By JOE MCDONALD
Associated Press Writer
11/17/2005
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2005. The Associated
Press. All Rights Reserved.
BEIJING -- A California businessman jailed on tax charges. A U.S.-based dissident arrested while meeting Chinese activists. A man imprisoned after accusing local officials of selling donated medicine. All are targets of lobbying by activists and relatives who want President Bush to use his visit to Beijing to press for the release of dissidents, friends or loved ones.
"Ultimately this might come down to personal diplomacy on the part of the president," said Chuck Hoover, who has spent years working for the freedom of his friend, Jude Shao, the businessman jailed on tax charges that he says were filed by officials who wanted a bribe.
However, Hoover said, "Our hopes aren't high."
For years, such releases _ dubbed "hostage politics" by some outsiders _ were a regular feature of Chinese diplomacy with the United States, used to warm up relations before a key congressional vote or as a reward for a successful high-level visit.
But the pace of releases has slowed to a trickle.
Observers say that could reflect an erosion of U.S. leverage now that Beijing has secured World Trade Organization membership and other key goals. And they say some in President Hu Jintao's government argue the practice is demeaning to China.
Only one dissident has been freed since the highly publicized release in March of a Muslim businesswoman, Rebiya Kadeer, who went to the United States and angered Chinese leaders by publicly criticizing Beijing.
"There has been a change since the new leadership came in. They're less inclined to make prisoner releases for high-level visits," said John Kamm, a San Francisco-based activist who has helped arrange prisoner releases. "I'm not at all sure it's going to happen during the Bush visit."
In addition to Shao, cases that activists want Bush to raise include:
_Yang Jianli, a Chinese dissident who runs a Boston-based foundation that advocates political change in China. He was imprisoned in 2002 on charges that he illegally used a friend's identity card to travel around China meeting activists and laid-off workers.
_David Ji, a Chinese-born Los Angeles businessman who was detained last year during a dispute with a Chinese television maker. Ji's co-workers say they have given the State Department materials showing that Chinese officials improperly filed criminal charges to pressure Ji into a financial settlement.
_Xu Zhengqing, a Shanghai man imprisoned after trying to attend a memorial in January for Zhao Ziyang, the late Communist Party leader who was dismissed in 1989 after sympathizing with pro-democracy demonstrators.
_Wang Sen, a Sichuan man convicted of subversion after posting Internet reports accusing local officials of selling donated Red Cross tuberculosis medicine.
Washington hasn't said whether Bush will mention any individual cases in Beijing. But the president has made human rights a de facto theme of his trip, calling in a speech this week for communist leaders to grant the Chinese public more liberties.
"Our hope is that the Chinese government will get the message that there are cases that are indicative of broader issues in the country that are of concern to the United States," said Jared Genser of Freedom Now, a Washington-based group that is seeking Yang's release.
Dozens of U.S. senators have signed letters to Chinese leaders calling for Yang's freedom.
Shao's case reflects a trend in China: businesspeople who say they were falsely accused of a crime after a falling out with a Chinese partner or official.
Shao, a Chinese-born U.S. citizen, graduated from Stanford Business School and started a business in 1993 exporting American medical equipment to China. Supporters say he was arrested after refusing to pay a bribe sought by tax officials during a 1997 audit. He was convicted in 2000 of evading taxes and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
A panel of six Chinese legal scholars retained by Shao issued an opinion in 2003 that there was insufficient evidence to convict him and said he deserved a new trial. But China's supreme court rejected his final appeal in February.
Hoover, Shao's friend, said supporters saw a positive sign when the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Clark T. Randt, was allowed to visit Shao in prison in Shanghai this year _ an almost unprecedented gesture.
"But nothing's really occurred since that positive signal," Hoover said. "So it's unclear how to interpret that."
2005 The Associated Press
