Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Chinese government frees Pitt researcher's wife

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, May 6, 2003

After months of rallying public attention to his wife's imprisonment by the Chinese government, a University of Pittsburgh researcher got word of her release Saturday.

"I was calm," said Cailu Xu, a Chinese-born research associate at Pitt's department of mechanical engineering.

Xu said he wasn't surprised to hear his wife's voice on the phone because they stayed in contact during her time at a forced labor camp in Beijing.

Xu's wife of 14 years, Xiaomei Jia, was arrested in November 2001 in Beijing for passing out fliers promoting Falun Gong, a spiritual exercise that combines exercise and meditation. The Chinese government suppresses the practice of Falun Gong, [...].

Although Jia regained her freedom, Xu and his fellow Falun Gong members in Pittsburgh said she is still under government surveillance.

"I didn't ask her questions about the imprisonment," said Xu, recounting the conversation with his wife. "We didn't say our feelings about her imprisonment. We didn't talk about certain things on the phone."

The Pitt researcher hopes to apply for visitors' visas for his wife and son.

The Allegheny County Falun Gong group and Pitt's chapter of Amnesty International have planned a news conference Friday to publicize Jia's plight, to call attention to what they called the Chinese government's religious persecution.

Organizers said they will take the opportunity to thank those who signed the petition for Jia's release and discuss other cases.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/pittsburgh/s_132918.html