Amnesty Urged for 2 Dissidents Held by China

The United States is “deeply disturbed” by news that two of China’s most prominent dissidents have begun a hunger strike in prison, and is urging Beijing to grant the men amnesty.

In an official statement Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said it hopes that China will allow independent visits to Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming, who are serving 13-year sentences for their role in the doomed 1989 pro-democracy protests.

“Information about the transfer of these two and others to Beijing prison No. 2, and the unhealthy conditions in which they are reportedly being held, is deeply disturbing,” the statement said.

“We have expressed our strong concern to the Chinese about those conditions and about Wang’s deteriorating health,” it said. “We have told the Chinese we would welcome visits to Wang and Chen by outside observers.”

The statement, made in response to queries by journalists, was a sign that Washington is turning up the pressure on Beijing over the two dissidents, seen as symbols of China’s political prisoners.

China’s record on human rights has become a major irritant in Sino-U.S. relations, with many prominent U.S. politicians calling on President Bush to take a firm stance with Beijing’s hard-line leaders.

Wang and Chen, both economists, were singled out by the government as “the black hands behind the black hands” in organizing the protests.

Wang, 33, is reportedly seriously ill with hepatitis, and his case has been the subject of an appeal to Bush by the U.S.-based human rights group Asia Watch.

Both men’s families have been denied access to the prisoners since they went on a hunger strike last week, and Chinese authorities also turned down a request by a visiting Australian human rights delegation to see the men.

The fast, which friends say could prove fatal for someone in Wang’s condition, is aimed at securing improvement of conditions in jail, where they are being held in tiny “punishment cells.”

China’s Justice Ministry has said the two men are in “normal health.”

The U.S. statement urged China to grant amnesty to all political detainees, including Wang and Chen, and said Washington will continue to press Beijing on the dissidents’ behalf.