Choephel Released from Chinese Prison

Author: Tim McCahill

Tibetan music scholar Ngawang Choephel, who taught at Middlebury College between 1993 and 1994 under a Fulbright scholarship, arrived in the United States on Jan. 21 after spending six years in prison in China.

Choephel, 34, was sentenced in 1995 to 18 years in prison for espionage. An ethnomusicologist by training, he was in Tibet researching native music and dance cultures when he was arrested. Because his health was declining, the former Fulbright scholar was transferred to a prison hospital in the Chinese city of Chengdu in the summer of 2000 and released on medical parole last week.

An Associated Press report filed on Jan. 20 indicated that Choephel was "in good health" but nonetheless "expected to undergo a medical exam in Washington, [D.C.]."

According to human rights groups, the scholar suffered from multiple ailments while detained, including hepatitis and tuberculosis.

Speculation continues as to why the Chinese government decided to release Choephel, who has become a symbol of that country's widespread human rights abuses. The past few months have seen a warming of relations between China and the United States as the nation prepares itself for both the 2008 Olympics in the capital city of Beijing and economic transition into the World Trade Organization, to which it was accepted in December 2001. U.S. President George W. Bush will visit China next month.

"I believe that China has made a strategic decision to take advantage of the changed international landscape post-September 11 to improve relations with the United States," said John Kamm, president of the Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit human rights group based in San Francisco that lobbied intensely for Choephel's release.

"It has already done just about everything it can do to assist the United States in the anti-terrorism struggle, and it is looking for things to do in other areas, notably human rights."

"It is far too early to say that China is considering a relaxation of its policy towards Tibet. I'd be careful about jumping to any conclusions on that score," Kamm admitted.

Kamm first heard of the former Middlebury scholar's case through other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and various Tibetan communities. In 1997, he added Choephel to the Dui Hua Foundation's list of political prisoners.

"Lobbying for his release has continued since then but picked up speed in the autumn of this past year when I realized that he might be eligible for medical parole under an obscure Chinese regulation that we found through our ongoing research into Chinese-language primary sources," Kamm explained.

"The regulation allows for medical parole of prisoners who contract serious illnesses while in prison, and who have served at least one-third of their terms," he continued.

On a visit to Beijing in mid-December 2001 Chinese officials told Kamm that Choephel "had a good chance of early release."

"[And] from that time to his release on January 20 I worked pretty much non-stop on the case," he continued.



The Vermont Connection



Due in large part to his time at Middlebury, pushing for Choephel's release had become a cause celebre for both senior Vermont politicians and members of the College community alike. The state delegation has traditionally worked aggressively to highlight China's dismal human rights record, and in Choephel's case this proved no different. Immediately after arriving in the United States, Choephel flew to Washington where he was greeted by Senator Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), and later met with U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Congressman Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.)

"Choephel's situation had received a lot of publicity, and a lot of people in Vermont were raising the issue," commented Sanders in an interview with The Middlebury Campus. "In that regard people at Middlebury College deserve credit for their persistence."

"[Choephel] thanked the people of Vermont. He did indicate that he would like to [return] to Vermont to say hello to his friends," Sanders continued.

Tenzin Wangyal '03.5, a Tibetan student and member of the Middlebury chapter of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), expressed his satisfaction with Choephel's return but admitted his indignation at the treatment of political prisoners in China.

After arriving at the College, Wangyal explained that "I felt more empathy for him because I stepped into his shoes here at Middlebury. We had so much in common, I could have easily been him. This heightened my awareness of how heedless the Chinese could be to international pressure and diplomatic gestures."

"I heard about his release on my birthday, so I consider the news to be the best gift ever," Wangyal continued. "All of us have worked for his release and everyone poured a little to this plant that finally bore fruit."

SFT had made Choephel's release a priority since its founding in 1994. With the former Fulbright scholar safely back in the United States, Wangyal commented that the group would continue its efforts to organize informational events on Tibet and Tibetan political prisoners.