The congressman predicts the United States will have to enter negotiations in order to win Li Shaomin’s release.
By: Jeff Milgram
The United States will have to negotiate with China to win the release of accused spy Li Shaomin, who received a doctorate from Princeton University in 1988, according to Rep. Rush Holt (D-12).
"I think it’s unlikely the Chinese government will release him and say it was all a mistake. I think it will take some bargaining," Rep. Holt said Saturday at a rally at Princeton University’s Firestone Plaza in support of Dr. Li.
Rep. Holt said he was not aware of any ongoing negotiations.
The rally was sponsored by Friends of Li Shaomin and the Princeton University chapter of Amnesty International.
A U.S. citizen, Dr. Li, 44, the son of a prominent Chinese dissident, was arrested Feb. 25 as he tried to enter Shenzhen, China. The Chinese government charged him May 15 with spying for Taiwan.
At the time of his arrest, Dr. Li was an associate professor of marketing at the City University of Hong Kong.
Liu Yingli, Dr. Shaomin’s wife, said after Saturday’s rally that her husband has not been allowed to meet with a U.S. consular official since April 30.
Rep. Holt said Dr. Shaomin’s arrest is part of a Chinese campaign to intimidate academics, especially Chinese-American scholars.
"This is not an ordinary case of espionage," Rep. Holt said.
He said he has spoken to the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Yang Jiechi, who claimed that Dr. Li has confessed.
"We demand his immediate release and safe return to his wife and daughter," Rep. Holt said.
Ms. Liu denied her husband is a spy.
"I truly believe he has done nothing wrong," she said.
Ms. Liu believes her husband might have become a target of the Chinese because of an article he wrote for the Wall Street Journal on how the Chinese can learn from Taiwan.
"My husband is American," Ms. Liu said during the rally. "He deserves the protection of his government. Make no mistake, this is not about the freedom of one person, it is about the freedom of everyone."
Ms. Liu said this has been a "most agonizing time for me" and her daughter, Diana, 9.
Princeton sociology Professor Gilbert Rozman, who read Dr. Li’s doctoral dissertation, said, "He has an infectious sense of humor. He is a quiet but determined analyst of Chinese society and he is reform-minded in his approach. He is being charged with treason without any supporting evidence."
"I have no reason to think he’s a spy," Professor Rozman said at the rally.
Dr. Li’s father, reformist Li Honglin, was jailed for 10 months, Dr. Rozman said.
In April, Princeton University President Harold Shapiro wrote to Chinese President Jiang Zemin, saying that Dr. Li’s detention "may be related to his academic work, and thus could have a chilling effect on scholarly engagement between the United States and China."
The New Jersey congressional delegation has written a letter to President Bush, asking him to "do everything possible to obtain Dr. Li’s release and return to the United States."
In addition, two Princeton University alumni, Rep. James A. Leach (R-Iowa) and Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich (R-Md.), have sent letters to President Jiang urging that Dr. Li’s case be resolved promptly.