Liu

In this story:

• Health worsened in prison
• 'Hostage politics'
• Related stories and sites

BEIJING (CNN) -- China freed prominent labor activist Liu Nianchun from prison Sunday, and sent him and his family into exile.

Liu's release came on the eve of the trial of another dissident, Xu Wenli, who was jailed on subversion charges for his attempt to create China's first opposition political party.

Meanwhile, two organizers of the dissident China Democratic Party went on trial last week for subversion and endangering national security

Authorities released Liu on medical parole five months before the end of his sentence, provided he go abroad.

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CNN Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon reports
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Liu Nianchun disappeared in early 1995. For months his wife, Chu Hailan, had no idea where he was.

Held without trial for over a year, Liu was eventually sentenced. His crimes: Petitioning China's leaders to admit they were wrong in 1989 to kill student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, promoting the rights of workers and forming an organization to help them get money from abroad.

"My husband was locked up for doing things that are the normal rights of any ordinary citizen in a Western country," Chu said. "But in our country, the government doesn't want people to exercise their rights."

Chu recently told CNN her 50-year-old husband has a cyst in his jaw and intestinal problems so severe he can no longer eat.

As his health in prison got worse, Chu went public. Beatings by prison guards eventually stopped, but she said authorities ignored her appeals for proper medical treatment until last month.

"Over the years I've gotten a lot of sympathy from ordinary people," Chu said. "Even though they're not free to stand up and criticize the government, I think the people of China support people like my husband who dare to speak their minds."

Sources told CNN the Clinton administration and other Western governments have been lobbying for Liu's release for some time. Liu and his family were reportedly headed for New York.

While Liu was released jail, Xu was scheduled to appear in court Monday, when he is expected to plead not guilty when he goes before the court Monday.

Xu's wife, He Xintong, met with her husband's court appointed lawyer, but said she the trial's conclusion was foregone.

"(The lawyer) hasn't even read the whole indictment," she said. "How is he going to represent my husband?"

The other two party members on trial, Qin Yongmin and Wang Youcai, were also denied proper legal counsel. All three could face life in prison if convicted.

Xu was previously jailed for 12 years for his part in the 1978-79 Democracy Wall movement.

International human rights organizations, while welcoming Liu's release, condemned what they see as an increased crackdown on dissidents.

"The Chinese government continues to play hostage politics with no true commitment to international human rights standards," said Xiao Quang of the New York-based group Human Rights in China.

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon contributed to this report.