US Based Chinese Activist on Trial in Beijing

VOA

A U.S.-based Chinese activist has gone on trial in Beijing on charges of entering the country illegally and spying for Taiwan.

Yang Jianli, a Chinese citizen with permanent U.S. residency, was detained in April of 2002 after allegedly entering China using a friend's passport in an attempt to observe ongoing labor arrest.

Mr. Yang's wife Christina Fu said his trial opened Monday in the Beijing Number Two intermediate people's Court. The trial is closed to the public, including Mr. Yang's relatives and U.S. embassy officials.

Details of the charges against Mr. Yang are sketchy. Western news reports indicate he is accused of spying for Taiwan's Nationalist Party. The charges against him are said to involve $100 grants he gave four people to fund various projects in China.

Mr. Yang is founder and president of a Boston-based institute, the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, that promotes democracy in China. The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have passed resolutions demanding that China release Yang Jianli.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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Source: "VOA".