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Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 10:25:50 -0700
X-ListName: International Employee Relations Network <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Lawler)
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Subject: Singapore
The following item on the Clari news service may be of interest:
SINGAPORE (AP) -- Police seized documents Tuesday from an
American scholar who wrote a newspaper article criticizing
``intolerant'' regimes in Asia.
Christopher Lingle is being investigated for possible defamation
but no charges have been filed, a police spokesman, John Chang
said. On Monday, police questioned Lingle, an expert on Europe at
the National University of Singapore, at his office for nearly two
hours.
The International Herald Tribune, a Paris-based newspaper which
prints an edition in Singapore, published the 46-year-old Atlanta
native's opinion piece Oct. 7. The article, titled ``The Smoke Over
Parts of Asia Obscures Some Profound Concerns,'' discussed
techniques used by some Asian countries to stifle dissent.
``Intolerant regimes in the (Asian) region reveal considerable
ingenuity in their methods of suppressing dissent,'' Lingle wrote.
``Some techniques lack finesse. ... Others are more subtle:
relying upon a compliant judiciary to bankrupt opposition
politicians, or buying out enough of the opposition to take control
`democratically.'''
The article was a rejoinder to an Oct. 1 piece in the paper by a
Singapore Foreign Ministry official, which recommended Asian
methods as a cure for European political troubles.
Lingle declined comment on the police actions. The U.S. Embassy
said only it was monitoring events.
Singapore, which came under international criticism for its
caning in May of an Ohio teen-ager who spray-painted some cars, is
touchy about criticism.
John J. Lawler Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Institute of Labor and Phone: (217)333-1482
Industrial Relations Fax: (217)244-4091
University of Illinois
504 East Armory Street
Champaign, IL 61820
