand workers had taken to the streets to protest the loss of their jobs following the closure of three state-run textile factories and embezzlement of unemployment relief funds by corrupt officials. More than 80 workers were arrested, and more than 100 workers were injured and subsequently prevented from receiving medical treatment by officials who accused them of being counter-revolutionary thugs.
Yet in a grotesque variant to the concept of free trade and investment, these military oppressors, who also operate "commercial" enterprises, were allowed to export to and invest in the U.S.A. The PLA and the PAP maintain numerous companies in America. They export substantial quantities of goods to the U.S., the profits of which help to finance the suppression of Chinese workers. Major U.S. companies are selling PLA and PAP products in stores across our country.
In June of this year, the UFCW and FAST announced a nationwide campaign to "Kick the PLA Out of the U.S.A." stating that those who trade in human misery, oppression and murder should have no commercial relationships with America. The AFL-CIO enthusiastically endorses this effort and calls upon:
President Clinton to immediately revoke the visas of all representatives of the PLA and the PAP in the U.S.; Congress to enact legislation to ban trade and investment with the U.S. by PLA and PAP companies; Corporations to sign a pledge to refuse to do business with the PLA and the PAP; and American consumers not to buy PLA and PAP products.
The AFL-CIO, together with its state federations and central labor councils, will join with other groups and actively work to ban commercial operations by the Chinese military in the U.S. and with U.S. companies. We will make our stand with the oppressed, not with the oppressors.