WMRC Daily Analysis
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Monday, February 10, 2003

Wang Bingzhang, a US-based Chinese democracy activist, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of espionage and terrorist-related offences by a Chinese court. Wang was sentenced by a court in Guangdong province, southern China, after being found guilty of violent terrorist activities and of being paid by Taiwanese organisations to collect state secrets in January 2003. His arrest has brought criticism from human rights groups, who describe Wang's sentence as shameful. The move by Beijing is intended to act as a deterrent to ensure that dissidents who are exiled to the US do not come back to China and cause trouble for the authorities. The Chinese government believes that it is easier to exile dissidents abroad rather than to allow them to stay in China, where the government fears that they will be more effective in furthering their cause. Wang Bingzhang, who was twice jailed during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, moved to the US in 1979 where he formed the Chinese Alliance for Democracy. He was able to enter China covertly in 1998 but was then expelled by the authorities.

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