From: Zhang Yun Fei <zhang@BUAST7.BU.EDU>
Subject:      Forwarding a message: BU reactions
Reply-To: Zhang Yun Fei <zhang@BUAST7.BU.EDU>
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 12:42:07 GMT

>From june@bu-pub.bu.edu Thu Sep  3 23:21:46 1992
Resent-From: june@bu-pub.bu.edu
Subject: shen tong
To: june4@bucrsb.bu.edu
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT


The following is a progress report of BU CSA's efforts to rescue Shen Tong:

1) Communication with BU administration:

I had a meeting with Mr Douglas Sears, Assistant to President John Silber.
The meeting produced very constructive results. Here's the summary:
First, The President and his office are very concerned about Shen Tong's
safety, and are monitoring the incident very closely. At the moment of
this posting, the office staff is preparing several versions for a
formal statement of protest to CG for President John Silber to consider
and sign. Second, it is highly likely that President John Silber will
very soon release a strong statement of protest, in the form of a letter,
to PRC's embassy in Washington. Third, "Boston University Today," an
official newspaper of the university, will carry a special article
about Shen Tong's incident and the progress in the rescuing efforts.
Fourth, some of Silber's staff members personally met and knew Shen
Tong. They are very concerned and expressed their determination in
and commitment to rescuing Shen Tong. Rescuing Shen Tong will be
a priority in their on-going agenda.  On my part, I formally
submitted a revised petition letter (see enclosed) which was
received with appreciation. Mr Douglas Sears, Assistant to President
Silber, expressed on behalf of the President and his office his
appreciation of our initiative and suggestions, and promised to
keep us informed of any progress on the part of their work on this
matter.    (From Gu Zhen, edited from meeting notes)

2) Contact with the student government at BU

The communication representative Zhang Yunfei of CSA at BU is
establishing contact between BU student government and IFCSS so
as to coordinate the rescuing efforts of both Chinese and
American students.

3) Revision of the petition letter

The responsive suggestions to the petition letter to President
John Silber reflect common concerns of BU Chinese students.
I read all of them carefully. And I tried my best to accommodate
them all. The following is the revised version as was delivered
to the President:

CSA at BU
c/o Gu Zhen
90 St. Mary's, 1
Boston, MA 02215
Tele: 247-4782


September 1, 1992


Dr. John Silber
President
Boston University
Boston, MA 02215


Dear President,

  We, a group of concerned Chinese students at Boston University, are
astonished to learn that Shen Tong, one of our fellow students, was
illegally detained (08/31/92) in a police raid at his home, Beijing,
P.R. China, his where-abouts still unknown. It is obvious that his
secret arrest during his short vacational home-visit without due
legal procedure is a part of Beijing authority's polical persecution
of returned overseas Chinese students who are sympathetic to
democratic reform.

  Shen Tong, like many Chinese students here at Boston University, was
deeply impressed by, greatly admired, and whole-heartedly shared the
values of democracy, human dignity and individual freedom firmly upheld
by his American friends. His secret arrest by Beijing authority will
cause serious damage to the democratic sentiment fostered here at
Boston University.

  Shen Tong's arrest is also a blatant violation of the Chinese authority's
own promises towards overseas Chinese students of political conciliation
(recently released by the State Council of P.R.C. in Document 44). In the
past, the Chinese government has repeatedly made conciliatory promises to
overseas Chinese students in the form of administrative policies, only to
be violated by its own practice.

  In view of Shen Tong's endangered safety, a cause for common concern of
all the Chinese students here at Boston University, we urgently request
your help in the rescue of our fellow student. As the president of our
university, and the representative voice of the university community
as a whole, you can, if you may, issue a formal statement of protest to
the Chinese government, requesting an immediate release of your student
Shen Tong, and demanding a clear explanation of the incident. Your
academic prestige and political leverage will add great weight to
a message which we want to relay to our government. Your help
and support in this respect will be greatly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Chinese Students Association
at
Boston University

Our efforts are limited. No single individual is powerful enough
to save Shen Tong single-handed. However, together, we can make
a difference. Thanks of attention. Gu Zhen