Finally, on Wednesday July 25, 2001 China released American University researcher Gao Zhan after holding her in detention for 166 days and sentencing her to 10 years in prison. China also released Qin Guangguang another permanent U.S. resident who had been imprisoned on spying charges. Thus far, Qin Guangguang has opted to remain in China. Both Gao and Qin, a pharmaceutical company executive who has taught at Stanford and other American universities, were charged with "collecting intelligence for spy agencies in Taiwan" and according to Beijing "causing a serious threat to China's national security" (Washington Post 7/25/01).

The decision to free Gao and Qin came one day after China deported another academic accused of espionage, Shaomin, a U.S. citizen and business professor. All three decisions preceded a visit in two days by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. But China still holds in custody one American citizen Wu Juianmin, a writer, and two permanent U.S. residents Liu Yaping a businessman and Teng Chunyan a practitioner of the banned Falun Gong movement.

According to the Washington Post (July 26, 2001, A21) the case against the American University researcher "appeared to hinge on copies of speeches, books excerpts, and magazine articles on Taiwan she allegedly obtained from a friend and Chinese intellectual Qu Wei and gave to Liu, the business professor deported a day earlier." Qu Wei was sentenced to 13 years in prison for transmitting the material to Gao.

American University researcher, Gao, is a sociologist who has studied the Chinese family and women's issues. She was detained on February 11, 2001 at the Beijing airport with her husband and son. Gao was preparing to return to Washington, D.C. after visiting her parents. Her husband and son, now U.S. citizens, were detained in Beijing for 26 days. On Gao's return to the United States she noted that her parents and other family members live in China and that made her reluctant to comment in any detail about her treatment at the hands of the Chinese during her detention and imprisonment. While it is wonderful news that China has released three of the Americans, the sad fact remains that China continues to seize, detain, and imprison American, other foreigners and thousands of followers of the Falun Gong movement. China continues to violate their human and civil rights. For example, the Hong Kong based International Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported that it could not reach Qin's wife, Feng Lu, and that Chinese police had confiscated her passport and U.S. green card, thereby preventing her from leaving the country.