By CGTN's Dialogue
A Chinese scholar, Zhang Yingying, went missing from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, more than 40 days ago. Since then another student, 28-year-old Brendt Christensen, has been charged with her kidnapping.
However, Zhang Yingying has not been found, and the FBI say she is presumed dead. In court on Thursday, Christensen pleaded not guilty, and his trial could last up to a year.
The slow progress and lack of results in the investigation has led to anger and outrage among many Chinese netizens.
“I find it very surprising that if no evidence is found, the suspect will remain innocent, and the result is very disappointing to most Chinese students and parents. this is a big concern to them because what if they send their kids to the US and something happened and justice will not be brought to them,” China Representative of the Higher Education Consultants Association, Flora Liu, stated.
The slow progress in finding Zhang has led Chinese netizens to question the efficiency of US law enforcement.
However, in the view of an attorney admitted to the US Supreme Court, Michael J. Zhang, the arraignment is being conducted in a very professional way. "The defense lawyer, although he is the vice-mayor of the city, it really doesn’t pose any conflict of interests because the city is a local government, and the case is now being prosecuted in a federal court...So the case will go forward as it has been planed,” Zhang explained.
He added that although the suspect is charged with kidnapping, which carries the maximum sentence of life imprisonment, he is still presumed innocent until proven otherwise. He has the constitutional right to remain silent and the police or the constitution cannot do anything to force him to talk.
As the managing director of Lehman, Lee & Xu, Edward Lehman claimed, “I understand it’s very frustrating for the Chinese, but at the same time we have to go through the process as well.”
According to author and columnist Einar Tangen, Champagne – Urbana is a wonderful college town and not exactly a hard core crime area, so this kind of murder situation is not something that happens often. “I think the real frustration here was the handling of the situation by the local Champagne – Urbana police, not necessarily the system itself.”
Dialogue with Yang Rui is a 30-minute current affairs talk show on CGTN. It airs daily at 7.30 p.m. BJT (1130GMT), with rebroadcasts at 3.30 a.m. (1930GMT) and 11.30 a.m. (0330GMT).
