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Group: China Refuses Dissident's Wife By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - China refused entry to the American wife of detained dissident Yang Jianli and expelled her after detaining her briefly at the Beijing airport, a U.S.-based human rights group said Thursday. Christina Fu was held for two hours Wednesday by immigration agents who said a "higher authority" had denied her entry, said Liu Qiang, director of Human Rights in China. Fu was put on a flight to Vancouver, from where she was flying home to Boston, Liu said by telephone from New York. Fu, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, had flown to China in hopes of seeing Yang and hiring a lawyer for him, Liu said. "It was an act of desperation since she has been unable to help him in any way from the United States," Liu said. Yang, a Chinese citizen who has U.S. permanent residency, was detained April 26 while trying to board a flight in southwestern China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry (news - web sites) on May 10 said he had been formally arrested, making it likely that he will go on trial. A spokesman for the Chinese border patrol at Beijing airport confirmed that Fu had been refused entry on Wednesday. The spokesman, who wouldn't give his name, said he didn't know the reason for the refusal, but said she may have had "visa problems." The U.S. Embassy said it had no information about Fu. A statement issued by the embassy on May 13 said it had requested information about Yang's welfare and whereabouts from the Chinese government, but had not yet received a response. Liu said Fu was traveling on her U.S. passport and had received a Chinese visa without incident. "I think they must have made this decision to refuse her entry well in advance. Yang Jianli is in the clutches of the Chinese government and there is nothing anyone can do for him," Liu said. Yang, a 38-year-old mathematician and economist, had used a borrowed passport to return to his homeland for the first time in 13 years. Yang heads the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, a Boston-based group that advocates democracy and rule of law in China. Fu said earlier that he has been banned from China since 1989, when he traveled to Beijing to bring money to pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. The protests ended in a bloody military assault on June 4, 1989. Yang's foundation said he visited cities where thousands of laid-off workers have protested for more government support, including Liaoyang and Daqing in China's northeast. China's detention over the past two years of several ethnic Chinese U.S. citizens and permanent residents has been a sticking point in its relations with Washington. Most were accused of spying and later expelled. -------------------------- |