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China Frees 8 American Protesters After Diplomatic Pressure
Wang Xiuying, 77, left, and neighbor Wu Dianyuan, 79, face a year at a reeducation labor camp after applying for a protest permit during the Olympic Games.
(By Ng Han Guan -- Associated Press)
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Meanwhile, for Chinese citizens who pushed for permission to protest during the Games, the future is uncertain.
Two elderly Chinese women who were facing one year at a reeducation labor camp for seeking applications to demonstrate said no authorities had bothered them in the past few days. "Nowadays, the fire is still burning hot. They don't dare do anything. But we don't know what will happen" after the Olympics, said Li Xuehui, son of Wu Dianyuan, 79.
A group of would-be protesters from Hong Kong, including a 14-year-old girl, was escorted by police to a plane back to Hong Kong on Saturday, after being detained for two days at an empty hotel near the airport. The group consisted of investors wanting to demonstrate against local officials who had allegedly swindled them out of just compensation for their investments.
"My daughter is confused. From this trip she felt that what she has learned from books is too different from reality," said Lu Weiping, the mother of the 14-year-old. "Right now, everyone is very tired in the heart."
Police told members of the group they were being sent home, rather than jailed, because they are citizens of Hong Kong, not mainland China, and because they had elderly people and a child in their group, Lu said.
The fate of Ji Sizun, a legal advocate from Fujian province who was detained Aug. 11 after trying three times to apply for a protest permit, is unknown. His cellphone has apparently been disconnected.
Hua Huiqi, a Christian advocate for "underground," or unauthorized, churches, also remains missing, said his brother, Hua Huiling. The two were stopped by Chinese security officials Aug. 10 while on the way to an authorized church service attended by President Bush. Hua Huiling was quickly released; his brother was held, but escaped while his captors slept. "I've asked many people, and I guess he's still in hiding," Hua Huiling said. "If he had been arrested, the police would send us a note."
Researchers Crissie Ding, Zhang Jie and Liu Songjie contributed to this report.
