Report: China holding California-based dissident

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

(07-21) 10:52 PDT BEIJING (AP) --
China is holding a U.S.-based dissident who disappeared while traveling in Myanmar, a human rights group said Wednesday.

Peng Ming, a veteran Chinese democracy activist who lives in San Francisco, was arrested in Myanmar around May 22 on charges of possessing fake Chinese money and turned over to Chinese authorities, according to Washington-based Worldrights.

Myanmar and China may have colluded "to snare" Peng, the group said in a statement. It said he was detained with a Chinese companion, Zhong Ping, who is under house arrest.

"Without certifiable proof of any wrongdoing on Peng's part, his detention is manifestly arbitrary," said Worldrights executive director Timothy Cooper in the statement. "We call for Peng's immediate release and his safe return to the United States."

Peng is leader of the China Federation Foundation, which was founded in San Francisco last year. He told The Associated Press at that time that its goal is to replace communist rule with democracy.

The Worldrights statement said Peng was being held in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Police and prosecutors reached by phone in Wuhan said they had no information about the case.

Peng went to Myanmar to set up a haven for fleeing Chinese dissidents, the statement said. It said he entered Myanmar from Thailand, where his parents live as refugees.

Peng spent 18 months in a Chinese labor camp after he was arrested in 1999 amid a crackdown on dissent that sent dozens of dissidents into prison or exile.

Released in August 2000, he left China and moved to the United States in 2001 and has applied for permanent U.S. residency.

"We're deeply concerned for his safety at this point since he's not embraced by the Chinese government," Cooper said in an interview Wednesday.

Peng, 47, has two young children living in the United States and a daughter in Canada. His sister, Peng Xing, also lives in San Francisco.

"Anything less than full due process will be a clear violation of his fundamental rights," Peng Xing said in a statement.

Last year, two members of the China Federation Foundation -- U.S. citizen Benjamin Lan and Sun Gang of New Zealand -- were arrested in China and sentenced to prison on subversion and kidnapping charges. Peng Ming said the two activists were in Beijing on a mission to promote democracy.