【09.12.17 NewYork Times】American Engineer Detained for Year in China

青蛙小王子

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18detain.html?ref=world
SHANGHAI — An American automotive engineer has been detained by the Chinese police for more than a year on charges of violating trade secrets, according to United States officials.
Hu Zhicheng, a Chinese-born American citizen who won awards in the United States for his work developing catalysts that control auto emissions, is being held in a case that involves a dispute with a former business partner in the northern port city of Tianjin.
Mr. Hu’s detention is the latest trade-secrets case to shed light on China’s harsh legal system and the complexities that can emerge in its dynamic but often ruthless business system.
The government has been holding another American, an oil geologist named Xue Feng, for nearly two years on suspicion of stealing state secrets. President Obama raised Dr. Feng’s detention during his visit to China last month.
Another ongoing detention case — that of Stern Hu, a Chinese-born Australian executive working for Rio Tinto, the Australian mining giant — has received widespread coverage in part because it caused diplomatic tensions between Australia and China.
United States officials say that they have been allowed to visit Hu Zhicheng at least 10 times but that he is not allowed to receive any written communication from his wife.
Mr. Hu’s lawyer could not be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the Tianjin police, who would give only her surname, Liu, said by telephone Thursday that it was inappropriate to discuss the case.
United States officials said he was initially arrested in November 2008, but formally arrested and charged in January 2009, while working for a company called Hysci Specialty Materials, based in Tianjin.
The news of the detention was first reported by The Associated Press, and it is unclear why the detention was not disclosed sooner.