Researcher Appeals Eight Year Chinese Prison Sentence

In China, US citizen Dr Xue Feng has appealed against an eight year prison sentence imposed on him by the Beijing High People's Court, for obtaining market research data about China's oil industry that it says contains state secrets.

Born in China, Dr Xue gained his doctorate in Geology at the University of Chicago, and prior to his arrest worked for energy and environment information consultancy IHS, which recently acquired technology research specialist iSuppli.

Xue was placed in custody during a business trip to China three years ago, since when he claims to have been mistreated and tortured.

The US government has been lobbying for his release, and when The Associated Press reported on the case, President Obama took up the matter with China's Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao.

According to a report in The Washington Post, at his trial, which ended with his conviction in July, Xue acknowledged that he had gathered information on China's oil industry on behalf of IHS. Through an online ad, Xue had obtained a database of information about oil and gas wells belonging to the country's two largest and state-run oil companies, China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petrochemical Corporation.

However, at the trial, Xue argued that such information is publicly and commercially available in most parts of the world, and pointed out that it had been classified as 'secret' retrospectively.

In a blog, David Rowley - a Faculty member at the University of Chicago - claims that IHS has 'refused to accept any involvement' in the case. He alleges that letters to IHS president Jerre Stead, requesting assistance toward winning Xue's release either went unanswered or resulted in 'no discernible action'.

The appeal verdict is pending, but Rowley holds out little hope of any change as he says that the Chinese did not respond to any of the issues raised by Xue as part of the appeal.

US diplomats were barred from attending the hearing, and Robert Goldberg, the US Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission, told reporters: 'This case has not been handled with the kind of transparency that would befit a nation, which tells us the rule of law is paramount in all judicial proceedings.'