/ 18 November 1999

DP DEMANDS MEETING WITH LI

THE Democractic Party on Wednesday demanded a meeting with visiting Chinese parliament chairman Li Peng over his country’s human rights record. DP spokesman Colin Eglin said in a statement the party wants to talk to Li about Chinese-occupied Tibet, the country’s crackdown on religious dissidents, as well as progress towards multi-party democracy. Li, China’s second most powerful politician, arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday afternoon for a six-day visit to South Africa. A former prime minister, Li declared martial law in China and backed the 1989 military assault on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.