Category: Historical Web Archive

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated July 25, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The release reported that authorities had refused an application for a planned protest seeking the release of detained China Democracy Party founders and supporters. It said activists intended to keep applying and described overseas plans to organize legal support for those detained.

The document records the Free China Movement’s role in publicizing the arrests and supporting legal and international advocacy around the China Democracy Party cases.

Provenance

• Original date: July 25, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr725.html
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated July 24, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The release reported on efforts by China Democracy Party supporters in Hangzhou to seek permission for a protest demanding the release of detained party founders and supporters. It also described an overseas protest in New York and statements from Xu Shuiliang, Fu Shenqi, and Shengde Lian calling for continued pressure for the detainees’ release.

The document is significant for tracing the relationship among the Free China Movement, China Democracy Party activists, and overseas support networks during the summer of 1998.

Provenance

• Original date: July 24, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr724.html
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated July 20, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The historical Free China Movement release reported that Xie Wanjun, described as a former 1989 student leader, had begun a 48-hour hunger strike to protest the detention of China Democracy Party members. The release said the action was intended to draw attention to the risk that Wang Youcai and others might face prosecution or re-education-through-labor measures.

The document also described growing concern among overseas dissidents about the crackdown on emerging opposition-party organizers and called for continued attention to those detained.

Provenance

• Original date: July 20, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr720.html
• Historical context: Free China Movement / FreeChina.net-era press-release archive
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Archival note: This record preserves the historical claims and terminology of the 1998 release. Present-day legal or factual status should be evaluated separately from the archival record.

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated July 15, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The release reported that 100 dissidents in China had written an open letter to Jiang Zemin and Li Peng calling for the release of people detained in connection with organizing the China Democracy Party. It described a series of arrests following efforts to organize an open opposition party and said the Free China Movement was coordinating with U.S. human-rights organizations and members of Congress to increase attention to the case.

Shengde Lian was quoted in the historical release as saying the signatories had asked the international community to apply moral pressure for the detainees’ release. The release also cited Freedom House support for respect for human rights and religious freedom in China.

Provenance

• Original date: July 15, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr715.html
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Original event and advisory dated July 2, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The advisory announced a Washington press conference concerning a proposed class-action lawsuit against Adidas America and the Chinese government over allegations that political prisoners had been used to manufacture soccer balls through forced labor in China.

The release identified Bao Ge as a former political prisoner expected to present firsthand evidence and described Shengde Lian as executive director of the Free China Movement, then characterized as a coalition of more than 30 opposition organizations inside and outside China. The movement called for Adidas to investigate the allegations and cease any use of prison labor in its supply chain.

Provenance

• Original date: July 2, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr701.html
• Historical domain context: FreeChina.net-era Free China Movement
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated June 23, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Recovered historical record

The advisory announced Free China Movement demonstrations in Washington ahead of President Bill Clinton’s China trip. It called for the release of political and religious prisoners in mainland China and urged Clinton to meet representatives of the mainland democratic opposition or relatives of victims of the June Fourth crackdown.

The advisory listed former student leaders and former political prisoners expected to participate, including Xiong Yan, Shengde Lian, Zhou Yongjun, Tang Baiqiao, Yi Danxuan, and Wang Bingzhang, and described the Free China Movement Network as a newly created coalition of dissident organizations inside and outside mainland China.

Provenance

• Original date: June 23, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr621.html
• Historical domain shown by source: http://www.freechina.net/
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated June 20, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 11, 2026.

Historical source: A surviving mirror of a Free China Movement press release at chinadp.tripod.com preserves the original FreeChina.net-era page, contact block, site navigation, and substantive English text. Original site attribution on the mirror identifies FreeChina.net.

Recovered historical record

The June 20, 1998 release reported that 56 dissidents inside China had signed an open letter asking U.S. President Bill Clinton to meet their representative, Xu Wenli, during his China visit. The release described many signatories as former political or religious prisoners of conscience and said they wanted to raise continuing human-rights violations and the imprisonment of political and religious prisoners.

