House of Representatives Passes Bill Supporting La Puente Resident

(Washington D.C.)- The House of Representatives today passed House Resolution 794, recognizing the 17th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square.  The resolution includes language introduced by Representative Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) urging the immediate release of Dr. Wang Bingzhang, a father of La Puente constituents, and a current victim of arbitrary detention by the People’s Republic of China.

In June of 2002, Dr. Wang was kidnapped from Vietnam, beaten and taken into China by armed assailants.  Dr. Wang was abducted by the Chinese Authorities and held in solitary confinement for six months, during which time that government denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.  In December 2002, the Chinese government reversed itself and acknowledged he had been in custody.  Dr. Wang was then issued a life sentence after a closed half day trial.  He had been denied adequate time to prepare his defense, refused a trial before an independent and impartial tribunal, and rejected the right to call witnesses on his own behalf or cross-examine witnesses testifying against him.  To date, the Chinese government has refused to release any evidence to substantiate Dr. Wang’s alleged crimes. 

Dr. Wang is currently being held in Shaoguan prison in Guangdong Province.  Prison authorities continue to deny Dr. Wang access to Western medicine for his serious health issues, which include gastritis and phlebitis.  “After hearing of this case from Dr. Wang’s daughter and son, I was eager to help in any way I could,” commented Napolitano.

The resolution, which specifically calls for Dr. Wang’s release by the Chinese government, also recognizes that his arrest and imprisonment has been recognized by the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention as a violation of international law.  These actions follow a prior 2004 resolution authored by Napolitano and passed by the House of Representatives, and efforts taken by the British House of Commons, Canadian Foreign Minister, and Taiwanese Legislature on Dr. Wang’s behalf.

“I thank my colleagues in the House of Representatives who supported this bipartisan resolution.  My staff and I will continue to work on this critical issue, and I look forward to Dr. Wang’s release and return to his family,” concluded Napolitano.

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