---------- From: Stasi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: China: American "engineer" put on trial - Ananova [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- China puts American engineer on trial - Ananova ================================= An American electrical engineer accused by China of obtaining secrets and giving bribes has gone on trial in Beijing. Fong Fuming, of West Orange, New Jersey, is one of a series of US citizens and residents detained and tried this year in China on security charges. The trial follows a weekend visit to China by US President George W Bush. Fong's family had been hoping that Mr Bush's visit to Shanghai for a summit of Pacific rim leaders would help win his release. The president held talks on Friday with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in their first meeting. Fong is accused of obtaining 43 secret government documents from a state power official and of distributing $245,000 (�170,000) in bribes. A US lawyer for his family said Fong was detained on February 28, 2000, when he was in China to help an American power firm bid for a contract. The lawyer, Jerome Cohen, said China violated its own laws by holding Fong for so long without indicting him. But the Foreign Ministry said Fong was detained August 28, 2000. It said he was dealt with according to law. Fong worked in China's power sector before moving to the United States. He became a US citizen in 1994 and advised foreign firms about power projects in China and elsewhere in Asia, Mr Cohen said. Fong's wife and two sons also are American citizens. Chinese authorities accused Fong of bribing bid officials to obtain technical documents, and said they might be secret, Mr Cohen said. Fong says he did not know that the documents, which he stored on his computer, were secret, Mr Cohen said. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_429700.html
