Vol. 471 No. 5
80 Mr. R. Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's and the EU's reaction to the sentencing of prominent Chinese dissident Wang Dang to 11 years in jail for conspiring to subvert the Government. [21276/96]
On 30 October 1996 Wang Dan was sentended to 11 years imprisonment at his trial in Beijing. On 1 November the Irish Presidency issued a declaration on behalf of the European Union which expressed the EU's profound concern at the conviction and sentencing of Mr. Wang. The EU stated that Mr. Wang was sentenced to a lengthy period of imprisonment for activities which, in a democratic society, would be considered as the exercise by him of his intrinsic and inalienable right to freedom of expression.
In the declaration the European Union recalled that its concerns about this case had been made clear to the Chinese authorities well in advance of Mr. Wang's trial. The EU deplored this punitive and repressive sentencing of Mr. Wang which, it said, raised justifiable concern about China's commitment to the rule of law, necessary for China's continuing growth and development.
