Posted on 10/12/2003 10:48:04 AM PDT by kattracks
Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003 1:03 p.m. EDTHarry Wu: Hillary's Account of My Release Untrue
Human rights activist Harry Wu is accusing New York Sen. Hillary Clinton of inflating the role she played in winning his release from a Chinese jail in 1995.
In an interview with WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg, Wu said Sunday that Mrs. Clinton had mischaracterized his past statements by saying he gave her credit for winning his release.
In her book "Living History," Mrs. Clinton wrote:
"Some media commentators, and Wu himself, were convinced that the United Sates had made a political deal with the Chinese: Wu would be released, but only if I agreed to come to [a 1995 women's rights] conference and refrain from critical remarks about the host government."
But Wu told Malzberg: "I never believed that. I never said that. I don't know why she put [those words] in my mouth. ... I never had that kind of idea at all."
The Chinese dissident also complained about Mrs. Clinton's suggestion that she was moved by letters from Wu's wife, when in fact she ignored her pleas for help.
Hillary claimed in her book:
"I was particularly troubled by a personal letter from Mrs. Wu, who was understandably very worried about her husband's fate and felt that my participation in the conference 'would be sending a confused signal to the leaders in Beijing about the resolve of the U.S. to press for Harry's release.'"
But Wu told Malzberg: "When I was detained in China and facing the death penalty ... my wife sent a letter to Mrs. Clinton. The petition was just described as a woman-to-woman, wife-to-wife [request] to help.
"But we never got any single word of response from Mrs. Clinton. It is very unusual in the United States, where petition letters are usually replied to. But [we] never [heard] anything from her."
Wu said he interpreted Mrs. Clinton's silence as meaning "she does not care about human beings' lives, human beings' fate. She just cared about attending the women's conference as a political obligation."
Mrs. Clinton was the only one of several world leaders contacted by Mrs. Wu who didn't respond, he said.
Referring to his eventual release from prison, the human rights activist said that the former first lady "overstated her role in this event."
Wu said that he recently contacted the offices of every U.S. senator with an update on human rights abuses in China - and while "many, many responded," Sen. Clinton's office did not.
Nevertheless, he said, he would like to meet with the former first lady and ask her to bring pressure on China to end its human rights abuses.
Listen to Steve Malzberg on WABC Radio weeknights, 1:00 a.m to 5:00 a.m. Eastern time; Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
China/Taiwan
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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