Irwin Cotler moved,

MINUTES OF MOTION PASSED BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITEE IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

November 2003

Irwin Cotler moved, —

That the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade,

“Concerned that Dr. Wang Bingzhang, founder of the China Democracy movement, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China;

Aware that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that the charges are without foundation, that they are in violation of international law and that he has been denied the right to a fair trial;

Noting that Dr. Wang Bingzhang has a close connection to Canada - he is a doctoral graduate of McGill University in medicine and his parents reside in British Columbia, his children in Quebec and his siblings in Ontario;

Calls upon the Chinese Government to release Dr. Wang Bingzhang from prison, and permit him to be reunited with his family and colleagues.”

After debate, the question was put on the motion and it was agreed to, by a show of hands: YEAS: 6; NAYS: 3.

It was agreed, — That the motion be adopted as a Report of the Committee and that the Chair or his designate present it to the House.

FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY 12/11/03 S. China Morning Post 4

2003 WL 70233556 South China Morning Post

Imprisoned dissident Wang Bingzhang is on the brink of a nervous breakdown due to the "mental torture" he has suffered in jail, and is threatening to go on a hunger strike, his brother says. Wang Bingwu, who visited his older brother at a prison in Shaoguan, Guangdong, last Friday, said he found the solitary confinement and mandatory "political education" imposed three times a day

increasingly difficult to bear.

"He told me to tell the world that in order to end his solitary confinement and mental torture, he would go on a hunger strike," Mr Wang said in Hong Kong yesterday.

Critics say the so-called "political education" sessions in mainland prisons typically include several hours of brainwashing, forced self-criticism and confession of alleged crimes.

He was arrested and convicted on espionage and terrorism charges and given a life sentence in February. He was found guilty of providing intelligence to Taiwan between 1982 and 1990. He and his family deny the charges.

Mr Wang said his brother looked frail and was suffering from stomach ailments and varicose ulcers. He said his brother was given medicine in prison but was banned from taking other medication that his family brought from America.

Originally trained as a medical doctor, Bingzhang is a Christian and is known for his view that people have the right to overthrow their government in a revolution.

---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- NEWS SUBJECT: (Crime/Courts (GCRIM); Political/General News (GCAT)) REGION: (China (CHINA); Asian Countries (ASIAZ); Greater China (CHINAZ); Emerging Market Countries (DEVGCOZ); Developing Economies (DVPCOZ); Eastern Asian Countries (EASIAZ))

OTHER INDEXING: 4

Word Count: 238 12/11/03 SCHMP 4 END OF DOCUMENT

Copr. (C) West 2003 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works

FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY 12/7/03 S. China Morning Post 6

2003 WL 66396184 South China Morning Post (c) 2003 South China Morning Post Publishers Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved. Sunday, December 7, 2003 Premier Wen begins pivotal visit to US. By Ray Cheung.

Unity and division to mark the first American trip since 'fourth generation' rose to power As Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in the United States today, a wide range of both divisive and co-operative issues crowd his agenda, including mounting tensions over Taiwan, trade issues, human rights and North Korea. The 61-year-old trained geologist is beginning his most important foreign trip and

the first state visit to the US of the "fourth generation" leadership since it ascended to power in March.

The landmark three-day excursion, which includes stopovers in New York, Washington and Boston, comes amid strident rhetoric between China and Taiwan.

In his Washington meetings, particularly with President George W. Bush, Mr Wen is sure to bring up Taiwan and President Chen Shui-bian's plans to have a new constitution for the island and to hold public referendums.

He will make it clear that China is worried the US is encouraging the island to launch ever bolder bids for independence, a move that could push all three sides to war.

The People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist Party, warned in an editorial yesterday that Mr Chen's plan for a "defensive referendum" was a "dangerous provocation".

Apart from the Taiwan issue, Mr Wen will address the growing trade and currency row between the US and the mainland.

Washington has recently slapped import quotas on many Chinese goods - ranging from certain textiles to television sets - in retaliation against perceived unfair practices against American exports.

The US believes Chinese policies have led to the ballooning of its massive trade deficit with the mainland, estimated to be as high as US$120 billion this year.

US Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Friday the Bush administration would use the visit to press China to raise the value of the yuan.

And then there is the perennial issue of the mainland's human and religious rights record, which Washington says has got worse.

To press China, eight American senators have sent a letter to President Bush urging him to raise the case of US-based dissident Yang Jianli during his meeting with Premier Wen.

Yang was detained by mainland authorities in April last year after he travelled to China on a friend's passport in an attempt to observe ongoing labour unrest.

On Friday, Wang Bingzhang, a dissident jailed in Guangdong, announced he would go on a hunger strike during Mr Wen's visit, according to a US-based organisation Worldrights.

The group said Wang, who lived in the US for more than a decade before his detention, said he was protesting against his "cruel and inhumane solitary confinement at the hands of local Chinese prison officials".

However, the premier will find some common ground on his visit, too. The Bush administration is eager to continue to work with China on the North Korean nuclear crisis and further efforts against international terrorism.

Last week, Foreign Ministry director-general for Asian Affairs Fu Ying was in Washington and met US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly to discuss the resumption of the six-nation talks to peacefully end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

In an apparent gesture to US pressure on human rights, China last week released three jailed "cyber dissidents", including Liu Di, a 23-year-old former psychology major at Beijing Normal University, who had been detained for more than a year.

---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- NEWS SUBJECT: (International Relations (GDIP); Political/General News

(GCAT))

REGION: (China (CHINA); Taiwan (TAIWAN); Asian Countries (ASIAZ);

Greater China (CHINAZ); Emerging Market Countries (DEVGCOZ);

Developing Economies (DVPCOZ); Eastern Asian Countries (EASIAZ))

OTHER INDEXING: 6

Word Count: 587

12/7/03 SCHMP 6

END OF DOCUMENT

Copr. (C) West 2003 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works

UPDATE 1-China activist plans hunger strike during Wen trip.

BEIJING, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A jailed Chinese dissident plans to stage a hunger strike to coincide with a trip by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to the United States, a U.S.-based rights group said on Saturday. Wang Bingzhang, a U.S. resident who was handed a life sentence on terrorism and espionage charges by a Chinese court in February, aimed to protest against his solitary confinement at

the Shaoguan prison in Guangdong province, it said in a statement.

"From solitary confinement, Dr. Wang is calling on the leaders of America to stand with him and to demand his unconditional release," it said.

China frequently times releases of dissidents to coincide with important trips abroad or visit by world leaders.

The move by Wang, a U.S. green card holder in his mid-50s who family members have said renounced his Chinese citizenship, came as another rights group lobbied for the release of a second U.S.-based democracy activist.

Washington-based Freedom Now called on Beijing to release permanent U.S. resident Yang Jianli, arrested in China in April 2002 and put on trial in August on charges of spying for political arch rival Taiwan.

"We believe that the time as come for him to be allowed to return to his family in the United States," Jared Genser of Freedom Now told Reuters by telephone.

The Chinese authorities accused Yang of entering China on a friend's passport and travelling for a week with a fake identity card - mainly to observe unrest in the northeastern rust belt.

Two letters - one destined for U.S. President George W.Bush and the other for Wen - have been drawn up by key members of Congress to seek the former Harvard graduate's freedom.

Eight U.S. Senators signed the letter to Bush, calling on him to raise Yang's case in a meeting with Wen on Tuesday.

Some 32 members of Congress had signed the letter to Wen, Genser said.

Last month, China released a young cyber dissident known as the "stainless steel mouse" after detaining her for more than a year for criticising the government.

Liu Di, a former psychology major at Beijing Normal University, wrote political satire about the ruling Communist Party and called for the release of cyber dissidents in Internet chatrooms.

Wen is due to meet Bush early next week mainly to discuss issues related to the island of Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province, and trade.

($1=8.276 yuan).

