Minnick pushes State Department on Chinese dissident

Washington, D.C. – Washington, D.C. – Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick is urging U.S. State Department officials to do all they can to secure the release of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese scholar under house arrest for his pro-Democratic views.

Minnick met late last week with Jake Sullivan, the deputy chief of staff for the State Department.

“I learned more about specifics of the Department’s outreach efforts and diplomatic mission on human rights in China,” Minnick said. “But I also relayed my strong feelings that our nation must do all we can to highlight Mr. Liu’s case and work for his release.”

Liu is a well-known scholar and activist who has been under house arrest since December 2008 for his part in a manifesto calling for free and fair elections in China. Minnick first spoke out about the dissident in May during a speech at the commencement ceremony for the University of Idaho.

Minnick has submitted a House resolution calling for the U.S. government to do all it can to secure Mr. Liu’s release. The resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 151, is co-sponsored by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Michigan.) The resolution can be found here.

Minnick is also urging his colleagues to sign onto a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton where she is called upon to seek Liu’s release.

“Mr. Liu spent nearly two years in prison for participating in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and endured three years in a work camp in the 1990s for challenging China’s one-party rule,” the letter states. “Despite these injustices, he remains one of the most vocal critics of China’s political system and continues to inspire millions of people to face their government and demand change.”