By: TANG Hong

From: China News Digest Thursday, December 14, 1995

[CND, 12/13/95]

The conviction of top dissident WEI Jingsheng today drew strong reactions outside of China.

CND received some reader letters condemning the sentence as well as some other letters arguing against Wei's political views. Hong Kong's Martin Lee, the leader of a pro-democracy party, said the sentence is a bad omen for Hong Kong after its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Businessmen fear that Hong Kong's economy could be hurt as China's MFN status with the U.S. is again in doubt.

Last night, the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in the United States (IFCSS) sponsored a rally in front of the Chinese embassy, along with some other human rights groups, to protest against the arrest of Wei. According to a news release, the IFCSS President XING Zheng told a Voice of America (VOA) reporter, "the Chinese government proves itself that it hasn't changed much in terms of human rights in China within the past 16 year. Wei Jingsheng was tried at the same court, with the same charges both in 1979 and 1995. It is a shame on Chinese, and it is a shame on China. Chinese government should bear this in mind that, those who tried Wei Jingsheng today, will and must be tried by history, tomorrow or in near future."

In a news conference today, a U.S. Department of State official said the U.S. condemns the decision to convict Wei. Some U.S. Congressmen called for Wei's immediate release. The U.S. House of Representatives passed 409-0 last night the resolution reported in the last CND-Global WEI Jingsheng Special Report. WEI Shanshan, the dissident's sister, asked the U.S. government to press Beijing for her brother's release. WEI Shanshan said she feared for his life as he had serious heart and other health problems and thus might not survive the harsh sentence. Defending Wei Jingsheng is defending the "fundamental rights of freedom of expression of over one billion Chinese people," she insists. Washington has not announced any action but calls for the Beijing authorities to show clemency when Wei appeals.

The French government said the court decision "was a surprise" and China's image would be affected. Britain is "dismayed and concerned." Germany thinks Wei should be freed and Chinese people should be allowed to speak freely. It is willing to host Wei for asylum. Wei reportedly refused to go exiled in the past. Amnesty International calls the trial a mockery of justice.

Wei met a U.S. official in Beijing earlier last year and soon disappeared and presumed arrested. Some CND readers have asked for details of what charges were brought against Wei for what he did during his roughly half a year of parole after the 14 years he spent in prison. CND so far has seen very limited report on this.

According to a message from CND reader Gary D. Cable, the semi-official weekly Beijing Review in its vol.38 no.50, December 11-17, 1995, page 7 said, Wei's arrest "was made after sufficient evidence had been obtained by the police and approved by the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate in accordance with the law."

Reuters reported today that state radio had disclosed the citation against Wei. The key evidence for his conviction of conspiracy to overthrow the government was his illegal fundraising activities home and abroad, according the the official radio broadcast. It also said Wei did not dispute the evidence that his articles published overseas attacked the government and called for Tibet independence. [Wei's letter to DENG Xiaoping on the Tibet issue written when he was prison can be found in last January's supplement issue of CND's Chinese Magazine -- Hua Xia Wen Zhai Zeng Kan #31, together with articles by other authors disputing his views.]

The state radio gave these details of Wei's fundraising: Wei purchased shares in a credit cooperative and organized art shows to collect money. The court interpreted such activities by Wei as efforts to create independent financial resources for more anti-government activities.

Earlier today Wei was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The subversion charge is punishable with death sentence according to Chinese Criminal Law. A relative of Wei said he would appeal. The relative confirmed to a Reuter reporter over the phone that Wei did not dispute the evidence but refuted all charges and pleaded not guilty. He was given one hour to defend himself. The unidentified relative believes Wei's innocence and said "what's there to admit [in the court]?" He said during the legal proceedings, Wei was ill in the morning and was treated by a doctor and rested for 30 minutes before getting back to the court. Wei was not allowed to talked to his family members. Three prosecutors presented the case to three presiding judges.

A CND reader wrote to CND recalling what he read in 1979: "I saw his name for the first time on People's Daily when I was a college student in China. That was the period of 'bourgeoisie liberalization.' There was a report on the People's Daily about the elected people's representative from Beijing Univ. election zone questioning the official of Beijing Intermidiate People's Court." According to the reader's recollection of the report, the representative asked, "was WEI sentenced to 15 years because of his political view?" The official replied, "no, he was sentenced because he leaked state secret to a foreign reporter [about the war with Vietnam -- ed.]." "It was said that he only talked with a Romanian reporter briefly on the street, and he was only an electrician in the Beijing Zoo, how could he know any state secret?" the representative continued. The court official said, "he did talk to a foreigner, that's enough. It must be someone who provided certain state secret to him but he refused to tell the c

ourt who told him, and we failed to find out that person and can only sentenced him for now."

Some western diplomats in Beijing think the heavy sentence is an indication that there may be some power struggle in the Chinese leadership, given that it was handed down despite the possible consequence of worsen relations with western countries. Some others think it was a well-calculated move, timed after President JIANG Zemin's visits to the U.S. and Japan. Most believe that the 10-day appealing period is going to be just a formality and Wei's appeal won't change the sentence, just like the cases with other trials of dissidents.