'Spy scholar' says she can breathe free

Gao said she wore red to celebrate her freedom.

By staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- A U.S.-based Chinese scholar who was imprisoned and convicted of spying in China said when she arrived Thursday at Dulles Airport near Washington D.C. that she could "breathe freely and now speak freely."

Nevertheless, Gao Zhan picked her words carefully at her first news conference after returning to the United States, saying she feared her family in China "might be the ones to take the consequences."

"Before I departed Beijing I was warned not to talk about anything. Not to talk about my time, my experience in China, in any form," she told reporters. "But with America standing behind me, with these fine people standing behind me, I am not scared."

The people standing behind her included Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas; American University President Benjamin Ladner; and Gao's husband Xue Danghan and their 5-year-old son Andrew.

Gao said that while she was kept in absolute isolation in China, the hardest part of her detention was being separated from her family.

VIDEO Xue Donghua says U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is his hero for securing the release of his wife from China (July 26) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Andrea Koppel reports on Powell's talks with Chinese officials in Vietnam (July 25) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES • Spotlight turned on shadowy legal system   • Wives urge China to free dissidents   • ANALYSIS: Scholars not the real target     AUDIO CNN's Jaime FlorCruz reports on the latest 1.59MB / 1min 15secs AIFF or WAV sound Reaction from Gao's husband, Xue Donghua 369 kb / 20secs AIFF or WAV sound   COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: China Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition   RESOURCES Message Board: China

"I broke my heart when I was thinking that I could not tell bedtime stories to my son every night when I went to sleep. It just broke my heart," she said.

Gao, who teaches sociology at American University in Washington, said she plans to become a U.S. citizen.

Gao, Xue and their American-born son were detained at the Beijing airport last February. Xue and Andrew were released after 26 days, but Gao remained in detention.

China released Gao after granting her and another U.S.-based scholar, Qin Guangguang, medical parole earlier Thursday. Both had been sentenced to 10 years jail for spying for Taiwan.

China has often used medical parole to send convicted dissidents abroad.

Gao and her husband thanked President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell for helping to win her release.

The announcement of the paroles followed talks between Powell and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the sidelines of a regional ASEAN conference.

Powell told reporters in Vietnam that Qin, who works for a U.S. medical group and is a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago and Stanford, had decided to remain in China

Three Chinese-born scholars with U.S. ties have now been allowed to return to the U.S. in the past week in an approach widely seen as clearing irritants in the Sino-U.S. relationship.

The move pushes aside a diplomatic hurdle two days ahead of Powell's arrival in Beijing on Saturday.

China arrested several of the U.S.-based academics soon after Bush took office, and relations plunged after the April 1 collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.

The releases appear to be goodwill gestures by China to thaw the deadlock.

On Wednesday, China expelled U.S. citizen Li Shaomin after convicting him of spying on July 14. The business professor was teaching at a Hong Kong university when he was arrested in the southern city of Shenzhen in February.

A Chinese official Qu Wei was sentenced to 13 years in prison for allegedly supplying Gao and Li with national secrets and intelligence.

Gao said she was informed of the charges against her on the morning Beijing learned it would play host to the 2008 Olympics.

No progress was reported on three other cases involving U.S. citizen Wu Jianming, held for spying for Taiwan, and permanent U.S. residents Liu Yaping and Teng Chunyan. Liu is being detained over a business dispute and Teng is in a labor camp for her participation in the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.