Agence France-Presse
Copyright 2003

Monday, February 10, 2003

[Corrected 02/09/03]

CORRECTION: ATTENTION - ADDS trial details, scuffles in Hong Kong

BEIJING, Feb 10 (AFP) - US-based Chinese democracy activist Wang Bingzhang was Monday sentenced to life imprisonment after beingconvicted of espionage and leading a terrorist group, sparkingoutrage from rights groups and relatives.

The sentence was handed down in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, the Xinhua news agency and court officials said.

"We are shocked," his brother Wang Bingwu told AFP from his home in Canada.

"From his arrest until his sentence we have been completely in the dark as to what has been going on.

"Nothing has been open to family members. We couldn't even visit him.

"The reform and opening up of China is deepening and the legal system has to be more transparent to reflect this."

China in December said it had arrested Wang, 55, for espionage and engaging in "violent terrorist activities".

The court heard that Wang provided intelligence to Taiwan between 1982 and 1990, obtaining "secret military material illegally" in exchange for money, Xinhua said.

Since 1996, he had published writings and books advocating terrorism, assassinations, kidnappings and bombings, the agency reported the verdict as saying.

The court claimed Wang was planning to blow up roads and bridges in China and had twice been to Thailand to plot a bomb attack against the Chinese embassy there and set up a terrorist trainingbase.

Friends and rights groups claim the charges are trumped up and said he was kidnapped from Vietnam near the China border, possibly by Chinese agents, where he tried to meet Chinese labor activists.

Wang has been a staunch overseas critic of Beijing's communist regime for almost 20 years and Free China Movement international director Timothy Cooper called the sentence "shameful".

"We deeply regret the severe sentence handed down," he told AFP from the group's Washington base.

"It is unjust and incomprehensible that a state that seeks to be part of the international community treats a democracy dissident insuch a shameful manner.

"The sentence is testament to the fact that China is not yet ready to join the family of nations."

The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy described the sentence as a major setback.

"It is a very significant case and I am very angry," said centre head Frank Lu.

"There is evidence that he was kidnapped. He is a US resident and the US government is very sensitive to these types of cases."

In Hong Kong, scuffles broke out as a dozen activists clashed with 20 police officers who tried to prevent them heading towardsthe central government's liaison office to protest Wang's sentence.

Wang's daughter Wang Qingyan said from her home in Los Angeles she was devastated by the news.

"My father is not in a very good physical condition and I really hope he can come home to the United States so I can take care ofhim."

Brother Wang added: "Wang has serious cardiovascular diseases and gastric problems. We don't believe he has committed these crimes."

The US embassy has said its officials had contacted Chinese authorities regarding Wang Bingzhang and were closely following thecase. A spokeswoman said a statement was expected from Washington.

Although Wang is a US resident, his eligibility for consular help from American diplomats in Beijing is far narrower than it would behad he been a citizen.

Wang and two other democracy activists, French resident Yue Wu and US resident Zhang Qi, were reported missing on June 26.

Yue and Zhang, a woman, were earlier cleared of all charges and released.

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