AUSTRALIA. GOVT LOBBIES CHINESE PREMIER ON DEATH PENALTY

the Australian Federal Government raised with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao the case of a man facing the death penalty in China over the murder of a Canberra university student.
The body of Chinese student Steffi Zhang was found in her Belconnen unit in January 2006. Her former boyfriend was being held in custody in China.
China and Australia had signed a treaty setting out the conditions under which police in the two countries cooperated on criminal investigations.
Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the mutual legal assistance treaty also allowed police to refuse to assist in cases that involved the death penalty or human rights breaches.
Australian police were refusing to provide Chinese authorities with any further assistance until China guaranteed the death penalty would not be applied in the case.