By Christopher Bodeen/AP
When Chinese police on April 8 detained author Wu Jianmin, a U.S. citizen, he became the fifth Chinese-born intellectual with foreign ties to be held in what Americans are calling China’s sweeping anti-espionage campaign. Observers say the detentions show a disturbing new pattern of seizing not only political dissidents, but anyone with access to sensitive information about the government.
In response, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning, cautioning Chinese-born Americans that they risk being detained in China if they have been involved in dissident activities or published writings critical of the Chinese government. It also warned of risks to those who have traveled to Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province, or had contact with Taiwanese media organizations.
China protested the U.S. State Department warning, calling it “irresponsible” and an attempt to sabotage Chinese Americans’ relations with Beijing.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue demanded Washington “correct the mistake and take measures to eliminate the negative effects created by the so-called warning,” the government’s Xinhua News Agency said.
“The announcement of the so-called ‘risk’ is an attempt to sow discord in relations between Chinese Americans and others and China. This is extremely wrong and irresponsible,” Zhang was quoted as saying.
Wu is the latest in a string of U.S. citizens and permanent residents detained in China on suspicion of spying. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said police informed them of Wu’s detention on April 14, saying he was under investigation for spying on behalf of Taiwan.
Authorities suspect Wu was involved in the publication of The Tiananmen Papers, a book about the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, said Frank Lu, a former dissident who runs a human rights monitoring group in Hong Kong. The book, which depicts Chinese leaders at odds over how to handle the protests, is said to be based on Communist Party records smuggled out of China by a disaffected official.
Xiao Qiang, executive director of New York-based Human Rights in China, said Wu lived in New York City, has a son in college and other family still in China. Wu wrote frequently for Hong Kong news magazines on Chinese politics and other subjects, Xiao said.
An official in the government’s Foreign Affairs Office in Guangdong province confirmed Wu had been detained, but would provide no further information.
Xiao, of Human Rights in China, said the detentions of intellectuals with foreign ties show a new pattern of targeting not only known political dissidents, but also those with family or professional contacts providing them access to sensitive information. That reflects Chinese nervousness about the leak of politically sensitive information, especially following the publication of The Tiananmen Papers.
Many of those detained had felt they had no reason for concern because they considered themselves pro-China, Xiao said.
Their need to maintain family, business and academic ties with China makes them vulnerable to manipulation and abuse, he said. Besides those cases that have been publicized, another 20-30 have been hushed up by those involved.
Earlier this week, more than 350 prominent China scholars warned that the crackdown threatened to set back thriving academic exchanges. They issued an open appeal to President Jiang Zemin to release the detainees, or at least to provide them fair legal protection.
John Holden, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, said the detentions risk disrupting ties, and will likely receive more attention when the U.S. Congress gets back to work next week.
The five writers and scholars detained by China
- Wu Jianmin, an American citizen from New York City, was detained April 8 on suspicion of spying on behalf of Taiwan. According to democracy activists, the 46-year-old Wu was a former teacher at the Communist Party’s Central Party School and a reporter who left for the United States in 1988. Wu wrote frequently for Hong Kong news magazines on Chinese politics, and published a book about the Chinese government after the 1989 pro-democracy protests.
- Li Shaomin, an American citizen and business professor in Hong Kong, disappeared Feb. 25 after going to China to see a friend. His wife says he was picked up by security agents. Chinese authorities have not commented on the case.
- Gao Zhan, an American University researcher and U.S. permanent resident, was detained Feb. 11 and faces espionage charges. Gao’s husband and 5-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, were detained with her and held for 26 days before being released. Chinese officials failed to inform the U.S. Embassy of the son’s detention as required by law.
- Tan Guangguang, a Chinese intellectual and permanent U.S. resident who has taught at top U.S. universities and worked for a U.S. medical group in Beijing, was detained in December.
- Xu Zerong, a historian who works in Hong Kong, was detained in August in Guangdong. Xu, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, reportedly had published articles containing sensitive information about Chinese support for communist insurgents in Malaysia in the 1950s.
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