Human Rights Activist to Risk Arrest for Prayerful Witness Calling for President Obama to Challenge Chinese President Hu on Human Rights When He Visits the White House
Contact: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741, 202-547-1735
WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2011 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, will hold a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House on Tuesday, January, 18 at 10:00 A.M.
President Hu Jintao of China will be at the White House on Wednesday, January 19, for an official State Dinner and visit.
Rev. Mahoney plans to bring a single chair, with pictures of Nobel Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo and a Christian woman (photo) who was brutally beaten by the Chinese government, and place them in front of the "no demonstration" area at the White House and kneel in prayer.
The empty chair represents all those who could never attend a State Dinner because they are being persecuted and in prison for their religious and political beliefs.
The demonstration also represents the empty chair from the Noble Peace prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway when Liu Xiaobo could not accept the award because the Chinese government had imprisoned him for speaking out for freedom and democratic reforms in China.
Rev. Mahoney will have a news conference on Tuesday, January 18, at 10:00 A.M. on Pennsylvania Ave. NW across from Lafayette Park and then proceed over the White House to pray.
Rev. Mahoney has a 25 year record of leading protests and speaking out against the human rights abuses of the Chinese government and was part of a delegation that led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Rev. Mahoney and the delegation were arrested, dragged out of Tiananmen Square twice and finally deported and thrown out of China. (
See video from Olympic protest)
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states,
"We are calling upon President Obama to publicly, passionately and boldly speak out against the human and religious rights abuses by the Chinese government against their own people when President Hu Jinato visits the White House this week.
"Sadly, the Obama Administration has remained painfully silent when it comes to the China's utter disregard for human rights and religious freedom. He has refused to speak out against their policy of forced abortion and gendercide against Chinese women.
"I am brining this single empty chair to serve as a prophetic reminder and witness to President Obama that it is more important to honor and remember those who cannot attend this State Dinner rather than those who will be in attendance. While the guests are dining on expensive and extravagant food there will be scores who will be oppressed and behind bars by the Chinese government because of their faith and political beliefs; people like Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo who is in prison, Christians who are in prison, Falun Gong members and Buddhist Monks who are in prison and women who are fleeing forced abortion and gendercide.
"We simply ask President Obama to embrace justice and human rights and live out the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King when he said, 'He who accepts evil without protesting against it, is really cooperating with it.'"
Brandi Swindell, Founder of Stanton Healthcare and Generation Life and also a participant in the demonstrations at the Beijing Olympics states,
"It is critical that President Obama take this historic opportunity to speak out in support of human rights and justice in China during the visit of President Hu. When I traveled to China, I determined to be a voice for those who had no voice for themselves and to be a public witness against the oppression and brutality of the Chinese government against their own people.
"As a woman, I am especially concerned with China's policy of forced abortion and gendercide. Sadly, the women of China are treated as second class citizens with no say in their personal and private family decisions. Sadly, this gender discrimination opens up young girls to human and sex trafficking. Also, young newborn girls are routinely thrown on the side of the road and left to die because rural Chinese families prefer males."
For more information or interviews call: Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney at 540.538.4741 202.547.1735
