Free world appeasing 'slave state' China

In an explosive speech in Los Angeles on the last leg of a 13-day US tour that has infuriated Beijing, Lee called for capitalist nations to shun investment in China that he likened to the 1930s appeasement policy towards Adolf Hitler and later towards Russian leader Joseph Stalin.

"As long as the capital from free countries continues to pour into China, China's already oppressive practices will become more entrenched and the ensuing and ever-expanding militarism will make the likelihood of transition to a peaceful country ever more unlikely," he said.

He said the United States and the world community can influence whether China chooses to pursue regional domination or embrace democracy and should unite to promote freedom in the world's most populous country.

"Free nations must develop and strengthen their global and regional cooperation in both supporting the people of China in their struggle for freedom and democracy as well as taking measures to stop Chinese acts of oppression and aggression.

"Only in this way will we eventually see a China that is ready to take its place among the family of free nations in Asia," he added in a speech that received a standing ovation from around 100 academics, business leaders and US Representative Dana Rohrabacher.

Lee accused the West of using a double-standard in the way it engages communist China compared to its isolation of the former Soviet Union that ultimately contributed to its collapse.