Open Letter to President Xi Jinping: Followup
On September 28, as China’s President Xi Jinping addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Friends of Falun Gong placed an open letter in The New York Times.
Responding to our open letter to President Xi Jinping, many regular readers of The New York Times voiced their support. Additionally, several media outlets, especially those concerned with human rights or China, followed up on the situation with their own interviews and reports.
During his tenure, President Xi has gone to great efforts to improve China’s image abroad; thus our letter encourages him, as the leader of China, to act in the best interests of the Chinese people and to restore for them, a faith in government that has been absent for much of the 65 years of communist rule in China.
We are cautiously optimistic that President Xi will make good choices for China so it can take its place as a truly free nation in the international community.
Because the most critical obstacle to China’s progress—on so many levels—is the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong (Falun Dafa), we hope that President Xi reads our letter carefully and proceeds to enact changes that will benefit all facets of China.
These efforts should begin with ending the persecution of Falun Gong, re-enabling people to practice freely in China. Further, ex-President Jiang Zemin, the architect of the persecution, must be held accountable in a court of law for the egregious crimes committed against innocent civilians.
Ultimately, for the sake of China’s future, President Xi must work to replace the communist system with a transparent, democratic government.