The release also announced plans for a Free China Movement press conference and public actions in Washington, including a protest near the Chinese Embassy on June 23 and a planned hunger strike near the White House. It characterized the signed appeal as a major open and organized dissident action after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

The historical release identified Shengde Lian as executive director of the newly formed international Free China Movement coalition and described the movement as being in contact with Xu Wenli and other dissidents in China.

Provenance

• Original date: June 20, 1998
• Recovered from: contemporary/near-contemporary FreeChina.net mirror
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr620.html
• Historical domain shown by source: http://www.freechina.net/
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 11, 2026

Archival note: This page preserves the historical record while avoiding silent modernization of the original 1998 claims. Names, dates, organizational descriptions, and historical context should be read as part of the record of that period. Where a full original copy is independently recovered from a dated web archive, this entry may be upgraded to Verbatim Archive Recovery with the original file preserved separately.

Historical recovery status: Verified Mirror Recovery. Originally dated June 19, 1998. Restored to the FreeChina.live historical web archive on September 12, 2026.

Historical source: A surviving FreeChina.net-era mirror preserves a Free China Movement statement dated June 19, 1998.

Recovered historical record

The statement supported an appeal signed by 56 dissidents in China asking President Bill Clinton to meet Xu Wenli during his China visit. It described the signatories as including former political and religious prisoners and framed the appeal as a major open dissident action since the 1989 crackdown.

The statement warned against further persecution of peaceful dissidents and called on Clinton to meet representatives of the Chinese democratic opposition. Shengde Lian, Wang Xizhe, and Joel Segal were identified as Free China Movement spokespeople.

Provenance

• Original date: June 19, 1998
• Mirror URL: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr619.html
• Historical domain shown by source: http://www.freechina.net/
• Recovery classification: Verified Mirror Recovery
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Archival note: This reconstruction preserves the historical claims and context of the original release while distinguishing them from present-day reporting.

Historical recovery status: Partial Reconstruction. A surviving FreeChina.net-era press-release index identifies a June 5, 1998 item announcing the successful creation of an open Free China network composed of more than 30 organizations and many individuals inside and outside China.

Verified historical record

The dated historical index confirms the June 5, 1998 announcement and its description of a network composed of more than 30 organizations and individual participants. A contemporary Kyodo News report dated June 5, 1998 independently reported that more than 100 exiled Chinese had gathered in Washington on June 4 to announce a new coalition called the Free China Movement.

Because the complete original FreeChina.net text has not yet been independently recovered, this page preserves only the verified title-level and contemporaneous factual record. Missing wording is not recreated.

Provenance

• Original date: June 5, 1998
• Surviving index: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr604.html
• Contemporary corroboration: Kyodo News Service, June 5, 1998, preserved in the historical media mirror
• Recovery classification: Partial Reconstruction
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Archival note: This record should be upgraded only if a complete original or strong contemporary mirror of the original release is recovered.

Historical recovery status: Partial Reconstruction. The surviving FreeChina.net-era press-release index identifies an item titled Open letter to President Clinton dated June 4, 1998, but a complete original copy has not yet been independently recovered.

Verified historical record

The dated historical index confirms that the Free China Movement maintained a June 4, 1998 item titled Open letter to President Clinton. Because the full text is not yet available from an independently verifiable archive or mirror, this entry preserves only the verified title, date, and source context and does not attempt to recreate missing wording.

Provenance

• Original date: June 4, 1998
• Surviving index: https://chinadp.tripod.com/pr/pr604.html
• Historical context: Free China Movement / FreeChina.net-era press-release archive
• Recovery classification: Partial Reconstruction
• Recovery date: September 12, 2026

Archival note: This page will be upgraded only if a complete original or strong contemporary mirror is recovered. Missing text is not reconstructed from inference.