Chinese Expatriates Urge Greater Democracy

Overseas Chinese dissidents have written an open letter to this month's Communist Party Congress, urging greater democracy and the release of political prisoners.

A petitition signed by almost 200 Chinese political activists was made available Wednesday by the New York-based group, Human Rights in China. It is addressed to delegates of the 16th Communist Party Congress, which opens Friday in Beijing.

The dissidents call for an official reassessment of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which the Chinese army crushed, killing many hundreds of people. The letter also calls on authorities to free Zhao Ziyang, a reformer and leader of the ruling party who was ousted at the height of the 1989 protests. He has been under house arrest ever since.

Their letter was made public after two leading democracy activists in China were placed in custody Monday, ahead of the party meeting. One of them, Fang Jue, previously served four years in jail for urging free elections in China.