China May Release Prisoners To Placate U.S. Before Summit October 14, 2002 BEIJING -- China and the U.S. are haggling over political prisoners, with Beijing expected to release at least one prisoner as a goodwill gesture ahead of a summit between presidents Jiang Zemin and George W. Bush next week. Chinese officials in recent weeks have telegraphed to their U.S. counterparts and human-rights activists that some prisoners on a U.S. wish list may be plucked to freedom around the Oct. 25 meeting at Mr. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, according to people involved. One go-between in the negotiations, U.S. businessman-turned-human-rights activist John Kamm, spent two days in Beijing last week talking with Chinese foreign and justice ministry officials. Afterward, he said China will free two important prisoners, one before the summit and another before year's end. Both sides have played this game before -- bargaining over dissidents, scholars or businessmen locked up by China to seek leverage around key political meetings. But the willingness this time around to negotiate prisoner releases shows how eager Washington and Beijing are to keep the perennially fractious human-rights issue from damaging larger objectives. The Bush administration is hoping to secure China's acquiescence in the event of a war with Iraq. For President Jiang, success in Texas would prove to detractors that he is indispensable in managing the crucial relationship with the U.S. -- China's biggest export market, a leading source of investment and protector of its rival, Taiwan. Exactly which prisoners Beijing is likely to free isn't known, and it has shown it won't be a pushover in negotiations. A Chinese court last week sentenced a group of evangelical Christians, whose release the U.S. had urged, to harsh prison terms of 15 years to life. But a peek at the U.S. wish list will come Monday when Clark Randt, the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, gives a speech in Boston. He is expected to name several prisoners -- an elderly Catholic bishop, leaders of the outlawed China Democracy Party, a Muslim businesswoman, a journalist and a Tibetan Buddhist nun. Also mentioned in the U.S.-China talks are three American citizens or permanent residents: Liu Yaping, a businessman detained since getting involved in a political power struggle in Inner Mongolia; former power-industry consultant Fong Fuming sentenced to five years in prison in March for bribery and obtaining state secrets; and Yang Jianli, an exiled democracy campaigner who sneaked into China this year on a borrowed passport and is being held by state security agents in Beijing. Write to Charles Hutzler at charles.hutzler@wsj.com Updated October 14, 2002 -------------------------- |
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