LEADING intellectuals have sent a petition to President Jiang Zemin, and Chairman of the National People's Congress Qiao Shi, asking the Government to reverse the 'counter-revolutionary' verdict on the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
The eloquently-written letter was drafted by social scientist, Professor Xu Liangying, and signed by leading scientists and intellectuals including designer of China's first atomic bomb, Wang Ganchang, and former editor of the People's Daily, Wang Ruoshui.
As 1995 is the United Nations Year of Tolerance, the signatories call on their leaders and fellow citizens to 'do their utmost to propagate tolerance'.
The petition asks the authorities to: Treat all views in such areas as ideology, political thought and religious belief with a spirit of tolerance, and never again look upon persons of independent thought and independent views as 'hostile elements' and impose on them repressive attacks surveillance, house arrest and even detention.
Re-evaluate the June 4 incident according to the spirit of 'seeking truth from facts', and release relevant prisoners.
Release all those who have been put behind bars because of their thought, religious beliefs or acts of speech, and 'boldly draw an end to the unglorious tradition of literary inquisitions that has persisted in our country since ancient times'.
The author, Professor Xu, said that the signatories were not expecting any concrete actions or response.