China the Killing Machine (more terrible then africa mid east and RU combined)

5083-CHINA-EXECUTION

MOD-DATE: 11/28/08 13:13:50

ASIA-NOV28-5083-CHINA-EXECUTION

ASIA: STORY   5083
5083-CHINA-EXECUTION
BEIJING, CHINA / INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA / UNKNOWN LOCATION
NOVEMBER27, 2008 FILE   
NATURAL WITH ENGLISH AND MANDARIN SPEECH
DURATION:02:21
SOURCE:REUTERS / HANDOUT

INTRO: 
HEADLINE: China executes businessman condemned as Taiwan spy.

TV AND WEB RESTRICTIONS~**NONE**~

China has executed a Chinese businessman accused of spying for Taiwan,
despite a last-ditch effort by his daughters to appeal for mercy.

SHOWS:
BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 27, 2008) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. RAN CHEN, DAUGHTER OF WO WEIHAN WHO WAS EXECUTED, AND HER HUSBAND
MICHAEL ROLUFS GREETING JOURNALIST
2. REPORTERS
3. RAN CHEN AND HER SISTER DI CHEN SEATED AT TABLE
4. REPORTER
5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAN CHEN, DAUGHTER OF WO WEIHAN WHO WAS SENTENCED
TO DEATH FOR SPYING, SAYING:
   "He again repeatedly told me that he is innocent and that he has
been, that the conviction is not correct but he said very clearly that he has
confidence to this very day in the justice system of China. He still hopes
very much that his sentence can be commuted or can be changed. He hasn't lost
faith in the system here and that's why I'm here because if he hasn't lost
faith last four years, then the family, we haven't lost faith,
either."

UNKNOWN LOCATION (FILE) (RAN CHEN HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
6. FAMILY ALBUM PHOTO OF WU WEIHAN AND RAN CHEN'S HALF SISTER TAKEN AROUND
YEAR 2000

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA (FILE - 2004) (RAN CHEN HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)
7. FAMILY ALBUM PHOTO OF WO WEIHAN AND RAN CHEN AT HER WEDDING

BEIJING, CHINA (NOVEMBER 27, 2008) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
8. FOREIGN MINISTRY BRIEFING IN PROGRESS
9. (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN QIN GANG SAYING:
  "I want to stress that China is a country governed by laws, the
Chinese legal system handles legal cases independently. Everyone is treated
equally in the face of law. We can't treat Mo Weihan differently just because
he has foreign relatives."
10. DI CHEN, RAN CHEN AND ROLUFS SEATED AT TABLE, ADDRESSING
JOURNALISTS
11. DI CHEN'S EYES
12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) RAN CHEN, DAUGHTER OF WO WEIHAN WHO WAS SENTENCED
TO DEATH FOR SPYING, SAYING:
   "I think as a family it doesn't matter what citizenship we have.
We have a right to know what is happening with our father, this is humanity,
it is not about citizenship or anything else."
13. PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES OF RAN CHEN

STORY: A Chinese businessman accused of spying for rival Taiwan has been
executed despite efforts by his daughters to appeal for clemency through
diplomatic channels, his family said on Friday (November 28).
  Wo Weihan's execution was confirmed through the Austrian embassy in
Beijing, said Michael Rolufs, his son-in-law, who arrived in Beijing earlier
this week with his wife for a last visit.
  Wo, 60, was accused of passing sensitive information to Taiwan, a
self-ruled island China claims as a breakaway province, and had been in
custody since early 2005. His verdict was upheld in March.
   He had confessed, but later retracted the confession which his family
said was made while he had no access to a lawyer or the outside world.
   Wo's daughters are Austrian citizens and the government had been
pursuing the case on their behalf.
   His daughter, Ran Chen, was summoned to Beijing from the United States
this week to make a last-ditch effort to appeal.
   Chen, speaking to a group of journalists on Thursday (November 27)
after the meeting with her handcuffed father, said she had sought support from
the United States, Austria and the European Union, and expressed their
faith.
   "He again repeatedly told me that he is innocent and that he has
been, that the conviction is not correct but he said very clearly that he has
confidence to this very day in the justice system of China. He still hopes
very much that his sentence can be commuted or can be changed. He hasn't lost
faith in the system here and that's why I'm here because if he hasn't lost
faith last four years, then the family, we haven't lost faith, either,"
said Chen, who has Austrian citizenship and is married to an American.
   China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday said Wo had violated the law and
his trial had been fair and procedural rights protected. Foreign Ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said Wo would not receive preferential treatment because of
his foreign ties.
   "I want to stress that China is a country governed by laws, the
Chinese legal system handles legal cases independently. Everyone is treated
equally in the face of law. We can't treat Mo Weihan differently just because
he has foreign relatives," spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference.

   But Chen insisted the family did not expect special treatment and
simply wanted the government to be more transparent with Wu's case.
   "I think as a family it doesn't matter what citizenship we have.
We have a right to know what is happening with our father, this is humanity,
it is not about citizenship or anything else," she said.
   China keeps secret the number of prisoners it executes, but
international human rights observers have no doubt it judicially kills more
than any other country, with estimates of executions somewhere between 1,000
and 12,000 a year in recent times.
   While ties between China and Taiwan have warmed in the past few months
following the election of a more China-friendly government on the democratic
island Beijing claims sovereignty over, suspicions still run high between the
two.
   China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's
forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's KMT fled to the island.
Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.