美國會國際關係委員會致信上海總領事了解被大陸扣押的美國公民

【明慧網二零零三年二月十五日】

2003年2月14日

道格拉斯 G. 斯彼爾曼先生
美國使館上海總領事

親愛的道格：

我再次感謝你和所有同僚們在接待國會代表團最近對上海進行訪問所獲得的巨大成功。我不止一次聽到[國會國際關係委員會]主席海德表達他對[上海]領事館，在人力資源有限的情況下， 做出傑出貢獻的深刻印象。再次[向你]表示感謝。

今天， 我受[國會國際關係]委員會主任湯姆﹒慕尼的意旨給你寫這封信， 提出對一件涉及領事和人權的相關事宜，[國會國際關係]委員會主席的芝加哥的選民和全美各地的民眾紛紛呼籲主席關注這一事件。[國會國際關係]委員會在過去的兩週內源源不斷地收到民眾的電話、傳真、電子郵件，數量之大、關切之深，乃史無前例、聞所未聞！這就是涉及美國公民Charles Li在中國新年前夕被捕一案。主席海德在芝加哥的選民們對此案件如此關切，以致冒著暴風雪驅車從芝加哥開到華府親自向主席陳情，表達對這一案件的深切關注。此外，兩天前，我和東亞及太平洋分會的主任傑米﹒瑪考米克就此案件照會了Charles Li 的未婚妻符泳青女士和曾被中國政府扣留的澳籍公民、法輪功修煉者南希﹒陳女士，聽取了他們對此案的陳述。在會談中，我們得知，Charles Li 現在已經移至美國駐上海領事館的司法管轄中。

[國會國際關係]委員會要求你，在隱私法的允許範圍內，提供Charles Li 被扣留的最新消息：他現在的處境、他的健康狀況、領事的會見、他儘早獲得自由的前景。

李先生的未婚妻符女士說，她已經收到領事館直接打來的電話，很顯然，李先生已經對她豁免了他個人的隱私權。她(符女士) 目前對李先生被扣留一事感到非常焦慮，係在情理之中。我們褒揚你事關此案充份照會符女士，並鼓勵你繼續保持這樣的努力。

此事刻不容緩，請多關照，不勝感激！

真誠的

丹尼斯 P. 海爾濱
國會國際關係委員會

英文原文如下：

February 14, 2003

Mr. Douglas G. Spelman
Consul General
U.S. Consulate/Shanghai

Dear Doug:

I want to convey to you once again appreciation for the excellent job you and all your staff did in making the recent Congressional Delegation's visit to Shanghai an outstanding success. I have heard Chairman Hyde say on more than one occasion how deeply impressed he was by the Consulate which, with limited staff resources, provided exceptional support. Thanks again.

I am writing to you today, at the direction of our Committee Staff Director, Tom Mooney, to raise an issue involving consular and human rights concerns which has been brought to the attention of the Chairman not only by his constituents in Chicago but by concerned persons throughout the United States. The Committee has received a continued series of phone calls, faxes and e-mails for the past two weeks at an unprecedented level. The case being raised is the detention just before Chinese New Year of U.S. citizen Charles Li. One group of Chairman Hyde's constituents was so concerned over the case that they drove through a snow storm from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to make their concern personally known to the Committee. In addition, Jamie McCormick, Staff Director for the East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, and I met with Charles Li's fiancee, Ms. Yeong Ching Foo, and Nancy Chen, the Australian citizen and Falun Gong practitioner who was detained in China, two days ago to be briefed on the case. We were advised in that meeting that Mr. Charles Li has been moved and is now in the jurisdiction of the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai.

The Committee therefore requests that you provide us with current information on Mr. Charles Li's detention, his current whereabouts, the status of his health, consular visitation, and prospects for his early release, to the extent you are able under the provisions of the Privacy Act. Mr. Li's fiancee, Ms. Foo, stated she has been directly called by the Consulate, so Mr. Li apparently waived his privacy rights with regard to her. She is naturally very distressed by Mr. Li's detention and we commend you for keeping her fully appraised of the situation and encourage you to continue to do so.

Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Dennis P. Halpin
Committee on International Relations