Peking Assails Chinese Student’s Berkeley Arrest

China leveled a vehement and unusual public protest against the United States on Wednesday over the handling of a visiting Chinese scholar at UC Berkeley who China said was mistakenly arrested and then beaten by the police.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman called it “a grave incident which constitutes a violation of the freedom of person and the safety of Chinese nationals in the U.S. and a willful infringement of human rights.”

The case involves Li Xizhi, 43, who Chinese officials said was doing research in the United States and was enrolled as a physics student at UC Berkeley. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that while on the Berkeley campus, Li was “arrested and beaten up without reason by the U.S. police.”

U.S. officials here were aware of Li’s case and acknowledged that Li had been arrested in Berkeley on a charge that was later dropped. “It was a Peeping Tom case and the police arrested the wrong guy,” one source said.

Wrestled Him Down

(In Berkeley, authorities said campus police checking a report of an Asian loitering near a women’s restroom in a physics building on Nov. 18 spotted Li near the building. When they asked him to identify himself, he refused, and when one officer tried to frisk him, he pulled away, authorities said. The officers, fearing that he was reaching for a weapon, wrestled him down, put handcuffs on him and took him to the police station. There, he refused to be fingerprinted, they reported.

(Meanwhile, police found and arrested another Asian, not from China, who more closely fitted the description of the wanted man.

(“It was a huge cultural misunderstanding,” said Penelope Cooper, Li’s lawyer. “There was absolutely no meeting of the minds, and the whole thing turned into a fiasco. It is embarrassing for all of us.”

(She noted that Li speaks little English and could not understand the reasons for the police actions, actions that in his country probably would be taken far more seriously than in Berkeley. Cooper said she has asked the district attorney to drop the charge of resisting arrest.)

Demand by Peking

The Chinese spokesman complained that the charge is still being prosecuted. China demanded that it be dropped, that the United States apologize and that Li receive compensation for mistreatment.

The U.S. government should also “take effective measures to assure the safety of Chinese nationals in the U.S.,” the spokesman said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Zhaoxing read a prepared statement about the case and did not answer questions.

U.S. officials here were surprised by China’s public protest and the unusually strong language used. They said China had already complained about the Li case through diplomatic channels.

Over the last few weeks, Chinese officials have been asked about espionage charges concerning Larry Wu-tai Chin, a Chinese-American and former CIA employee now charged with funneling information to China. A Chinese spokesman has said the government has no knowledge of or connection with Chin.

On Monday, the Senate approved an amendment that would change the nuclear energy agreement between the United States and China. At Wednesday’s news briefing, China attacked the Senate’s action, saying any revisions are “completely unacceptable.”

One U.S. analyst here said Wednesday it is possible that China’s protest over the Li case reflects its irritation over the spying charges and the handling of the nuclear agreement. “Maybe it was an accumulation of things,” the analyst said.

Times staff writer Dan Morain in San Francisco contributed to this story.