China Bought U.S. Silence on Imprisoned American

Jude Shao is an American citizen who has been imprisoned by Chinese authorities for 8 years. He is serving a 16 year prison term for crimes that were fabricated. He was accused of tax evasion. Shao was arrested while in China on a business trip. He was selling medical equipment with a company that he had recently founded. Jude was told that if he paid a bribe that he would be set free. Instead, Mr.Shao chose maintain his innocence. He is paying a high price for that integrity. He was never allowed to meet with his attorneys. Although he could prove his innocence he was found guilty in a typical Chinese show trial. Scholars at a Chinese University determined that Jude deserved a retrial. There was even a Chinese accounting firm that determined the Stanford grad was innocent. Nevertheless, the Chinese Communist authorities have refused to even give him a retrial.

Mr.Shao is languishing in a prison with no one able or willing to help him, eventhough he is an American. The one person who could help him is busy hosting his captor. While President Bush meets with Chinese "leader" Hu Jintao there won't be much of an effort to free Shao. He could do it if he tried. But why rock the boat? Bush believes we have a good thing going with China. And the business community wants the President to keep those goods made with Chinese repressed labor coming into the U.S. In addition, the Chinese authorities believe they have the Americans in their back pockets. Look at Google and Yahoo. They've become an arm of the Totalitarian regimes secret police. Don't we depend on China to pay for our bills? So its no surprise Mr.Bush doesn't want to rock the boat. A few innocent political prisoners is a small price to pay for the Chinese gravy train.