Melody in Prison: Ngawang Choephel
	UPDATE 3 November 1999

According to a press release issued from his office in Washington DC, U.S. Senator James Jeffords (R - Vermont) today met with Admiral Joseph W. Prueher, the Clinton Administration's nominee to be the U.S. Ambassador to China. On October 28, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Prueher's nomination to replace Ambassador James Sasser, who left the post in July 1999. He is expected to be approved by the full Senate this week.

Jeffords requested the meeting with Prueher to educate him on the human rights case of Ngawang Choephel. He said, “I made it very clear to Admiral Prueher that this case is one of my highest priorities and that I expect him to make it one of his highest priorities in Beijing. Admiral Prueher assured me that if confirmed, he would press hard on the case.”

Jeffords also raised the case of Ngawang's mother, Sonam Dekyi, an elderly and destitute woman in New Delhi, India, who is trying to claim her right under Chinese law to visit her son in prison. Sonam Dekyi has said her only wish is to see her son before she dies.

Despite what members of Vermont's Congressional delegation have described as their “continuous and all-out efforts,” the Chinese have released little information on Ngawang and have given little consideration to granting Sonam Dekyi a travel visa to see her son.