An espionage trial of a US-based democracy activist, which is seen as an important test case for the new Chinese government's views on dissent, ended behind closed doors without a verdict yesterday.
Yang Jianli (
"He used his right to defend himself in court and declared himself innocent of both charges," Mo Shaoping told reporters shortly after the three-hour trial ended.
The court will not announce a verdict immediately, but under normal circumstances it should be expected within six weeks, he said.
The punishment meted out to Yang may help show whether China's political climate has changed after a new generation of leaders took over earlier this year, observers said.
"The case might provide some perspective on new President Hu Jintao (
Forty-year-old Yang, a US resident on a Chinese blacklist of people barred from entry, was detained in April last year after he traveled to China on a friend's passport in an attempt to observe ongoing labor unrest.
"He declared himself innocent of illegal entry, since as a Chinese citizen he has a right to return to his home country," said Mo, the lawyer.
According to a copy of an opinion recommending prosecution issued by the Beijing Bureau of National Security, the spying charge is based on activities that took place a decade ago.
Yang's supporters have said these activities are entirely innocuous, including the donation of US$100 for a Chinese agricultural scientist's research into papaya trees.
The spuriousness of the spying charge is the likely reason why China decided to close the trial, barring relatives or US embassy staff from attending, according to Genser.
"If the outside world did attend, and saw the evidence, it would probably have a very large question about why he is being charged with espionage at all," he said.
An espionage conviction can carry the death penalty in China, although it is unlikely to be used in Yang's case due to the high level of foreign interest in it.
Both Lorne Craner, the US State Department's top human rights official, and James Kelly, its leading East Asia hand, have met with Chinese embassy officials to urge more transparency in the case, sources said.
Last week the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution warning that cases like Yang's could harm relations between Beijing and Washington.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
RSS