Freed
Chinese Scholar, Still Defiant, Returns to the U.S.
July 27, 2001
By RAYMOND BONNER
TERLING, Va., July 26
- After five months in a Beijing jail, an American-based Chinese scholar
returned to the United States today and promptly defied the very Chinese
authorities who had convicted her of spying and sentenced her to 10
years in prison two days ago.
"Before
I departed Beijing, I was warned not to talk about anything, not to
talk about my time, my experience, in China in any form, which includes
meeting with you guys here, writing articles, writing books in the
future," the scholar, Gao Zhan, said at a news conference upon
arriving at Dulles International Airport. "But with America standing
behind me, with these fine people standing behind me, I'm not scared."
Ms. Gao, a sociologist
and a fellow at the School for International Service at American University
in Washington, was arrested by the Chinese authorities in February
and held in isolation for several months. She was not allowed to meet
with her lawyer until July 10, two weeks before her trial on charges
of collecting intelligence materials for Taiwan.
Flanked by her husband, Xue Donghua, and Senator George F. Allen,
a Virginia Republican, who was on hand to welcome home the resident
of his state, Ms. Gao said that, despite the Chinese authorities'
prohibition on discussing any aspects of her time in custody, "I
believe that you will see my story in my article or my book."
Today, however, she sidestepped some politically sensitive questions
on the advice of her husband and Senator Allen.
She was also reunited
with her 5- year-old son, Andrew.
"It
broke my heart when I was thinking that I couldn't tell a bedtime
story to my son every night when I went to sleep," she said about
her time in detention. "It broke my heart."
Ms. Gao, a Chinese citizen
who has permanent resident status in the United States, was released
after intense pressure from Washington, including a telephone call
from President Bush to China's president, Jiang Zemin. Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell, who is in Vietnam for the annual meeting of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, took up the matter with
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan of China.
Ms. Gao's release comes
two days before Secretary Powell is scheduled to arrive in Beijing.
Speaking in Hanoi today,
the secretary said human rights would be high on his agenda when he
meets with Chinese leaders on Saturday.
While clearly happy over
the release of Ms. Gao and Qin Guangguang, another Chinese with United
States residency who was convicted at the same time, Secretary Powell
said the focus should be on the political conditions that led to the
arrests.
"It is not so much
individual cases that should be our principal focus and concern, but
the system, the system that occasionally might go after people who
perhaps should not be gone after, or who are not being given the full
protection of law, and their universal human rights might be trampled
upon," he said.
Mr.
Bush was asked today why he thought China had released Ms. Gao and
Mr. Qin. Both had been granted medical parole, though Mr. Qin is thought
to still be in Beijing, where he works for an American pharmaceuticals
company.
"Perhaps,"
Mr. Bush said, "China is beginning to realize that as she begins
to deal with Western nations, she's going to have to make better decisions
on human rights."
At her brief news conference,
Ms. Gao was asked what she felt about Beijing's being awarded the
2008 Olympics. She paused, and appeared to be searching for the answer,
when her husband said: "We don't want to talk about political
issues here. This is our family reunion."
A moment later, however,
Ms. Gao came back to the question.
"That day was very
special day for myself also," she said. "At 10 o'clock,
I was called out, out of my cell, and on that moment, right at the
announcement of Beijing's sponsorship for the Olympic Games, I was
formally accused of being a spy for Taiwan."
When she was asked how
she had been treated during her detention, Senator Allen stepped in.
"First of all,"
he said to Ms. Gao, "I'm glad you're violating your rules of
parole right off the bat and meeting with a free press, something
that is missing in China."
He added that he, too,
wanted to know the answer to that question. But now was not the time,
he said, because Ms. Gao and Mr. Xue have relatives back in China.
"I'm very concerned
about my family back there," Ms. Gao said. "So I've been
very careful in selecting the words that I'm using."
