Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280076
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BEIJING LENGTH: Medium
The government unleashed its broadside against Harry Wu, a naturalized American who immigrated from China after spending 19 years in prison camps, in a report by the official Xinhua news agency and a videotape of his purported confession.
The grainy black-and-white footage of ``See the Lies of Wu Hongda,'' titled after Wu's Chinese name, provides one of the first glimpses of the activist since he was detained 51/2 weeks ago.
Wu, 58, sits in an armchair, his head bowed, hands nervously clasping and unfolding. In the small room, two police officers sit in front of him and two others flank him.
One of the officers asks Wu about two documentaries he made for the British Broadcasting Corp. last year on forced prison labor and the transplanting of organs from executed prisoners.
While Xinhua claimed that Wu admitted he intentionally made errors editing and scripting the documentaries, the videotape shows him putting much of the blame on the BBC.
In London, the BBC said it stood by the reports.
Much of the confession - including Wu's acknowledgment that he lied about his identity and that hidden cameras were used - was made clear in the reports, which were shot in April 1994.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns told reporters in Washington Thursday that ``everybody understands the conditions under which such tapes are made.''
Wu's wife, Ching-lee Wu, told KRON-TV in San Francisco that she believed the man in the video was her husband, but she was not convinced he had confessed to fabricating his exposes.
``I don't think it's a confession. I didn't hear anything,'' Ching-lee Wu said, noting that the sound wasn't audible and she could only read the subtitles. ``I don't know what he said, I don't know what questions they asked.''
Wu also admits in the video that he ``deceived people'' during a visit to a medical university. He and BBC producer Susan Roberts posed as married scholars from Tuscaloosa, Ala., looking into a kidney transplant for a sick uncle.
``None of the doctors told me the kidneys were from condemned prisoners,'' Wu says in the videotape. ``All said they were from brain-dead patients.''
Backing up the government's claims are lengthy interviews with hospital staff recounting Wu's visit and disputing the BBC report.
In its response, the BBC noted the videotape did not show Wu denying the main points of the reports.
Since he was detained June 19 trying to enter China from Kazakhstan, Wu has had only one meeting with U.S. officials, on July 10 in Wuhan. Two days earlier he was formally arrested for spying, a charge that carries a penalty ranging from three years in prison to death.
by CNB