For Li Shaomin GS '88, a brief passport check by an immigration officer in Shenzhen, China, turned into a five-month journey through the Chinese legal system.
Li discussed the Chinese legal system and his "participatory observation" of it with a crowd of more than 200 in a speech at the Frist Campus Center last night. Li, a professor of business and marketing at City University of Hong Kong, was detained by Chinese security forces as he crossed the Chinese border in February and, after a brief trial, deported to the United States in July.
After being pulled aside in Shenzhen, Li was detained and flown from Shenzhen to Beijing, where he was held in a secure house under a system called "living under surveillance." His surroundings were relatively comfortable, he said, but two policemen watched him 24 hours a day.
"It was very stressful," Li said. "They'd even watch me as I slept."
Li was later transferred from the house to a jail. The jail was used primarily for political prisoners, Li said, and conditions there were decent.
"If the house was a three-star hotel, this was a two-star hotel," he said.
Li lived with two other men in a 21-square-meter cell with a window at the top for a guard to watch them and a courtyard where they were permitted to exercise twice a day.
Throughout his detention, Li was interrogated. He would sit in a chair in the center of the interrogation room with his three questioners facing him from across a table. In violation of Chinese law, the men would not tell Li their real names or show him their identification badges, he recalled. Li was not tortured or beaten, he said, but he was denied water for long periods of time, subjected to humiliating treatment and encouraged to incriminate others.
One interrogator was in charge of recording what Li said. "He was taking notes of what I said," Li explained. "But every time I looked, it wasn't really what I said."
Li was denied legal books and counsel while in jail and even forbidden access to a dictionary. "They said they didn't want me looking up words to use in my defense," he said. Even his request to consult with a lawyer was denied, he said.
At Li's trial, three prosecutors faced him and his two Chinese lawyers, while an American consular official observed. Li was accused of spying against China for Taiwan in the service of a Taiwanese think tank called the Reunification Alliance.
Li was not allowed to present his case fully, he said. Though Li had completed some studies for the Alliance, it was purely an academic organization, he said. "Their only evidence was a piece of paper [from Chinese security forces] saying, 'We verify that this alliance is a spy agency.' "
Usually, it takes about a month for a case to be decided in the Chinese legal system, but the judge announced the verdict in Li's case right after lunch. At the conclusion of the three-hour trial, Li was found guilty of espionage and, because he is a U.S. citizen, was deported to the U.S.
Li said he is still at a loss to explain why the Chinese government detained him to begin with. He suggested that the reason may be because earlier in February a high-ranking Communist Party official defected to the U.S. Or perhaps it was because of his involvement in the pro-democracy movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Or maybe the government was misinformed by someone. Maybe they made a mistake and had no face-saving way to fix it but to move Li through the legal system, he said.
"This is not a regime that uses reason," he added.
While Li was detained, efforts to work toward his release began all over the world. Members of Congress, including University alumni, as well as former head of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12th) and Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-4th), passed resolutions calling for the release of Li and other detained academics in China and raised the issue in meetings with State Department officials and with Chinese officials. President Bush discussed Li with Chinese president Jiang Zemin in a telephone conversation.
"This was a question that was recognized at a high level," Holt said.
Li's detention also provoked an "unprecedented" response from the international community of China scholars, University sociology professor Gil Rozman said. Professors and researchers signed petitions and spoke out for Li's release. At Princeton, then University President Harold Shapiro signed a letter to President Jiang on Li's behalf, and University officials spoke at a rally during Reunions weekend that drew over 150 alumni.
Even Diana Li, Shaomin's 9-year-old daughter, got involved. She wrote a letter to President Bush and spoke out on a cable news show.
"What will you do if Jiang Zemin does not release your daddy?" CNN's John King asked her.
"I will spank him," Diana answered.
"My students ask me to sum up my experience in one sentence. I tell them, 'People do care,' " Li said. "I'm so glad to come back."
Li is hopeful that changes in China's constitution and business practices can bring positive change to Chinese society and its regard for human rights.
Li has returned to his post at the City University of Hong Kong. He has been welcomed back by his department and individual colleagues, but the reception from the administration of City University, responding to cues from mainland China, has been colder, he said. "They said I've used up all of my paid vacation days [while in detention], he said."
Though the audience in Frist listened attentively to Li's speech, a small group of audience members calling themselves "People Who Really Care About China at Princeton" passed out flyers denouncing Li as a "Benedict Arnold."
Li and his family plan to remain in Hong Kong but foresee an eventual return to the United States.
"Hong Kong is becoming more and more like China," Li said. "China is a great place to live provided you don't get into legal trouble."
Read More
David Zielenziger ’74, former ‘Prince’ chairman and lifelong journalist, passes away at 72
Kian PetlinFriends and colleagues remember former ‘Prince’ chairman David Zielenziger ’74, who passed away peacefully on May 20.
Friends and colleagues remember former ‘Prince’ chairman David Zielenziger ’74 who passed away peacefully on May 20.
Remembering Dorothea von Moltke, Labyrinth co-founder and local community builder
Lucia BrownDorothea von Moltke, widely considered the heart of Labyrinth Books, was remembered by friends and loved ones for her passions for language, literature, and local activism.
Dorothea von Moltke, widely considered the heart of Labyrinth Books, was remembered by friends and loved ones for her passions for language, literature, and local activism.
Cloister Inn to pause operations for the next 2–3 years, citing “hefty renovations”
Justus WilhoitCloister Inn, one of Princeton’s eating clubs, will pause operations for the next two to three years, due to “hefty renovations” to the club’s house.
Cloister Inn, one of Princeton’s eating clubs, will pause operations for the next two to three years, due to “hefty renovations” to the club’s house.