Wo Weihan (R), his daughter Ran Chen at a wedding

AUSTRIA ASKS CHINA TO REVOKE DEATH PENALTY ON CHINESE 'SPY'

April 7, 2008: Austria's President Heinz Fischer appealed to Beijing to spare the life of a Chinese biochemist, formerly a resident in Austria, and now sentenced to death for spying for Taiwan.
"If the father of two Austrian citizens faces the death penalty, no matter where, I believe we can and we should speak out," President Fischer told a press conference.
Wo Weihan, 59, arrested in Beijing in 2005, was sentenced to death in May 2007 for passing military information including copies of missile blueprints to Taiwan. Austrian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Schallenberg said President Fischer, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and Parliamentary Speaker Barbara Prammer all made appeals to their Chinese counterparts.
Wo Weihan, who lived in Austria from 1990 to 1997, has always protested his innocence.
This is the first time a civilian was sentenced to death for military espionage in China. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 07/04/2008)