Wen Ho Lee Thanks Supporters

Lee's Autobiography "My Country Versus Me" is Released

By Sam Chu Lin

There were long lines at UCLA in Los Angeles as former Los Alamos scientist
Wen Ho Lee and co-writer Helen Zia sat behind a table and signed copies of his new autobiography "My Country Versus Me" [Hyperion Press].

In February, 2002 that scene was repeated at bookstores and at such meeting places as the World Affairs Council in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere. "I'd like to use this opportunity to express my thanks to all of you who supported me during the last few years, not only financially but spiritually," he told the three hundred people gathered at UCLA.

"For the last three years, I encountered a nightmare. My life was totally turned upside down. I still don't know why I was put into this situation." Lee was suspected, but never charged as a spy, for leaking information to China about the W88, America's most sophisticated nuclear missile warhead.

He was held in solitary confinement for nine months and finally released on September 13, 2000, after pleading guilty to one of fifty-nine counts for mishandling sensitive nuclear information. "I personally think we are very lucky, because I believe the American [judicial] system is the best system in the whole world," he commented.

"The system is so good, but when the system is handled by the wrong person, then your life and my life can be very miserable." The 62-year-old Lee said that he is most often asked why did he download computer code tapes that are used in the simulated testing of nuclear weapons? He cited precautionary reasons. "One time when they switched from one [computer] system to another," he explained, "I lost quite a few files of data and codes. When I realized that, I started to put all of my data and files into a backup tape."

He says he's often asked for advice. "If the FBI knocks at your door," he responded, "you open it and tell them to go away." That comment usually triggers plenty of laughter. As he recounted his imprisonment in solitary confinement in the Santa Fe County Jail, Lee fought back tears. "I have to admit I cried a few times," he stated. "I kept telling myself, 'Wen Ho, you have to be strong.'"

There was a note of frustration in his co-author's voice as she reflected on some of the critical reviews the book has already received. "Even now, some of the reports that review the book still say, 'Okay, maybe he wasn't a spy, but he sure was suspicious,'" Zia commented. "[They say,] 'maybe he wasn't even trying to spy for the PRC or even Taiwan, but he was trying to get a consulting job.' "All of these things are still cast in this cloud of suspicion and it's part of the aura of being the 'perpetual foreigner.' Unfortunately that ties in with the spy character."

Lee admitted before he was jailed and branded a suspected spy, he seldom read newspapers and did not vote. He encouraged the crowd of largely Asian Pacific Americans not to make the same mistakes. "You should pay more attention to politics," he declared. "Speak out when you can. If you want people to respect us, you must respect yourself first."

A number of Asian Pacific American civic leaders were on hand for the Westwood event. "Every person should be entitled to justice," Robert Takasugi, U.S. District Judge of Los Angeles, stated. "I think he was denied a lot of due process." "This is a wake-up call," commented Assemblywoman Judy Chu of Monterey Park. "I think the Wen Ho Lee case has encouraged Asian Pacific Americans to be more politically involved. People are starting to realize to be treated fairly, they have to have a political voice."

Initially when Lee kicked off his publicity tour in New Mexico, he only signed copies of his book. An attorney or publicist usually stands nearby ready to intercede. Now he is speaking at almost every stop, answering questions that are submitted to him on cards, and he looks much more comfortable. "Math is Dr. Lee's first language," noted writer Zia. "Chinese is his second language, and English is his third language.

Despite this explanation, members of the media are disappointed they don't have more access to the former Los Alamos scientist. His interviews are carefully selected. He has spoken to Newsweek, NBC, KQED radio and KTSF-TV [interview done in Mandarin Chinese] both in the San Francisco Bay Area, and his appearance at UCLA is scheduled to be broadcast on C-Span at a date still to be determined.

"I'd like to cancel all of these appearances," a cautious Brian Sun, Lee's family attorney, stated. The Santa Monica lawyer is one of the attorneys representing Lee in several lawsuits. With the backing of Judicial Watch, Notra Trulock, the former head of security at Los Alamos, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Lee, and the trial is scheduled to get underway February 19, 2002. Trulock reportedly singled out Lee as the prime suspect who leaked nuclear secrets to the Chinese.

The conservative watchdog group, in a January 16 press release, calls Lee's autobiography "a hoax on the American people." Lee has also filed a lawsuit against the federal government, charging invasion of privacy. On his national book tour, the former Los Alamos scientist has also met privately with his supporters.

Ling-chi Wang, a UC Berkeley ethnic studies professor and a leader in the boycott of Chinese and other Asian American scientists at the national laboratories, hosted an hour and half lunch with Lee, his daughter Alberta, and Zia at a restaurant in San Francisco's Japan Town. "I talked with him in Taiwanese style," Chang said. "He's much more relaxed and articulate. It was very enjoyable."

Asked to compare the two Wen Ho Lee books now available, the professor believes they compliment one another. "You have to read both of them," he said. "I think Dan Stober's and Ian Hoffman's book "A Convenient Spy" is very well-written and raises a lot of questions only Wen Ho Lee himself can answer. And I'm satisfied with his answers."

During his Bay Area visit, Lee also met with about thirty supporters at the headquarters of Chinese for Affirmative Action in San Francisco's Chinatown. "Wen Ho Lee has been a victim of the excesses of the United States government," stated George Koo, a business consultant and a Committee of 100 board member who attended that meeting. "That's a lesson we cannot afford to forget." Later Lee met with ten Silicon Valley supporters including best-selling author Iris Chang ["Rape of Nanjing"] at Ming's Restaurant in Palo Alto.

Political activist and Cupertino school board member Barry Chang and his wife Sue posed for pictures with the scientist. "When Alberta [Lee] came to see us the first time, she was pleading for help," Chang stated. "We were impressed that Chinese Americans were standing up to fight for the principle: 'you are innocent until you are proven guilty.'" He added, "The scandal almost destroyed this man and his reputation, and hopefully his book will do well and help restore his dignity."

High-tech executive Lester Lee of Saratoga talked with the scientist and purchased ten copies of his book. "He was very sincere in his thanks to the community," the high-tech executive recounted. "He said he would like to move here, but he laughed and complained about the high cost." "I told him, 'We have just played the first half of the game. Now it's time to race for a touch down and insure justice and equality for everybody.'"

Cecilia Chang of Fremont, who set up a website for Lee, has read his autobiography and has praise for him. "It's now up to the public to decide whether or not to accept Wen Ho's explanation as to what he did," she said. "At least he has the chance to speak out now." Chang feels the national book tour will be good for him. "I think this will be a part of the healing process for him," she said. "It's good that he is being welcomed by the crowds and appreciated by them."

With tears in her eyes, she added with a message directed to him, "Wen Ho, enjoy every moment you have with what's ahead of you. "The other day, I thought, 'Too bad you're not a composer. If you were, as much as you love classical music, the music that you're composing today will tell us how painful (sob) it was for you, and then we could all feel it.' We still don't see [enough of] it. Only by sharing it will we know how much more work we have to do."

AsianConnections thanks journalist Sam Chu Lin for permission to reprint this feature article