US activists boycott
goods made in China
Taipei Times, December 3, 2002

CNA

Several groups of Americans will begin a boycott of products made in China on Saturday with the theme of "one small step for a shopper, one giant leap for freedom and human rights," an organizer of the event said.

Exiled Chinese dissidents, the China Support Network and the Tibetan Freedom Cause have waited years for the right occasion to launch "the mother of all boycotts," according to John Kusumi, Executive Director of the China Support Network.

It is to be a consumer boycott "for freedom, and against products made in China. We want to free China and free Tibet," Kusumi said. He issued a "statement of conscience" for the campaign that included the following:

"Freedom from communist oppression. That is the thread which unites the purpose of all those working for the advancement of this boycott. Chinese dissidents support this boycott for Chinese freedom. Tibetans support this boycott for Tibetan freedom. The China Support Network supports freedom for all — Chinese, Taiwanese, Tibetans.

"Freedom from communist oppression will mean the most to those who now suffer in slave labor camps; to those who are now tortured by Chinese authorities; to those who are being displaced from their homes in Tibet; or, to those who are coping with the trauma of a forced abortion.

"Where China uses slave labor to produce cheaper products, that is economic dirty pool. It forces American workers to compete with slave labor, violating the economic spirit of America's Emancipation Proclamation.

"Americans should be outraged at free trade with China, and we hope that workers and the fair trade lobby will join us in our worldwide effort."

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