THE BOAT PEOPLE TRIAL Lawyer tells his client’s story

Xue Jian Hui is among the hundreds of boat people who fled China’s Fujian province and embraced the dream of going to Guam, where they thought a promising life was waiting. Instead, they ended in the detention facility on Tinian. Some of them, including Xue, ended up facing the court for criminal charges.

Xue was just a component of anonymous statistics until yesterday. His attorney, Eric Smith, narrated the story of Xue’s life before a 12-man jury at the opening of the trial for six (not five as earlier reported) Chinese men charged with alien smuggling.

Xue, 23, is a native of Nan Jing, a small rural village in Fujian Province, which has a population of 1,000 families.

Xue owned a barbershop in Nang Jing. It was shut down by provincial authorities because of his family’s failure to pay the fine of 30,000 rmb as a penalty for his sister-in-law’s having a baby at an illegal age.

His sister-in-law was 21 when she had her baby. Their government doesn’t allow a woman to have a baby until she is 22.

Aside from the confiscation of his barbershop, Xue and his brother were facing arrest also in connection with the violation of the communist government’s Family Law.

This prompted Xue to go into hiding, and the whole situation forced him to contact a “snake head,” a person who collects money in exchange for a trip to Guam. The snakehead charges 50,000 rmb.

With the help of his brother, Xue borrowed money to produce 10,000 for down payment.

On the departure date, according to Smith, Xue found at the port familiar faces from his own village and neighboring villages. They later found themselves in the same boat that was supposed to take them to Guam, but was intercepted by federal authorities last April.

Smith narrated Xue’s story before the jury to suggest that his client was not a conspirator or “enforcer” as charged by the government.

Charged along with Xue were He, Xi Di, Shi Guo Rui, Gao Liang, Shi Peng, He Xiu Jin, who allegedly manned the vessel that ferried 51 undocumented aliens into a U.S. territory.

The boat, according to US Asst. Atty. Greg Baka originated from the port of Lao Ping where they were picked up by the vessel.

The six are being tried for charges of conspiracy to smuggle aliens, attempted alien smuggling for profit, and attempted alien smuggling to a place other than at a designated port.

Baka said the government would present 17 witnesses, including Coast Guard and FBI agents, INS investigators, six Chinese who have been detained as “material evidence” and three others who pled guilty to alien smuggling charges.

In the complaint, the government has also charged that the defendants beat up the passengers to force them to call their families back home and tell them to pay the “snake head” the rest of the smuggling fees.

Smith, however, told the jury that “no beating” took place on the boat.

“My client was sick and too weak to beat anybody, and had no reason to beat anybody,” Smith said.

The trial continues today. (MCM)