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American Morning
Disloyal Dissident?
Aired November 27, 2003 - 08:32 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one Chinese scholar and human rights activist facing prison time here in the U.S. after pleading guilty to two criminal charges. U.S. authorities say one charge involves national security. The woman was imprisoned in China before being freed two years ago after she received assistance from the U.S.
David Ensor checks in now from D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their appearance at federal district court in Virginia is a surprise twist in the story of Gao Zhan and her husband, known until now in the west as critics of human rights in China.
XUE DONHOA, GAO'S HUSBAND: I can say that we love this country more than anybody else.
ENSOR: With tears in her eyes, Gao Zhan plead guilty to two charges, to illegally exporting sensitive electronic components, including microprocessors that can be used in missile systems to China in exchange for over half a million dollars and to tax evasion.
PAUL MCNULTY, U.S. ATTORNEY: This is an important case and a serious matter involving national security.
ENSOR: Under federal guidelines, the maximum sentence for the first charge is 10 years. Though prosecutors say she has cooperated, they are likely to ask for much less.
MARK HULKOWER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The courts all have civilian and commercial non-military uses. And she believed that was the use to which those parts were going to be put.
ENSOR: It is an extraordinary turn of events for the U.S. resident Chinese citizen who was imprisoned in China for five months on charges of spying for Taiwan. After intense pressure from Washington, including from President Bush, she was freed to return to her husband and child, and to her job as a professor at American University in Washington.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: And so it's my pleasure to welcome home an American hero.
GAO ZHAN: With America standing behind me, with these fine people standing behind me, I'm not scared. ENSOR: Now the human rights hero lionized in Washington will do jail time in this country for illegally serving as chain into buying agent.
G. ZHAN: Don't follow me. Give me some privacy.
ENSOR (on camera): The question many are now asking, if Gao Zhan was working for China, was her arrest there and imprisonment in China part of a ruse to fool the United States? Or was it the case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing in the Chinese government? That, said one official today to CNN, is the $2 million question.
David Ensor, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 27, 2003 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, one Chinese scholar and human rights activist facing prison time here in the U.S. after pleading guilty to two criminal charges. U.S. authorities say one charge involves national security. The woman was imprisoned in China before being freed two years ago after she received assistance from the U.S.
David Ensor checks in now from D.C.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their appearance at federal district court in Virginia is a surprise twist in the story of Gao Zhan and her husband, known until now in the west as critics of human rights in China.
XUE DONHOA, GAO'S HUSBAND: I can say that we love this country more than anybody else.
ENSOR: With tears in her eyes, Gao Zhan plead guilty to two charges, to illegally exporting sensitive electronic components, including microprocessors that can be used in missile systems to China in exchange for over half a million dollars and to tax evasion.
PAUL MCNULTY, U.S. ATTORNEY: This is an important case and a serious matter involving national security.
ENSOR: Under federal guidelines, the maximum sentence for the first charge is 10 years. Though prosecutors say she has cooperated, they are likely to ask for much less.
MARK HULKOWER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The courts all have civilian and commercial non-military uses. And she believed that was the use to which those parts were going to be put.
ENSOR: It is an extraordinary turn of events for the U.S. resident Chinese citizen who was imprisoned in China for five months on charges of spying for Taiwan. After intense pressure from Washington, including from President Bush, she was freed to return to her husband and child, and to her job as a professor at American University in Washington.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: And so it's my pleasure to welcome home an American hero.
GAO ZHAN: With America standing behind me, with these fine people standing behind me, I'm not scared. ENSOR: Now the human rights hero lionized in Washington will do jail time in this country for illegally serving as chain into buying agent.
G. ZHAN: Don't follow me. Give me some privacy.
ENSOR (on camera): The question many are now asking, if Gao Zhan was working for China, was her arrest there and imprisonment in China part of a ruse to fool the United States? Or was it the case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing in the Chinese government? That, said one official today to CNN, is the $2 million question.
David Ensor, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
