The New York Times

Monday, August 30, 1999

Chinese Dissident Convicted

By The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) -- A member of an outlawed opposition party in China has been tried for subversion, but the court has not disclosed the verdict, a Hong Kong-based rights group reported Monday.

Yu Feng, a member of the China Democracy Party in Hebei province, was put on trial for subversion on Aug. 18, but the Intermediate People's Court in his home city of Zhangjiakou has refused to make the verdict and sentence public, the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported late Monday.

The Information Center said courts were using this tactic to prevent information about dissident trials from reaching rights monitors outside the country.

The court could not be reached for comment after office hours Monday.

In another development, police took dissident Xue Zhenbiao of Guangxi in south China into custody Monday in Hangzhou, where he was attempting to visit imprisoned China Democracy Party leader Wang Youcai, the center said.

Scores of members of the China Democracy Party have been arrested in the months leading up to the 50th anniversary of communist China's founding on Oct. 1. Some have been sentenced to prison for up to 13 years for subversion.