For Immediate Release

Date: Feb. 27, 2003

Contact: Timothy Cooper

Tel: 202-361-0989

CHINESE DISSIDENT LEADER WANG BINGZHANG’S LIFE SENTENCE UPHELD BY KANGAROO CHINESE COURT OF APPEALS; WANG VOWS TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM UNTIL THE END

(Dissident leader declares himself innocent of all charges

leveled against him by the Chinese government)

Washington, DC— A so-called “appeals court” in Guangdong province has upheld the life sentence of Dr. Wang Bingzhang after the original sentence was imposed on him only two weeks ago. Dr. Wang trial was held in December last year, but his life sentence was delayed until February.

Dr. Wang was tried on charges of espionage and terrorism after Chinese agents, disguised as Vietnamese police, kidnapped Dr. Wang and his traveling companions Yue Wu and Zhang Qi, on the Vietnam/China border last June. After his release from China, Yue Wu confirmed that the trio were in fact kidnapped by Chinese agents and taken across the border into China. The Free China Movement first reported the kidnapping last July.

Dr. Wang’s sister, Wang Mei, who briefly spoke with Dr. Wang in the courtroom, claims that Dr. Wang appeared “weak and pale and much thinner” than his usual weight. However, she stated that Dr. Wang forcefully declared his “innocence and adamantly denounced” the charges fabricated by the government against him. He declared that he would “fight for freedom until the end” and denounced the sentence as a travesty of justice.

Wang Mei description of Dr. Wang’s condition directly contradicts information provided to Wang Mei and her family by his state-appointed lawyers. The lawyers had previously informed her that he was receiving “good treatment” and “good food in jail.”

Wang Mei also said that the US embassy in Beijing had assured her that the US will continue to press for Dr. Wang’s release and will not sacrifice him, even in light of the US government’s diplomatic need to secure China’s support for a UN Resolution on Iraq. According to embassy officials, the US had attempted to send an official to attend Dr. Wang’s appeal, but the request was once again rebuffed by the Chinese. The US had been denied access to since PRC admitted that Dr. Wang was in its custody.

Currently, Wang Mei is in route to apply for permission to visit her brother with the appropriate government agency in Guangdong province.

“We are stunned and saddened by China’s decision to destroy my father’s life,” stated Qingyan Wang. “They may kidnap him, they may try him, they may even sentence him to silence him to life in Prison, but they will never stamp out his spirit or diminish his cause—which is to bring freedom to China.”

“The only surprising thing about the denial of Wang Bingzhang’s appeal is that the democratic nations will undoubtedly go right on doing business as usual with China tomorrow,” stated Timothy Cooper, international director of the Free China Movement. “Where is the moral code of nations when it is most needed? Where is the conscience of the world at this critical hour? Why is the world so silent?” asked Cooper. “Regrettably, China appears to have taken its art of persecution and turned it into a brutal science.”

“We will never forget Dr. Wang Bingzhang,” declared Shengde Lian, executive director of Free China Movement. “And we will not rest until he is freed or the totalitarian government of China falls. We believe that Dr. Wang will live to see a free China—and that it will come sooner rather than later,” concluded Mr. Lian.

“Make no mistake, Dr. Wang is a victim of a regime that will do anything, at any time, to hold onto power,” stated Majer Zhou, American director of the Free China Movement. “No action, however deplorable, taken against the forces of democracy, is beneath it—even kidnapping and false charges. It is a sad day for the democracy movement but an even sadder day for the people of China. The people in the world should feel the chilling effect now after we have voluntarily withdrawn our pressure against dictator in Beijing”

Contact:

Dr. Wang’s daughter, Christine Wang 626-712-7866

Dr. Wang’s sister: Julie Wang 760 630 9386

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