DATE=8/23/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-U-S RESEARCHER (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253024
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-S Embassy in Beijing says an American
researcher who was detained in a remote western
province of China last week suffered spinal injuries
and broken bones after jumping or falling from a
third-floor window in an attempt to flee from Chinese
police. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison reports U-S
officials are urging that China facilitate the injured
man's departure as soon as possible so he can get
suitable medical care.
TEXT: Twenty-nine-year old Daja Meston, a specialist
in the Tibetan language, was investigating a
controversial World Bank project in remote Qinghai
province. Opponents say the project is a threat to
indigenous Tibetan culture because it will settle
ethnic Chinese farmers on lands occupied by Tibetans.
Mr. Meston and an Australian colleague, Gabriel
Lafitte, were detained last week. China's official
Xinhua news agency says the two men were taking
photographs in restricted areas. Mr. Lafitte was
deported on Saturday.
Xinhua says Mr. Meston sustained serious injuries when
he jumped out of a window, in an attempt to escape
from police. The U-S embassy says he is now in a
hospital in Xining -- Qinghai's capital -- and that
his condition is serious but stable. An Embassy
spokeswoman, who asked not to be identified, says he
has been visited by consular officials and an American
doctor. She says the consular officials are trying to
arrange a medical evacuation but that they do not know
if or when it will be possible.
The State Department said on Sunday that it has no
evidence to disprove China's contention that Mr.
Meston was injured in an escape attempt. It said
there is nothing to indicate that the injured
researcher was abused by Chinese authorities. Mr.
Meston's colleague, Mr. Lafitte, said from his home in
Melbourne that he does not think his friend was beaten
but may have jumped because of the mental pressure
caused by his interrogation by Chinese police.
China says the two men were involved in activities
inconsistent with their status as tourists. China and
the World Bank say the Qinghai project is aimed at
alleviating the poverty of local residents and the
resettled farmers. After the World Bank approved the
project, over U-S objections last June, China invited
foreign reporters and politicians to visit the site
and talk to local residents. But Xinhua says the two
researchers had no invitation from either the Chinese
government or the World Bank to visit the area.
(signed)
NEB/RW/FC/PLM
23-Aug-1999 06:02 AM EDT (23-Aug-1999 1002 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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