China has said it has arrested a US-based Chinese dissident who has been missing for months, accusing him of spying for Taiwan and engaging in "terrorist" activities.
If convicted, Wang Bingzhang, who is in his mid 50s, has a doctorate in medical research and lived in New York since 1982, could be sentenced to death.
China's official Xinhua news agency said Wang, a Chinese citizen, was arrested on December 5th with the consent of prosecutors after he and two other Chinese dissidents living in exile were "rescued" by police in July.
No charges have been filed against the other two and they could be freed soon. Xinhua said police found Wang, Yue Wu and Zhang Qi tied up in a temple in Fangchenggang city in China's southern province of Guangxi on July 3. It said a group of unidentified men had kidnapped the trio in Vietnam on June 27 and demanded a ransom of $10 million.
They were blindfolded and transported from "one place to another", Xinhua said but did not say how they were smuggled into China. Xinhua said the kidnapping was still under investigation.
The U.S.-based Free China Movement, a coalition of more than 30 Chinese pro-democracy organisations around the world, said in July it believed Chinese agents had abducted Wang and the two other dissidents inside Vietnam and taken them to China.
Xinhua said Wang was wanted by police in the southern province of Guangdong for "alleged involvement in violent terrorist activities". The agency did not give details.