American teacher stole secrets, say Chinese

Press, 3 June 1982, Page 9

American teacher stole secrets, say Chinese

NZPA Denver, Colorado

Friends o£ an American teacher detained by Chinese authorities have rejected accusations that she is a . spy and expressed concern that the ordeal may tax her fragile health. Lisa Wichser, aged 28, a University of Denver graduate student engaged to a Chinse man, was detained on Friday night at > the Friendship Hotel where she lives in Peking. Sources said she was accused of stealing State secrets.

“I’m concerned about her health because it was not good,’ said a ■ graduate student, Vicki Dow, noting that Miss Wichser was suffering from hepatitis. “I’m concerned about' her both physically and emotionally.”

The State Department in Washington said,.“she is in good condition given the nature of her unexpected situation.”

Miss Wichser, a graduate student at Denver’s Graduate School . of International Studies, had been in China for two years teaching English, and doing research for her dissertation.

A United States Embassy spokesman in Peking, Mark Crocker, said “We have protested against specific Chinese handling of some aspects of this case with regard to the consular convention” which China and the United States signed earlier this year. Informed sources said the embassy was not told that she had been detained until noon on Saturday and a

consular official did not see her until Monday. Mr Crocker said Miss Wichser was being detained in Peking for investigation but that she had not been formally arrested or charged. Referring to the alleged theft of State secrets, he added: “We are aware this has a broader interpretation in Chinese society than there would be in the United States.”

In China, almost any piece of information that has not been officially published can be regarded as a State secret and to divulge such facts is a serious crime.

Miss Wichser is the first foreigner known to have been seized in China for many years in connection with gathering State secrets.