Dear American Student,
I am writing to you from the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Though it is peaceful here now, it was not so peaceful in 1989 when the people of my country tried to do a demonstration for democracy. Our demonstration was interrupted by the current Communist Government. In my country, we do not have very many rights and we are not allowed to speak out against our government. China is ruled by just one leader, who controls the Communist Party. We also are not permitted to vote for a leader, or vote a leader out of office. In order to get control of the people, the Government uses force and threats. For example, my government intimidated us whenever we tried to protest against them. I wonder if and hope there will ever be a democratic government in my country.
Your friend, Yuan
Dear Yuan,
A question we would like to ask is do you like the government now in power? We have a democratic government. A democratic government is where we elect someone for president. Also, we want to ask if your congress makes laws? Our congress makes our laws, the president enforces, or administer forcefully, the laws, and the courts explain the laws. We have all kinds of rights, such as the right to travel anywhere we want, the right to freedom of speech, and the right vote.
From what we've read, we have learned that the people of your country do not have very many rights. In our democracy, the people have certain rights and responsibilities. If we break the law, we are allowed a fair trial, and if proven guilty due to evidence. We have a saying that we use, which says that, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Sometimes, we want to do something destructive, but under our constitution, we do not have the right to.
The way we vote in the U.S. is by secret ballet . We get to elect our House of Representatives. The house of representatives is made up of the people we voted in to help the Senate make the laws of the U.S. We get to elect the president with no pressure. This is an easy way to pick our leaders. In your letter we understood that your leader uses force to make you vote for him. How big is his army that he uses to force you to vote for him. Do you like your leader, and how he rules over you?
In our country, we have 3 branches of government. First, there is the Legislative branch. This branch comes up with and makes our laws. It contains the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Next, there is the Executive branch. This branch consists of the president, and his advisors. And finally, there is the Judicial branch, which interprets the law and carries out the punishments. It consists of all the courts, and the Supreme Court. This way no one branch of government can be to powerful. This is called the checks and balance.
We also hope that, sometime, your country can have a democratic government.
Your friends, Mary H., Donald M., Kelli R., and Vince K.
Source: The US Mission To Italy, 1996 Human Rights Report, http://www.usis.it/hr_reps/c_index.htm.
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