|
Introductory Message |
June 17, 1998 Press Release |
Before the Abduction |
After the Abduction |
What You Can Do |
Officials To Contact |
Recent Developments |
|
BRING MEI MEI HOMEPRESS RELEASE
|
President Clinton Urged to Seek Mei Mei's
Return During the Upcoming U.S.-China Summit:
U.S. President Urged to Request that Chinese President
Jiang Zemin Comply with U.S. and Chinese Laws and
Return Kidnapped Four-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Being
Held Unlawfully in China
CLEVELAND, OHIO: Rhonda Lan Zhang, known as "Mei Mei," is a U.S. Citizen born in Cleveland, Ohio on November 4, 1993. Mei Mei was kidnapped in October 1996 by her non-custodial birth mother, Sue Ping Chen, and taken from her home in Cleveland, Ohio to Guangzhou (Canton) in the People's Republic of China.
The kidnapping of Mei Mei was an unambiguous violation of the International Parental Kidnapping Act, a U.S. law that makes it a crime for a non-custodial parent to remove a child from the United States with the intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights, including the right to physical custody. Laura K. Hong, a United States lawyer, has had the right to physical custody of Mei Mei since March of 1995, a right that has continued uninterrupted through the date of the kidnapping and to the present date.
Senator Mike DeWine (R-Oh.) and 34 of his colleagues in the U.S. Senate -- more than a third of that body -- have advocated strongly for Mei Mei's return, including Senators Wayne Allard (R-Col.), Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Charles Robb (D-Va.), Rod Grams (R-Minn), James Jeffords (R-Vt.) and Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) Various members of Congress have also sought Mei Mei's return, including Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh.), Vernon Ehlers (R-Minn.), Patsy Mink (D-Haw.), Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.), Robert Matsui (D-Cal.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). These Senate and Congressional leaders have recognized the indisputable fact that Mei Mei, an American citizen, has every right to the full protection of U.S. laws and the U.S. government -- regardless of her ethnicity. Yet, their many letters to President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Attorney General Janet Reno and the Chinese government seeking their assistance in effecting Mei Mei's return thus far have been fruitless.
The inaction of the government of China in this matter manifests an apparent reluctance to enforce not only U.S. law, but China's own laws, which by their terms mandate Mei Mei's return to the U.S. All methods of petition to the Chinese government on behalf of Mei Mei have thus far been unsuccessful, despite the clear violations of Chinese law attendant to Mei Mei's abduction, including violations of the P.R.C.'s Nationality Laws, Civil and Criminal Laws, Entry and Exit Laws, and the norms and customs recognized by civilized nations (the recognition of which is mandated by China's own laws). Repeated inquiries to the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the U.S., LI Dayou, repeated inquiries to China's Minister of Foreign Affairs, QUIAN Qi Chen, and repeated inquiries to Chinese authorities in Guangzhou have failed to effect Mei Mei's return home.
In the spirit of cooperation and friendship between China and the U.S., Presidents Clinton and Jiang Zemin should act immediately to return this young U.S. citizen to her lawful parent and home, and bring to an end this string of violations and obstructions of the international rule of law. President Clinton should make Mei Mei's return a top priority discussion topic at the upcoming summit. The return of Mei Mei is consistent with the Clinton Administration's position that the welfare of U.S. children, their right to live free of neglect and abuse and their need for stability and permanency are of paramount importance to the future of America.
On October 23, 1997, Senator DeWine (Mei Mei's Senator), in a speech from the Senate floor, called Mei Mei's plight "sad and unnecessary," and beseeched President Clinton to personally seek President Jiang's assistance in facilitating Mei Mei's return to the U.S. when the two met on October 28, 1997. That request was formalized in a letter from 21 U.S. Senators, led by Senators DeWine and Allard, which was delivered to President Clinton at the White House on October 24, 1997. Senator DeWine renewed that request to the President on May 26, 1998.
Mei Mei, a helpless four-year old U.S. citizen, needs your help to publicize her plight and her effort to return home. U.S-China relations are high on the national agenda, but the future of such relations are in doubt if young U.S. citizens like Mei Mei can be unlawfully kidnapped from the U.S. and brought into China, have their rights as U.S. citizens ignored, and be denied the protections afforded them under U.S. law and Chinese law.
On the 100th anniversary of the historic case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), the return of Mei Mei is of particular import. In Wong Kim Ark, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 guarantee that every person born in the United States, including those of Chinese descent, becomes "at once a citizen of the United States" and is entitled to the full protections afforded to all citizens by the Constitution and U.S. laws.
Ms. Hong asks that those interested in helping to bring Mei Mei home, those interested in assisting a helpless four-year old U.S. citizen, those who believe that the rule of law should govern the U.S.-China relationship, those who believe that the U.S.-China relationship should return to the historical basis set by the architects of the normalization of U.S.-China relations, and those who simply believe that kidnapping should not be condoned, write to President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at the following addresses seeking their immediate assistance, action and redress:
President William J. Clinton
c/o Chris Enscoff
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
P: (202) 456-1414
F: (202) 456-6703
President Jiang Zemin
The Honorable Ambassador Li Dayou
Chinese Embassy
2300 Connecticut Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20008
P: (202) 328-2500
F: (202) 588-0032
On any correspondence you send to President Clinton or President Jiang, please copy Eric Schwartz, Senior Director, Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, National Security Council, at the following address:
Eric Schwartz, Senior Director
Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
National Security Council
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
P: (202) 456-9141
F: (202) 456-9140
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Nicholas V. Chen, Esq.
e-mail: nvchen@attmail.com
Laura K. Hong
P: (216) 479-8554
F: (216) 479-8780
e-mail: lkhong@sbcglobal.net
OR VISIT MEI MEI'S WEB SITE AT: http://ebni.com/meimei
SENATOR DeWINE MAY BE CONTACTED AS FOLLOWS:
SENATOR MIKE DeWINE
Charles Boesel, Press Secretary
P: (202) 224-2315
Karla Carpenter, Assistant to Senator Mike DeWine
P: (202) 224-2315
F: (202) 224-6519
DATED: JUNE 17, 1998
To the next page: Before Mei Mei's Abduction
CONTACT INFORMATION:
LAURA HONG TOM KOVACH LAURA HONG
Home: (216) 932-8934 (216) 932-8934 4900 Key Tower
Or: (216) 397-9596 (216) 397-9596 127 Public Square
Work: (216) 479-8554 (216) 479-8714 Cleveland, Ohio 44114-1304
Page: (216) 948-7035 (216) 506-7528
Mobile: (216) 973-2935 meimei@kurilec.euclid.oh.us
If you have any advice, comments or bug reports about the
design of this page, please direct them to: tim@kurilec.euclid.oh.us
This page was last revised on January 24, 2003.