Mr. Speaker, Dr. Wang Bingzhang, founder of the overseas Chinese democracy movement, was kidnapped in Vietnam in 2002 and illegally abducted into China. Following a one-day closed door star chamber proceeding, where he had no right to speak and no evidence was presented against him, Dr. Wang was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Six years ago the United Nations determined that the charges were unfounded, and this Parliament adopted a motion calling for his release. Dr. Wang, now in his sixties, continues to languish in solitary confinement in a Chinese prison, where both his health and morale deteriorate with every passing day.
His Montreal born daughter, Ti-Anna Wang, is in Ottawa today to raise awareness about the plight of her father. Indeed, it was the freedom that Dr. Wang experienced as a medical student at McGill University that impelled him to forgo his promising medical career and to dedicate himself to the cause of Chinese democracy.
The imprisonment of Dr. Wang at this point is a form of ongoing torture. His original abduction, subsequent trial and continued detention are illegal. This unjust suffering must now end. Today we join Ti-Anna Wang in calling for his release from prison and reuniting with his family in Canada.