China expels convicted U.S. 'spy'

Li Shaomin is on his way to San Francisco, where U.S. officials will meet him

By staff and wire reports

BEIJING, China -- China has expelled a U.S. business professor convicted earlier this month of spying for Taiwan.

China's Foreign Ministry announced that Li Shaomin, a U.S. citizen who taught at a university in Hong Kong, is being deported to the United States. Li departed from Beijing this morning and is en route to San Francisco, where he will be met by U.S. officials.

Li's expulsion comes a day after a U.S.-based Chinese sociologist and another Chinese-born U.S. resident were convicted in a Beijing court of spying and sentenced to ten years in prison.

On Tuesday, after the sentencing of Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang, Chinese-born scholars with residency rights in the United States, the White House called for their release on humanitarian grounds.

Powell to visit

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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell also confirmed Li's expulsion three days before he is scheduled to visit Beijing.

"We're following it carefully and we'll see what happens next," Powell said in Vietnam, where he will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific conference.

But in Washington, Chinese Ambassador Yang Jiechi played down the importance of the development to overall U.S.-China relations, saying, "Some things should not be built up way out of proportion."

Both sides hoped Powell's visit, which begins Saturday, would ease relations following strains caused by a collision in April between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet.

China has detained a number of academics with U.S. links in recent months on suspicion of spying for Taiwan.

The policy has strained relations between Washington and Beijing, already badly damaged by the April 1 collision of a U.S. Navy spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea that killed the Chinese pilot.

Poor relations

Li's wife Liu Yingli told CNN her husband's detention was 'agonizing' for her

Chinese officials, however, appear more eager to restore amicable relations ahead of China's planned accession to the World Trade Organization and following its announcement as host of the 2008 Olympics.

The U.S. Congress passed a resolution last month demanding Li's release.

Chinese-born Li, 44, was detained in February after entering China to visit a friend, and was convicted July 14th of spying for Taiwan.

He went to the U.S. in 1982, became an American citizen and received a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He has lectured in China and worked as a U.N. adviser to Beijing.

China's detention of Gao, Qin and two American citizens has worried academics that travel to China for research.

In April, the U.S. government warned Chinese-born Americans that they risked detention in China if they have been involved in activities or published writings critical of Beijing.

Active spying

Beijing regards the island, which has been ruled separately since 1949, as a renegade province, and the two sides actively spy on each other.

Gao, 39, is a researcher at American University in Washington. She was detained February 11 during a visit to China. Chinese officials also temporarily held her 5-year-old son, an American citizen, without notifying the U.S. Embassy as required by treaty.

Qin reportedly taught at U.S. universities and worked for a U.S. medical group in Beijing.

Gao's lawyer is still hopeful she will be allowed to return to her family in the U.S.

"Both collected intelligence for spy agencies in Taiwan, causing a serious threat to China's national security," the official Xinhua News Agency said.

A Chinese scholar, Qu Wei, also was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in jail. Qu provided secrets and intelligence to Gao and Li, Xinhua reported.

A three-judge panel convicted and sentenced Gao after 30 minutes of deliberation and a hearing that lasted two hours and 10 minutes, her lawyer Bai Xuebiao said.

No witnesses were called, but Gao spoke in her defense at least eight times.

She "repeatedly stressed that she loves China, that she would not have done these things if she had known that her actions might have harmed China's interests," said Bai.

Appeal lodged

Bai said the sentence was more severe than expected and has appealed for parole on medical grounds. Bai said Gao suffers serious heart problems that twice caused her breathing difficulties over the past two weeks.

Another American citizen, Wu Jianmin, was detained April 8 on suspicion of spying for Taiwan but has yet to be tried. He often wrote articles on Chinese politics for Hong Kong magazines.

The sentencings were not the first time that Chinese actions have threatened to embarrass a visiting U.S. official and thrust human rights into the spotlight.

In 1994, Chinese authorities detained at least 17 dissidents before and during a visit by then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

But China also has used prison releases to try to smooth ties with Washington.

In 1995, China paved the way for a visit by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton by releasing Chinese-American human rights activist Harry Wu -- but only after sentencing him to 15 years imprisonment on spying and secrets charges. Wu was expelled.