Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to ask you to call on the Chinese authority for an immediate medical parole for Dr. Wang Bingzhang, a prominent Chinese pro-democracy dissident currently serving life sentence in Guangdong Province for exercising his freedom of speech.

Dr. Wang suffered from a severe stroke on January 24, 2004 , and was hospitalized for more than a month. Until a visit by one of his sisters last week, this life-threatening event had been kept secret by the prison and the Chinese Government. Regular monthly visits by family members had been suspended since January 2004 for five consecutive months -- the officials citing a bird flu epidemic as its excuse. But the truth is that the Chinese Government doesn't want the outside world to know about its deplorable mistreatment of political detainees. Dr. Wang's stroke was triggered by a hunger strike to protest harsh punishment by the prison for his uncooperative behavior, including solitary confinement for the past two years. Until recently, the family had no knowledge of such mistreatment and his deteriorating health conditions. The prison officials only reported that he was healthy. Dr. Wang has a documented medical history of phlebitis that may trigger a stroke, besides hepatitis and duodenal ulcer. A likely second stroke would be much more devastating and possibly fatal.

As you might already know, Dr. Wang was kidnapped from Vietnam to China, and was in no way a Taiwanese spy or a terrorist leader as falsely charged by the Chinese Communist authority. On the contrary, he is a great Chinese democrat and patriot.

Out of humanitarian concern we respectfully implore you to intervene on Dr. Wang's behalf.

Sincerely Yours,

Guo Ping
Lian Shengde
Wang Xizhe
Wang Zhongxiao
Xin Haonian
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