Zhang Zong'ai, 56, a former local People's Congress representative and lecturer at the Xi'an Institute of Statistics (Shaanxi), was sentenced by the Xi'an Intermediate Court in December 1996 to five years' imprisonment for "counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement." The August 11 indictment accused Zhang Zongai of: meeting with Wang Dan in Xi'an in September 1994 and providing him with "reactionary" material later published in a Hong Kong newspaper, where Zhang called for democratic reform; signing the May 1995 "Tolerance" petition; "pledging loyalty to Taiwan authorities"; and accepting funds from hostile overseas individuals and organizations. Zhang was detained on June 3, 1996, formally arrested on June 7 and tried on September 16. Zhang Zongai was previously sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the same crime after participating in demonstrations in Xi'an in 1989 and writing a letter to the NPC's chairman protesting the June Fourth Massacre. Zhang Zongai is in poor health and reportedly suffer

ing from serious psychological problems in prison. (Sources: Human Rights in China - New York)