According to information received from authoritative sources in the Chinese Government, and confirmed by officials of the US State Department, Fang Jue has been released from a public security bureau detention facility in Beijing. In accordance with Chinese regulations, Fang Jue has been given a passport. He departed Beijing and arrived in the United States, accompanied by an officer of the US Embassy, on January 24, 2003.
Fang Jue is the 48-year-old former vice-chairman of the Fuzhou Economic Planning Commission and Chairman of the Board and founder of the Tian’en City Trading Company. He was detained on July 23, 1998 and subsequently sentenced by the Beijing Higher People’s Court to four years in prison, with one-year subsequent deprivation of political rights, for economic crimes.
Fang Jue served his sentence in Beijing’s Liangxiang Prison, and was released upon completion of his sentence on July 22, 2002. He was detained again on November 4, 2002, on suspicion of disturbing the social order and endangering state security, and placed under a form of detention known as “residential surveillance.” He has now been released following completion of investigations by the public security bureau.
According to Chinese regulations, citizens who are convicted of crimes and serve their sentences are eligible to receive passports. Deprivation of political rights is not an impediment to the granting of a passport.
Fang Jue’s case was highlighted in the 12th and 13th sessions of the Sino-US dialogue on human rights. His case has also featured in the dialogues on human rights between China and other countries. The Dui Hua Foundation acknowledges the hard work done on this case by the State Department and the US Embassy in China, and thanks the Chinese Government for releasing Fang Jue and granting him a passport.
The Dui Hua Foundation
San Francisco, California
January 24, 2003