FRANK WELCOMES HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION ON BEHALF OF YANG JIANLI

Daniel McGlinchey

June 12, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Daniel McGlinchey 202-225-3548

FRANK WELCOMES HOUSE COMMITTEE ACTION ON BEHALF OF YANG JIANLI

Just days after the announcement of a ruling by a U.N. body against the People's Republic of China (PRC) for its prolonged and arbitrary detention of pro-democracy activist Dr Yang Jianli, today the House International Relations Committee unanimously passed House Resolution 199 condemning the detention of Dr. Yang and calling for "his immediate and unconditional release."

An internationally renowned Chinese scholar and U.S. permanent resident, Dr. Yang has been detained incommunicado in China and denied access to a lawyer, in violation of Chinese law, for over 13 months after being arrested for reportedly entering China with false identity documents.

In May, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a body of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, ruled that Dr.Yang Jianli is being held by the Chinese government in violation of international law. China attempted, but failed, to win a legal challenge to the case in the U.N. Working Group.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), who represents Dr. Yang's wife, Christina Fu and their two children in Brookline, Mass, introduced H.Res.199 in April. Since then, over 50 members of the House have cosponsored the measure.

Frank said, "I'm very grateful to my colleagues on the International Relations committee for passing this resolution, and I look forward to its speedy passage in the House. I hope this resolution will impress upon the government of the People's Republic of China how important this issue is to people in the United States, and that it is in their interest to not let Dr. Yang's imprisonment continue to be an obstacle to U.S.-China cooperation."

In addition to calling for Dr. Yang Jianli's release, the measure also states, in part, that "the United States should make the immediate release of Dr. Yang Jianli a top concern of United States foreign policy."

Last week, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States government calls for Dr. Yang to "be released and allowed to return to his wife and children in Boston."

Reps. Chris Cox (R-CA), the chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee; Tom Lantos (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee; Frank Wolf (R-VA), co-chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus; Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Michael Capuano (D-MA), both leaders on international and human rights issues, have been leaders in advocating for Dr. Yang's release and in moving the resolution forward.

After approving H.Res.199 without opposition, the International Relations Committee reported the measure to the House for further consideration.

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Source: "yangjianli.com".