US urges China to release jailed human rights lawyer

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is calling on China to immediately release a jailed human rights lawyer who was convicted of subverting state power.

The State Department says in a statement it is deeply concerned by the 4 1/2-year prison sentence handed down to Wang Quanzhang. It says he had been held for 3 1/2 years in pre-trial detention, often incommunicado and deprived of a lawyer of his choice.

The department says it was troubled by his treatment and is urging Chinese authorities to reunite him with his family. Wang was arrested in a 2015 crackdown on legal advocates.

The statement comes as relations between the U.S. and China grow rockier over trade and criminal charges brought against a leading Chinese tech company.