HUMAN RIGHTS: DISSIDENT LU GENGSONG'S ARREST

1. (C) On August 27 more than 1,000 Chinese intellectuals and
activists issued an open letter addressed to President Hu
Jintao and delegates to the 17th Party Congress calling for
the release of Zhejiang dissident writer Lu Gengsong and
other jailed activists nationwide. According to lawyer Li
Jianqiang (strictly protect), Lu's wife was allowed to visit
the local Public Security office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Province to apply for bail on behalf of her husband but has
been restricted from traveling to Beijing to lobby for her
husband's release. Well-known human rights lawyer Mo
Shaoping has reportedly agreed to take Lu's case. This marks
the fourth open letter in recent weeks issued to Chinese
leaders in conjunction with major upcoming events such as the
October Party Congress and next year's Olympics. End Summary.

Call for Lu's Release, Honoring Promises to World


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2. (U) On August 27 more than 1,000 Chinese intellectuals and
activists issued a public letter addressed to President Hu
Jintao and delegates to the upcoming 17th Party Congress
calling for the release of detained Zhejiang dissident writer
Lu Gengsong. Lu, a former Zhejiang Police College professor,
was reportedly detained August 24 on charges of "illegally
obtaining State secrets" and "inciting subversion." The
letter, entitled "Please make good on the nation's promises
to the world," calls on the Chinese Communist Party to honor
its constitutional pledge to rule the country according to
law and respect human rights, as well as its vow to "give the
world a pleasant surprise" in hosting the Olympic Games.
That "surprise," the letter charges, was not supposed to
include clamping down on free speech, censoring the media or
restricting internet access. The letter also calls for the
release of a long list of other prominent detained dissidents
nationwide, including Chen Guangcheng, Guo Feixiong, Shi Tao
and others.



3. (C) Activist lawyer Li Jianqiang (strictly protect) told
Poloff August 31 that Lu's wife, Wang Xue, went to the local
Public Security office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to
apply for bail on behalf of her husband. The application has
yet to be adjudicated. Li said Wang is allowed to leave her
home, but a local official in Hangzhou told Wang she could
not travel to Beijing to lobby for her husband's release.
Well-known human rights lawyer Mo Shaoping has reportedly
agreed to take Lu Gengsong's case after Lu's daughter, Lu
Piaoqi, visited Mo in Beijing on August 26. Li Jianqiang
told Poloff that a local Hangzhou Public Security contact
reported that local police are "very nervous" about the
public letter. Li estimates Lu Gengsong's case will go to
court in three months.

Fourth Open Letter in Recent Weeks


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4. (C) This marks the fourth open letter in recent weeks
issued to Chinese leaders in conjunction with major upcoming
events such as the Party Congress in October and next year's
Olympics. On August 8, 39 mainland Chinese activists,
lawyers, scholars, writers and journalists signed an "open
letter" calling on PRC leaders to make good on their stated
objective of hosting a "humane" Olympics (ref A).
Separately, Yang Chunlin, a farmer from Heilongjiang
Province, reportedly gathered signatures from over 10,000
other farmers in support of a letter entitled "Not Olympics,
but Human Rights," resulting in his formal arrest on August
13 on charges of "subverting State authority." Meanwhile,
Zhang Qing, wife of jailed democracy activist Guo Feixiong,
recently wrote a public letter to President Hu Jintao (ref
B), complaining of Guo's unfair treatment in prison and the
prosecution's use of false witnesses during the trial.
Randt