Trials of U.S. detainees to begin next week in China

Powell to raise human rights in China

U.S.-based scholar Gao Zhan faces espionage trial

By Elise Labott
CNN Washington

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The trials of two U.S.-based scholars being detained in China will begin in "approximately one week," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Friday.

The State Department had said a day earlier that trials had begun for Li Shaomin, a U.S. citizen, and Gao Zhan, a permanent U.S. resident, both charged with espionage.

But Armitage said the United States had received "some bad information," and he had learned Friday morning that the trials would begin in about a week.

"It was somewhere along the chain a mistranslation of what the Chinese foreign minister spokesman said, which amounts to that the judicial process was under way," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

He said the trial for Li is set for July 14 in Beijing's First Interim Court, while a trial date for Gao has not yet been set, but he expects it to be around the same time.

Boucher said a U.S. consular officer and translator will be permitted in Li's trial because he is an American citizen, but it is unlikely the State Department would be able to have a presence at Gao's trial.

Armitage said he is not sure that the scholars would be expelled from China after the trial, but "clearly the Chinese know the U.S. views" on the matter.

"It is our view that it is hurting them in the international arena and we hope they want to resolve it favorably and quickly," he said.

Four U.S.-based academics who are either U.S. citizens or have permanent residency status are being held in China for alleged espionage. The State Department has described the allegations as dubious at best, and China's critics suggest it is part of a crackdown on dissent in advance of next year's leadership changes.

President Bush called Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Thursday and to raise concerns about the detentions and appeal for "fair treatment," the White House said.

Armitage said China's human rights record will be high on the agenda when Secretary of State Colin Powell travels to Beijing on July 28.

The State Department announced Friday that while in Asia later this month, Powell also will be traveling to Japan, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam, where he will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit of foreign ministers.

"Secretary Powell will certainly raise human rights, religious freedom and the whole panoply of issues we have with China," Armitage said.

Armitage played down a link between recent cooperation by China at the United Nations on the issue of Iraqi sanctions and the U.S. release of $80 million in Chinese business deals with Iraq. He said it shows China wants to "be part of a more cooperative approach" with the United States as the Chinese leadership prepares to host a series of dignitaries, starting with Powell.

"They certainly in my view don't want to do anything to disrupt the atmosphere prior to the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Conference) ... and the hope for a trip of the president to Beijing," he said, referring to a meeting of Asian regional leaders in China in October.

Armitage said State Department Policy Planning Director Richard Haas was "pretty well received" and had "fairly good conversations in China" during a recent trip to Beijing.

"There was constant refrain from the Chinese that 'we're not trying to get the U.S. out of Asia. We're not going to undermine your alliances,'" he said of Haas' visit. He added that the Chinese said they were "glad that we're getting back to normal" after the incident involving the EP-3 surveillance plane.

A senior State Department official said the Chinese presented an "exaggerated bill" of close to $1 million for that incident, including the cost of food and lodging for the 24-member crew detained by the Chinese and the recovery of the plane.

"We are glad to see they have a sense of humor," the official said, adding that the administration will respond to the Chinese "in the spirit" of the bill presented to them.