Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Federation for a Democratic China

Federation for a Democratic China is an interest group that advocates the democratization of China through opposition of the Communist Party of China and support of human rights. It was founded on September 22, 1989 in Paris, France, following the June 4,1988 Tiananmen Incident. It is a party of exiles active in Japan, England, and Australia. Fei Liangyong is the President with Sheng Xue, Liang Youcan and Li Song as Vice-Presidents. Membership also includes Yan Jiaqi, who lives in France.

It was very active in the five years following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and has been substantially reinvigorated and active since 2003 with large congresses attracting a broad cross-section of leading Chinese Democracy Activists and exiles.

In 2005 Chen Yonglin, then Chinese consulate-general working in Sydney, defected to the Australian government by a formal claim for political asylum. Chen claimed that a network of 1,000 Chinese government spies were operating in Australia, leading the chairman of the Australian branch of the FDC to comment that such claims could "lead to atmosphere of distrust and even antagonism towards the Chinese community."

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