Americans should stop buying toys made in mainland China until the Beijing government ceases hu man rights atrocities against children and other people, a human rights activist said Wednesday.
Job Matusow, Tucson, Ariz., Rocky Mountain and southwest regional coordinator for Toycott, a boycott aimed at all children's toys made in China, was in Utah to drum up support for the boycott, which he said is gaining momentum nationwide.Why boycott toys? Toys are one of China's biggest consumer exports, according to Toycott organizers, earning the country $1.6 billion in the first six months of 1990 alone.
"Why should Americans buy toys from a government that massacres its own children?" they ask.
If Americans and others quit buying toys made in China, Matusow says it would send a message to the U.S. and Chinese governments that Americans will not use their money to support a repressive government.
Matusow, who while in Utah conferred with boycott committees in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Kaysville and Richfield, handed out materials that show "12 million to 16 million people languish in Chinese forced labor camps; hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Tibetans remain imprisoned for their political and religious beliefs; and the Chinese government has stepped up its persecution of Chinese Christians, arresting scores in 1991."
Further, the materials say China sold chemicals used for chemical weapons to Iraq during the Gulf War and has sold arms or nuclear technology to Iran, Algeria, Syria and other countries.
The boycott group decries the fact that China has received most-favored-nation trading status, a special trade privilege that lowers trade tariffs for the Chinese government, on the theory that economic reform will bring democracy to China.
"President Bush granted the most-favored trading status to China on the third anniversary of the (Chinese government crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators) in Tiananmen Square. I have no idea why" the president would do that, Matusow said.
He said 43 percent of all toys and 55 percent of all dolls sold in the United States are made in China.
"We are not asking people to boycott toys made in Hong Kong or Taiwan, only material from mainland China. We are asking people who have day-care centers to participate in the boycott. We are not asking anyone to picket or to scream, rant or rave, but to not buy toys made in China. The only (other thing) that we are asking is that people who (read a newspaper story or hear an account in other media) send a postcard of support if they agree with the boycott," Matusow said.
Cards may be sent to Toycott-Southwest, P.O. Box 254, in care of the Gandhi Peace Centre, Tucson, AZ 85702-0254.