The Imprisoned Stanford MBA – Stanford grads work to free pal held in China

Earlier this week, I came across this disturbing article in The San Francisco Chronicle, “The Imprisoned Stanford MBA – Stanford grads work to free pal held in China.” The article profiles Jude Shao, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai who is a Stanford MBA graduate, who is currently serving a 15 year sentence in China and has been imprisoned for the past 10 years. As an American-born, Taiwanese-American professional with an MBA who has traveled to China and Hong Kong a few times and have considered working abroad, this story gripped me:

“[Jude] Shao, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai, started China Business Ventures after graduating from Stanford and exported medical equipment from the United States with offices in San Francisco and Shanghai. In July 1997, tax auditors in China arrived for a special audit and took his accounting books. Twice, his friends say, Shao was asked for a bribe to stop the investigation, but he refused because he had paid all his taxes… In April 1998, Chinese authorities arrested him and threw him into a crowded jail, where he was held incommunicado for two years. They charged him with falsely issuing value-added tax invoices and tax evasion. He was barred from meeting his attorney, who was hired 10 days before his trial started. He was convicted in March 2000, and the court sentenced him to 16 years in prison, later reducing it to 15 years. His appeal was rejected by the Shanghai People’s High Court a few months later.”

Assuming Shao is innocent (you can examine Shao’s case at www.freejudeshao.com ), this is truly an injustice. Shao’s fellow Stanford MBA classmates have been trying to get the attention of members of Congress, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (a former Stanford professor and provost). If Shao isn’t innocent, 15 years is ridiculous for tax evasion. Recently, the actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in federal prison for willfully failing to file tax returns. Given how common bribes are supposed to be in China, I am doubtful that Shao was willfully non-compliant with paying the taxes owed which led to his 15 year sentence.

Apparently, the United States and China plan to some sort of official human rights dialogue in the next four to six weeks and that the subject of Jude Shao will probably come up. China certainly needs to improve its international image prior to the summer Olympics starting (in less than 100 days). I sometimes wonder if I will ever be denied a visa to visit China or be arrested within China if I ever visit, given my 8Asians posting (discussing my distaste for the Chinese Communist government and its policies and my thoughts on Taiwan)… Maybe I should register www.freejohnof8asians.com now..