Members of Congress Press for Release of American Businessman Jailed in China

U.S. Politicians Put Pressure on Chinese for Jude Shao's Release

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2006--The Free Jude Shao Campaign today announced that 30 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have requested that President George Bush press for the release of Jude Shao during his meeting with People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao on Thursday, April 20th. Shao is an American businessman who was jailed in Shanghai for tax fraud in 1998 based on manufactured evidence and a flawed trial. Since his trial, Shao has been able to conclusively demonstrate his innocence.

The letter to President Bush requests that the President "stress the importance of Mr. Shao's case to President Hu" and urge President Hu "to release him as soon as possible."

The letter was sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and was signed by 27 representatives. Signers include House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), founding Co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus Tom Lantos (D-CA), Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations Christopher Smith (R-NJ), and Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). In addition, three other prominent politicians wrote individual letters to the Bush Administration to express their support of Shao, including Rep. James Leach (R-Iowa), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific and Co-Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Co-Chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Copies of these letters can be found at http://www.freejudeshao.com/.

John Kamm, executive director of the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, has spent the last several years working on the Jude Shao case. According to Kamm, "Jude Shao's case is of great importance not only to U.S.-China relations, but also for the future of business in China based on transparency, rule of law, the presumption of innocence, and respect for due process rights. Everyone who has worked so hard on this case hopes that President Hu Jintao will intervene and order Jude Shao's release, bringing to a close this tragic case of injustice."

Shanghai-born Shao, a graduate of Stanford Business School and a naturalized U.S. citizen, founded China Business Ventures (CBV) in 1993. CBV exported American medical equipment to China, and by 1997, had offices in San Francisco and Shanghai with 15 employees. In 1997, Shao was approached by tax authorities in Shanghai with a thinly veiled request for a bribe, which Shao declined. In 1998, Shao was arrested in Shanghai. He was held incommunicado for the next 26 months. In 2000, Shao was sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of tax evasion. Shao was able to recover evidence from his San Francisco office showing that he did pay the disputed taxes, but Chinese authorities have refused to consider the new exculpatory evidence.

In 2003, a panel of six prominent Chinese legal experts reviewed Shao's case and concluded that the evidence used to convict him was inconclusive, due process under Chinese laws was neglected, and Shao deserved a retrial. However, the Chinese courts rejected Shao's appeal for a retrial.

Shao is now suffering from a heart condition developed in prison, which the prison medical staff cannot treat. His family filed for medical parole in 2004. The Honorable Clark T. Randt, U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, took the unprecedented step of personally visiting Shao in prison, and said he was "deeply concerned for Mr. Shao's condition."

Shao has now served half of a 16-year sentence for crimes he did not commit. In the weeks preceding President Hu Jintao's official visit to the United States, Shao's case has received renewed attention from public media, including ABC World News Tonight, ABC Nightline, the World Journal (the largest Chinese daily in North America), KTSF (the largest Chinese TV station in Northern California), as well as an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

"The only way to help Jude Shao is by putting consistent pressure on the Chinese government, through the U.S. government, media and business officials," said Chuck Hoover, one of the leaders of the Free Jude Shao Campaign.

In a call to action, the Free Jude Shao Campaign is asking people to request that their U.S. Senators and Representatives support Mr. Shao by writing to President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the Hon. Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese ambassador to the United States. The website www.freejudeshao.com has additional information and tools to help.

About The Free Jude Shao Campaign

The Free Jude Shao Campaign is composed of alumni from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, friends, and business colleagues of Jude Shao. The goal of the campaign is to win Jude's freedom.

Contacts

Free Jude Shao Campaign
Lang Anh Pham, 650-303-9998
press@freejudeshao.com