2nd Freed Scholar Returns to America

A Chinese-born scholar who lives in the U.S. was reunited Thursday with her joyful family after being convicted in China of espionage and released on medical grounds.

“I’m very, very happy to be back in the United States,” said a smiling but exhausted Gao Zhan, who was wearing a flowered red dress to celebrate her return. “I’ve been through a lot.”

Gao, 39, was met on arrival in Detroit by her husband, Xue Donghua, and their 5-year-old son, Andrew. The three then flew to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, where a throng of well-wishers greeted them.

Gao, a permanent U.S. resident and sociologist at American University here, declined to answer questions about her ordeal in China, where she was detained in February with her husband and son, who were released a month later.

Embracing her son, who held a small American flag, Gao said the separation from her family was harder than the isolation of her prison cell.

“My time in China was very difficult, and right now I have a hard time talking about it,” she said, choking with emotion.

“Today is a most special day,” said her jubilant husband, his arm around his wife. “As you can see, she’s a little weak. But we don’t want to talk about political issues here. This is our family reunion.”

Both expressed thanks to President Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell for their efforts in gaining release for Gao and other U.S.-based academics, and for the prayers of many friends.

Gao, who is said to have a heart ailment, is one of three scholars with American ties convicted of spying but freed by Chinese authorities to ease tensions before Powell’s visit to Beijing this weekend.

A day earlier, Li Shaomin, 44, an American business professor who was convicted of espionage and deported, arrived at the San Francisco airport.

In remarks at the White House, Bush said he had discussed the issue of the detained scholars in a telephone conversation with Chinese President Jiang Zemin on July 5. Bush attributed the release of Gao and Li in part to “the pressure our government put on China.”

“I spoke directly to Jiang Zemin on this very subject,” he said, “about the humane treatment of U.S. citizens and/or legal residents.”

A third academic, Qin Guangguang, the Beijing representative of a pharmaceutical company and a former visiting professor at the University of Michigan, was, like Gao, freed on medical parole after conviction on espionage charges. But he apparently is remaining in China, according to State Department officials.

Qin, 45, a U.S. resident who has taught at Stanford, reportedly is related to senior officers of the Chinese army, and his father-in-law has been identified as a high-ranking official in Sichuan province.

The case against sociologist Gao seemed to hinge on copies of speeches, book excerpts and magazine articles on Taiwan that she allegedly obtained from a friend and Chinese intellectual, Qu Wei, and gave to Li, the business professor, officials have said.

Gao’s lawyers said the material was not sensitive, was not marked as secret and did not damage China’s national security as alleged by prosecutors. At the time of her detention Feb. 11 at the Beijing airport, Gao was preparing to return to Washington after visiting her parents.

Chinese authorities insisted that they had “hard evidence” that Gao had been an active member of a Taiwan espionage ring.