China's best-known dissidents, physicists Fang Lizhi and his wife Li Shuxian, left the country for Britain Monday after Communist authorities allowed them to end their yearlong refuge in the U.S. Embassy.
The White House immediately hailed Beijing's move as a "humanitarian action" that will better U.S.-Chinese ties.The 53-year-old astrophysicist and his wife had sought refuge in the embassy after the June 4, 1989, military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
The official Xinhua news agency said they were given permission to leave the country for medical reasons after showing "signs of repentance."
It said the move was "in line with China's policy of leniency toward those who participated in the disturbances" of last June.
Since late last year, China has announced the release of more than 800 people jailed for their participation in the democracy movement, but it is believed that thousands more remain in jail.
The White House said Fang and Li were bound for Britain aboard a U.S. C-135 air transport and would arrive in London early Tuesday. Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Fang had accepted a job at Cambridge University.
"This humanitarian action is a farsighted, significant step that will improve the atmosphere for progress in our bilateral relations," he said in a statement, adding that President Bush was informed of the development late Sunday.
He did not disclose when or how the agreement to allow the couple free passage had been reached.
Fang has been China's most outspoken and eloquent proponent of democratic reform. He and Li were well known for their advocacy of democracy and human rights in China well before the seven-week pro-democracy movement gelled.
Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed in the military assault on central Beijing, and thousands of activists were subsequently arrested. Fang and Li did not play an active role in the student-led protests, but after the crackdown the Communist government accused them of inciting the unrest.
They took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in the days following the crackdown, and American diplomats refused to turn them over to Chinese authorities. Washington also imposed sanctions that cut shipments of military hardware, and U.S.-Chinese relations deteriorated.
Their release appeared timed by the Chinese for maximum political results. The seven leading industrialized nations are to hold their annual meeting July 9-11 in Houston, and policy toward China is to be a major subject.
Congress is also debating Bush's decision last month to extend most-favored-nation trading status to China for another year. The Fang case has been cited by some members of Congress demanding revocation of the status, which reduces tariffs on Chinese goods sold in the United States.
Chinese authorities had said that in order to be released, Fang and Li would have to confess "guilt" and promise not to carry out any anti-government activities.
Xinhua said the two had recently admitted in writing that they have opposed socialist principles and the leadership of the Communist Party, thus violating the country's constitution. It also said the two had agreed not to engage in "activities directed against China."
The report did not say what their medical problems were. Their son Fang Ke, a student at Wayne State University in Detroit, said earlier this month that his parents were in good spirits and continued their scientific work in the embassy.
Fang was expelled from the Communist Party and fired from his post as vice chairman of the Chinese Science and Technology University in Hefei in 1987 for allegedly fomenting pro-democracy unrest among the nation's students.
He also angered authorities when he told reporters that Marxism had failed in China and that the Communist Party must make way for democratic reform.
In January 1989, Fang called for the release of all political prisoners and urged intellectuals to join together to work for human rights.
The following month, when Bush was visiting Beijing, Fang was barred from attending a U.S.-staged banquet. China said that inviting him was an insult.
While being sheltered at the embassy, Fang and Li declined to talk with reporters, and the embassy refused to answer nearly all questions about them.
In November, however, Fang wrote a letter accepting a human rights award.
"Remember that in the current climate of terror, it may well be that those who are most terrified are those who have just finished the killing," he wrote.
"We may be forced to live under a terror today, but we have no fear of tomorrow. The murderers are not only fearful today, they are even more terrified of tomorrow."