Wives urge China to free dissidents

Beijing, China (Reuters) -- The wives of two jailed Chinese dissidents have urged Beijing to release their husbands on medical parole, ahead of fence-mending talks between China and the United States.

Xu Wenli and Wang Youcai were jailed for 13 and 11 years, respectively, in 1998 for setting up the banned China Democracy Party (CDP).

Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said Xu's wife, He Xintong, had visited him in prison on Thursday and found him in deteriorating health.

Xu, 59, had hepatitis and recently had started to suffer from chronic back pain, the center said.

His wife also said most of her husband's teeth had fallen out while in prison, making it nearly impossible for him to eat.

Wang's wife, Hu Jiangxia, hoped her husband would be released so he could be treated for a stubborn cough and bronchitis.

The rights center quoted her as saying her husband might also have contracted tuberculosis.

China has been known to release high-profile dissidents at critical times of diplomacy.

U.S.-based Chinese scholar Gao Zhan, who was sentenced two days ago to 10 years in jail for spying for Taiwan, was granted medical parole on Thursday and was heading for Detroit.

Shortly after Gao's plane took off, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that medical parole had been granted to another U.S.-based scholar, Qin Guangguang, who was also sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in jail on the same charge.

Earlier in the week, another U.S. scholar Li Shaomin was deported after being convicted and expelled from China, also for spying. Their release comes ahead of a visit by the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to Beijing this weekend.

Reuters contributed to this report.