ZHENG ENCHONG UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SHANGHAI 000414

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E.O. 12958: DECL: X1 MANUAL REVIEW
TAGS: PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: ZHENG ENCHONG UPDATE


CLASSIFIED BY: Veomayoury Baccam, Acting Section Chief,
Political/Economic Section , U.S. Consulate Shanghai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. During a conversation with Poloff on June 10,
Shanghai Lawyer Zheng Enchong, who was jailed for three years
after he advised more than 500 families involved in housing
disputes, said that police continued to closely monitor his
movements and had made it impossible for him to find a job in
Shanghai. Although a friend was secretly working to move Zheng
to Germany, Zheng would like to move to Hong Kong where he could
continue to have contacts with his friends and hopefully be able
to find a job advising companies on Shanghai's real estate
market. Zheng has approached local authorities for permission
to travel to Hong Kong to speak on human rights. However, local
authorities refused to allow him to travel unless he agreed to
not speak to the media for three months and signed a statement
admitting his guilt. End Summary.


2. (C) In a meeting with Poloff on June 10, Shanghai Lawyer
Zheng Enchong reported that he continued to be under heavy
police surveillance and was seriously considering leaving China.
Zheng advised more than 500 families displaced by urban
redevelopment projects in Shanghai and served a three-year
prison term for "revealing state secrets" from 2003 until June

2006. Since his release, he has been under virtual house arrest
and has only been able to leave his house to attend church or
run small errands. Zheng was able to meet Poloff by sneaking
away during church services. While Zheng would like to stay in
Shanghai and continue his work as a lawyer, the constant police
surveillance had made it impossible for him to find a job.


3. (C) Zheng was contemplating his next move. He said,
ideally, he would like to relocate to Hong Kong and travel back
and forth from Hong Kong to the Mainland. It would be easy for
him to find work in Hong Kong as an advisor to companies
interested in Shanghai's real estate market, and he would also
be able to remain in contact with many of his friends. He
distrusted the Hong Kong government, however, and was
considering other options. A friend was working with a German
organization to get him a one-year fellowship in Germany. Zheng
hoped that this would work out and noted that his daughter was
taking German language classes every night. He said if he was
not able to move to Hong Kong or go to Germany, he would
consider applying for political asylum from the United States.


4. (C) Zheng noted that many of his friends wanted him to
remain in Shanghai. One group of lawyers even offered to buy
his house for him so that he would not need to move. The
lawyers said he had symbolic value for lawyers in China who were
struggling to defend their clients' rights. They would like for
him to remain in Shanghai and continue his work as a housing
rights activist. Zheng said he was moved by their statements
but that it was just too difficult for him to stay in Shanghai.
He added that his handlers told him that he needed to find a way
to leave the country in the next three months or the government
would increase its harassment and find a way to detain him.


5. (C) Zheng was currently focused on getting permission from
local authorities to travel to Hong Kong. He had an open
invitation from He Jun-ren aka Albert Ho, a prominent Hong Kong
lawyer and human rights activist, to travel to Hong Kong and
speak about the human rights situation in China. According to
Zheng, local authorities told him he could travel only if he
agreed to not speak to the press for the next three months and
also to sign a statement admitting his guilt. So far, Zheng has
refused to comply with these conditions and continued to push
the local government on this issue.

JARRETT