British MP Denis MacShane has endorsed UN Watch’s campaign calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to press China to release political prisoner Liu Xiaobo.
Mr. MacShane has also tabled his own motion in the House of Commons, issuing the following statement:
“David Cameron should support President Obama’s appeal to Beijing to release China’s Sakharov. William Hague has said that trade relations should have priority for UK foreign policy but it cannot be right to buy cheap t-shirts from China while ignoring Liu Xiabow rotting in prison for the crime of signing an appeal for constitutional democract. In the name of trade and money Britain has turned a blind eye to the repression of Chinese citizens asking for rights we take for granted. Mrs Thatcher was willing to condemn Soviet communism for imprisoning dissidents like Sakharov. Mr Cameron should now tell it as it is about Chinese communism and its suppression of its citizens who challenge one-party rule.”