WASHINGTON (AP) — In his first act after becoming a U.S. citizen, the husband of an American University scholar detained in China on espionage charges pleaded with the government of his native land to set his wife free.
"China is my wife's birthplace and mine," Xue Donghua said Friday after swearing allegiance to the United States in a flag-festooned ceremony before members of Congress and more than a dozen television cameras.
"We value our birthplace," he said. "I ask that the Chinese government increase this value for all Chinese people worldwide by immediately releasing my wife, Gao Zhan, so that she can care for her 5-year-old son and her husband and be with her family."
The three were detained Feb. 11 as they tried to leave Beijing after a family visit. Xue and their son were released 26 days later.