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CNN Live At Daybreak
Detained in China: Gao Zhan Speaks Out
Aired July 30, 2001 - 07:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It is a mystery that may never be solved, but the nightmare was very real for a 39-year-old Chinese researcher at American University. Gao Zhan is finally home after more than five months in a Chinese prison after being charged, convicted and sentenced to 10 years for spying.
Well, we have been following her story for months as behind-the- scenes diplomatic maneuvers unfolded and her husband made the network rounds pleading for his wife's case.
Today, they are together. She is back home in Washington. Zhan and her husband, Xue Donghua, join us this morning.
Good morning to both of you.
GAO ZHAN, SOCIOLOGIST/RESEARCHER: Good morning.
XUE DONGHUA, HUSBAND OF GAO ZHAN'S: Good morning.
LIN: It is a pleasure to finally see the both of you together, and I want to congratulate you. I know it must have been a good weekend to be reunited.
GAO: Thank you. Yes. It is.
LIN: Ms. Gao, I'd first like to address some of the comments that you made in a news conference last week when you came back. Many of us were very touched by the concern that you have for your family's safety still back in China. Why is it that you have this fear that they may have to pay a price for some of the words or actions that you have spoken and done?
GAO: Well, it's - well, since I am out and they are still under the control of the Chinese government, they are the ones to face the consequences for sure.
LIN: What is it that Chinese officials told you before you left?
GAO: They told me not to meet with the media, not to write an article and not to write a book about my experience back there for the last six months.
LIN: So what sort of risks are you taking now, giving interviews and talking with the press then? GAO: I feel like I owe the American people, I owe the press, I owe the U.S. government...
XUE DONGHUA: Explanation.
GAO: ... an explanation about what really happened.
LIN: Well, let's start with the very beginning. I think there was a lot of confusion perhaps on Americans' part as to who you were and exactly what you were doing. There clearly must have been something about your research that drew the attention of the Chinese security forces. Were you taking state secrets in China? Are you, were you spying for Taiwan when you were there?
GAO: Absolutely not. I was doing just as what every other academics would do in carrying out their research. The act that I was accused of spying actually happened five or six years ago. And I collected the materials for academic research concerning a (INAUDIBLE) relationship. None of those materials that I collected were state secrets.
LIN: Ms. Gao, you were looking into different facets of the relationship between China and Taiwan. So what specifically did the Chinese tell you that disturbed them?
(CROSSTALK)
LIN: I see that you have weigh your words very carefully. Mr. Xua?
GAO: Right. Yes.
XUA: Well, actually the materials, you know, in China they have a very broad range of definitions of what is state secret and what is not. And basically what they told my wife is it's up to them to define what is state secret. It's not up to you.
LIN: So arbitrary - very arbitrary.
XUA: Yes, that's right.
GAO: Very arbitrary. It's not, you know, in the power of the researcher - the academics themselves to decide which material is considered a state secret and which one is not.
LIN: Ms. Gao, after you were taken at the Beijing Airport back in February, did you know what happened to your son and your husband, who were both detained? How did you find out the news?
GAO: Well, I was asking about my son and my husband every day before an interrogation. And they would simply tell me, think about your problem, not theirs.
LIN: Think about your problem and not theirs.
GAO: Yes, your own problems. Yes. LIN: So you must have been terribly worried. What were the conditions in which you were held? What were they like?
GAO: Well, they told me that they have put my son in a state kindergarten, and they didn't tell anything about my husband's condition over there.
LIN: So you had no idea that your husband eventually was freed, was back home and was heavily lobbying for your case?
GAO: Well, I didn't have any knowledge of that. They just - they lied several times to me that both of them had been released.
LIN: What was going through...
GAO: That was not true.
LIN: ... what was going through your mind this entire time about your family?
GAO: I was gravely concerned about their safety. I was not sure if they had been released to the United States. I wasn't really sure.
LIN: Well, it was fortunate...
GAO: Because I didn't trust them.
LIN: ... it was fortunate indeed - wasn't it - that Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit was timed to go to Beijing at the time of your trial?
GAO: Uh huh. Uh huh.
LIN: Is that the reason why you think you were released?
GAO: I think that's the direct reason.
LIN: What are the both of you going to tell your son now that you all have gone through this together? What are you going to tell your very young son about his homeland?
XUE DONGHUA: I didn't tell him anything about her trial and sentence. (INAUDIBLE) he doesn't know. He is only five. But he is missing grandma and grandpa, and I think some day probably...
LIN: Are either of you - excuse me - are either of you ever going to be able to go home again back to China to visit?
XUE DONGHUA: Not at this time. You know, we still are missing our parents, but I think some day, some time, we should have a chance to meet with them again.
GAO: I think we have every right to see our parents back there. If they, you know, if any case don't - they don't allow us to be back, we will protest.
LIN: Gao Zhan, Xue Donghua, it is good to see you once again. Congratulations and welcome home. Thanks for joining us this morning.
XUA: Thank you, Carol.
GAO: Thank you.
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