January 21, 2003 (CSN) -- From his home in the United States, Dr. Wang Bingzhang went on a trip to Vietnam in June, 2002, and was scheduled to leave Vietnam on July 3, as per the return date on his ticket.

The China Support Network (CSN) is now raising some rhetorical questions, to wit-- Why is he now in China, rather than at home in the United States? Why has he been held for over 6 months? Why did the Chinese government first deny, then admit, that they were holding him? What happened to the territorial sovereignty of Vietnam? What happened to international law, or to Washington, DC's responsibility for U.S. nationals? What happened to worldwide conscience, or perhaps to that of U.S. officials?

The next chapter in the unfortunate odyssey of Dr. Wang is now unfolding in China, where the Chinese government has announced the January 22 trial of Dr. Wang on charges of "spying" for Taiwan AND of "organizing and leading" an organization of terrorism.

"No one believes these charges of a [55]-year-old medical doctor," notes John Kusumi, Executive Director of CSN, which is an American advocacy group that supports Chinese democracy. "Dr. Wang is a leading figure in the Chinese democracy movement, and these charges are easy to see as a politically motivated frame up."

The case has been the subject of heated protest by the Free China Movement (FCM), which is the umbrella group for over 30 leading organizations in favor of Chinese democracy and human rights. Since July, 2002, they have released word of the unsolved disappearance of Dr. Wang plus two traveling companions, Zhang Qi and Yue Wu. They have pointed to their intelligence, suggesting that Chinese agents 'nabbed' the three out of Vietnam. FCM launched its campaign, "Free the Democracy 3," at a press conference with relatives of the missing. That campaign led to a street protest in December, as word at last came out that the Chinese government was holding the 'Democracy 3.'

The campaign was echoed by CSN, which raised its "amber alert" and "hostage crisis" assessments. At CSN, Kusumi underscores the earlier demand. "We said, 'Free the Democracy 3.' We did not say, 'Free the Democracy 2, and keep one to be falsely charged and imprisoned.'"

FCM is now denouncing acts of the PRC (Chinese) government that it terms to be "kidnapping, illegal detention and charging" of Dr. Wang, and wants the U.S. state department to demand the immediate return of Wang.

"Communist misbehavior begins when they wake up in the morning. They can't answer our first question -- Why is he [Dr. Wang] in China? This was an unjustifiable detention at the outset, and it remains so. Wang meets the tests to be considered a U.S. national, hence the PRC has no jurisdiction over his recent life's activities. The CSN is outraged at this present atrocity, befalling people who were tourists to Vietnam!" said Kusumi.

Transferred from China Support Network (CSN)