Jailed Chinese Journalist Is Freed Early

Months later, Gao was arrested by Yuncheng officials on charges of bribery and fraud, among others, and sentenced after a brief trial to 13 years in prison.

In the years since, both foreign and domestic supporters, including some lawmakers, have made appeals on Gao's behalf. His release comes as China's top leaders are orchestrating simultaneous corruption crackdowns in several major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

The scandals, involving top city leaders, at least one central government official and influential businessmen, appear to be aimed at appeasing public anger over corruption while shoring up the power base of President Hu Jintao ahead of an important party congress next year.

China often gives conflicting signals regarding the freedom of journalists to do their jobs.

Earlier this month, the government announced it was relaxing decades-old restrictions on foreign reporters, giving foreign media greater freedom to travel and report in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However, authorities continue to use vaguely worded state secrecy and subversion charges to suppress criticism of the ruling Communist Party. Journalist advocacy groups report at least 30 reporters imprisoned in China.

On Tuesday, a Beijing court sentenced a researcher at a prestigious Chinese think tank to 20 years in prison on charges of leaking state secrets, according to a human rights group. The researcher, Lu Jianhua, had been linked to Ching Cheong, a reporter for Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper who was jailed by mainland China on spying charges.

In the interview with the Southern Weekend, Gao said he hoped to find work to help support his family, who get by on his wife's salary of only about $100 a month.

"Luckily, after these eight years, I'm still alive," he said.