Chinese-American scholar Li Shaomin (
In an account published yesterday in the Asian Wall Street Journal and several Hong Kong newspapers, Li denied the spying charges and said the group cited by the Ministry of State Security did not gather intelligence.
Li, who taught in Hong Kong, was detained in February during a visit to China. He was convicted July 14 and deported just before a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Hong Kong authorities allowed Li last week to return to his job at the City University of Hong Kong.
China has not released any evidence against Li.
Li said the only proof of spying presented at his trial was a one-page document from the security ministry claiming that the Taiwan Three-Principle Reunification Alliance was his spy organization. He said he had applied to the Taipei-based group for grants to study Chinese reform and development.
A spokesman for the group in Taipei, Hsu Wen-jao, said yesterday that the alliance sponsored research to promote reuniting China and Taiwan based on the "three principles of the people" created by Sun Yat-sen. Hsu said the privately financed group had not paid for Li's research and denied that it spies on China.
"Mr Li Shaomin said the spy accusation was untrue and we do, too," said Hsu. "We've decided not to say much about it because the charges are so nonsensical."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
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