---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- NEWS SUBJECT: (International Relations (GDIP); Domestic Politics (GPOL); Political/General News (GCAT))

REGION: (China (CHINA); Emerging Market Countries (DEVGCOZ); United States (USA); Asian Countries (ASIAZ); Greater China

(CHINAZ); Developing Economies (DVPCOZ); Eastern Asian

Countries (EASIAZ); North American Countries (NAMZ))

OTHER INDEXING: N2K:ASIA; N2K:CN; N2K:DIP; N2K:DNP; N2K:EMRG; N2K:G; N2K:PGE; N2K:POL; N2K:RNA; N2K:RNP; N2K:US; N2K:YDB; N2K:Z

Word Count: 425

12/6/03 RTRENGNS 09:53:27

END OF DOCUMENT

Copr. (C) West 2003 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works

BEIJING, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A jailed Chinese dissident who spent years in the

United States plans to stage a hunger strike to coincide with a trip by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to the United States, a U.S.-based rights group said on Saturday. Wang Bingzhang, who was handed a life sentence on terrorism and espionage charges by a Chinese court in February, aimed to protest against his solitary confinement at the Shaoguan prison in Guangdong province, the Worldrights group said.

"From solitary confinement, Dr Wang is calling on the leaders of America to stand with him and to demand his unconditional release," it said in a statement.

Wen is due to meet with U.S. President George W Bush early next week to discuss trade and issues related to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province, among others.

Wang, a U.S. green card holder in his mid-50s said by family members to have renounced Chinese citizenship, was the first democracy activist charged by China with terrorism and espionage. ($1=8.276 yuan).

---- INDEX REFERENCES ---- NEWS SUBJECT: (International Relations (GDIP); Domestic Politics (GPOL); Political/General News (GCAT))

REGION: (China (CHINA); United States (USA); Asian Countries

(ASIAZ); Greater China (CHINAZ); Emerging Market Countries

(DEVGCOZ); Developing Economies (DVPCOZ); Eastern Asian

Countries (EASIAZ); North American Countries (NAMZ))

OTHER INDEXING: N2K:ASIA; N2K:CN; N2K:DIP; N2K:DNP; N2K:G; N2K:PGE; N2K:POL; N2K:RNA; N2K:RNP; N2K:SECUR; N2K:US; N2K:YDB; N2K:Z

Word Count: 184

12/6/03 RTRENGNS 07:08:05

END OF DOCUMENT

Copr. (C) West 2003 No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works

Agence France Presse

December 6, 2003 Saturday

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 328 words

HEADLINE: Leading Chinese dissident plans hunger strike as premier goes to US

DATELINE: BEIJING, Dec 6

BODY: US-based dissident Wang Bingzhang, who is serving a life term in a Chinese jail, is planning a hunger strike to coincide with a US visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, a rights group said Saturday.

Wang declared his intention Friday to his brother Wang Bingwu, who saw him for 30 minutes at Shaoguan prison in southern Guangdong province, according to the Washington-based organization Worldrights.

Wang said the hunger strike would be to protest his "cruel and inhumane solitary confinement at the hands of local Chinese prison officials," the organization said in a statement.

Separated by a thick wall of glass, the two brothers had been speaking over a telephone, and the moment Wang expressed his intention of launching a hunger strike, the line was cut, the statement said.

Prison authorities subsequently sought to get Wang to change his mind, and also tried to enlist his brother for that purpose, but the jailed dissident refused, according to the statement.

Wen will leave China Sunday for a three-day visit to the United States.

Worldrights urged President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to protest "the brutality of an arbitrary judicial system that defines the promotion of democracy and human rights as a felonious crime against society."

Wang, who had lived in the United States since the late 1980s, was sentenced to life imprisonment February 10 by a court in Shenzhen after being convicted of espionage and leading a terrorist group.

He was found guilty of providing intelligence to Taiwan between 1982 and 1990 and obtaining "secret military material illegally" in exchange for money.

China admitted in December last year it had arrested Wang, six months after he disappeared.

Friends and rights groups claim he was kidnapped by Chinese agents from Vietnam near the China border, where he tried to meet with Chinese labor activists, and was brought into the country.

ph/sdm

China-US-dissident

LOAD-DATE: December 7, 2003

Your use of this service is governed by Terms & Conditions . Please review them

Timothy Cooper

Executive Director

W O R L D R I G H T S

Human rights advocacy worldwide

--------------------------------------------------------

202/361-0989 (cell) . Worldright@aol.com