Birmingham Post-Herald: Petitions Sought for Couple

BIRMINGHAM POSTHERALD

09/12/00

Friends of Shean Lin, a University of Alabama at Birmingham doctoral student who, along with his wife, was detained by officials on a recent trip to China, are planning to circulate a petition protesting their arrest. Lin, 30, and Xiaohua Du, 28, were detained when arriving in China Friday for carrying materials related to Falun Gong, a spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government. They were returning to China to see Lin's sick father, who died before they reached the country.

"We will try to write a letter and get signatures from friends and practitioners (of Falun Gong) and put it on the Internet to appeal the Chinese Embassy," Mike Chen, a friend of Lin's and a UAB doctoral student in chemistry, said today. "We hope to put some pressure on the Chinese government."

Although released on bail to attend Lin's father's funeral, Lin and Du remain under probation of the Chinese government. Lin's brother-in-law, Hong Zhou, who lives in Maryland, said he expects the couple to be taken into custody of the government and sentenced this week.

"They are my good friends. They're good guys. I hope to bring them back to the United States as soon as possible," Chen said.