China Frees Supplier of Bibles

A Hong Kong businessman convicted of smuggling Bibles into China returned to the territory Saturday after he was released from a Chinese prison.

A Hong Kong Security Bureau statement said officials have been in touch with Li Guangqiang’s family since his return. It gave no other details.

President Bush, who is to visit China this month, had expressed concern about Li’s case and asked the State Department to look into it. Li, a member of the Hong Kong branch of the Anaheim-based Local Church, was sentenced last month for bringing thousands of Bibles to a banned Chinese Christian group in May.

A fellow member of the church in China, Lin Junhua, said he was delighted about Li’s release.

“I thank the Lord for his release--this is the work of the Lord,” Lin said.

But Lin said the church will continue to pray for the release of mainlanders Lin Xifu and Yu Zhudi, who were convicted along with Li last month and were given three years in prison.

Also speaking from China, Lin Xifu’s wife, Lin Huajing, said that she saw her husband early Saturday and that she was worried about his heart disease.

Beijing’s official New China News Agency said earlier that Li would be released from prison but placed under surveillance to receive treatment for hepatitis B.

A court in the city of Fuqing ruled Saturday that Li can serve part of his sentence outside prison because of his health, the news agency said.

Li, 38, was convicted of illegally selling foreign publications inside China, although he was initially charged with “using a cult to undermine enforcement of the law.”