5:00 pm, November 5th, 2014
OTTAWA – As Prime Minister Stephen Harper left Ottawa Wednesday for a four-day trip to China, MPs from all parties called on China to release a political prisoner with Canadian ties.
Democracy activist Bingzhang Wang has been held in a Chinese jail since 2003. He was sentenced to life in prison on charges of espionage and terrorism after a one-day court hearing.
“This is a compelling case of a gross injustice,” Liberal MP Irwin Cotler told reporters Wednesday.
Cotler said the conviction and torture of Wang is an assault on China’s own legal constitution.
Wang has a lot of Canadian connections. His wife, brother and daughter all have Canadian citizenship. Wang himself received a PhD in pathology from McGill University in 1982.
“There are many cases of human rights abuses in China,” Green party Leader Elizabeth May said. “We request that he be released now.”
NDP MP Wayne Marston, who is his party’s human rights critic, said Canada has an obligation to push China for change.
“Our PM needs to bring up the human rights issue.”
Wang’s daughter, Ti-Anna Wang, has been denied a visa by the Chinese government for the past five years. She’s desperate for the Canadian government to help free her father. She said his health is suffering badly from being in solitary confinement for 12 years.
“He has suffered three strokes, has severe allergies and is not getting his medication,” Wang said.
She said she’s been frustrated because she hasn’t been able to secure meetings with Canadian officials to plead her case.
“We get letters saying how much they care, but where is the proof?”
