Appeal over Chinese prisoner

BRIAN COWEN was under pressure last night to fight for the release from jail of the mother of a Cork student when he meets Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe said he expected the Taoiseach to bring to international prominence the issue of a UCC student’s mother who has been imprisoned in China for possessing DVDs regarding the Christian movement Falun Gong, when he meets with Wen Jiabao.

The Chinese student, Tang Liang, studying Food Science at UCC, has contacted Irish politicians in distress, after his parents were arrested in Henan province during a crackdown on Falun Gong believers in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.