Marking the second anniversary of China's detention of Yang, 67 House members said in a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao that the imprisonment of the scholar, 40, was "an extraordinarily inhumane act unworthy of a great nation." "The great pain and anguish that this is causing his family, and wife and two young children, will make it increasingly difficult for us to focus on the many other important aspects of our bilateral relationship," said the letter, signed by Republicans and Democrats. The State Department has repeatedly called for his release. Yang was living in the United States as a legal resident after being blacklisted by China for participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. He was detained on April 26, 2002, in Kunming, China, on suspicion of illegal entry. He was put on trial in August last year for illegal entry and espionage for Taiwan, but no verdict has been issued. By Chinese law, a Beijing court should have handed down a verdict or set him free within 21/2 months of the closed-door, one-day trial. -------------------------- |
