(Clearwisdom.net) American citizen, Falun Gong practitioner Charles Li (Li Xiang Chun) was jailed and persecuted in China for three years for going back China to spread the truth about Falun Gong. On January 21, 2006, he returned to the United States and received a warm welcome from Falun Gong practitioners and friends at San Francisco International Airport. Li said that he couldn't image that the Chinese Communist Party would torture him nearly to death. Li's experience raised concern among many people and wide attention from the media.

The media focused on Charles Li's experiences in China

On Saturday, January 21, 2006, reporter Rebekah Gordon from the San Mateo County Times reported on the reception at the airport and published an article the next day. The story stated, "Li, 40, a U.S. citizen and practitioner of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa), was arrested at the Guangzhou Airport when he flew to China on Jan. 22, 2003. Neatly dressed in a black sport coat and dress shirt as he arrived in the international terminal on a United flight, Li appeared to be in decent shape. Greeted eagerly by his fiancee, Yeong Ching, he was quickly swarmed by the Chinese media. Well-wishers holding Falun Gong banners burst into song."

The story also quoted words from family friend, Sherry Zhang, "But through the consulate, the family received Li's 96-page 'Letter from a Nanjing Jail.' Zhang said he wrote the letter in May 2003 while handcuffed, and it was only sent after he went on an eight-day hunger strike."

The letter, Zhang said, spoke of physical abuse, including beatings and sleep deprivation, forced labor to make shoes and Christmas lights, mental "re-education" sessions for hours and prohibition from practicing Falun Gong. By his third year, she said, the consulate told the family that Li was experiencing shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate.

A medical doctor, Li's imprisonment has garnered national attention. The website, http://www.rescuecharles.org, has nearly 5,700 petition signatures, and North Carolina musician Drew Parker wrote a song called "Free Charles Lee"

Charles Li speaks at a press conference in San Francisco

Associated Press: Falun Gong practitioner speaks out after release from Chinese prison

Published on Tuesday, January 24, 2006, the Associated Press report reported, "An American Falun Gong practitioner who was released after serving a three-year sentence in a Chinese prison last week is speaking out against the government that imprisoned him."

Charles Li, 41, of Menlo Park was scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday in San Francisco to discuss the mistreatment he received in prison, where Falun Gong [practitioners] allege Li was subject to "beatings, brainwashing, torture and forced labor."

Li, who arrived in San Francisco on Saturday, was arrested at the Yangzhou airport in January 2003 and sentenced two months later on charges of sabotaging broadcasting equipment.

New York Times: Charles Li suffered beatings, sleep deprivation, and "forced brainwashing"

On January 24 2006, the New York Times published reporter Carolyn Marshall's article, "Businessman Back in U.S. After Detention in China". The article said that American citizen Charles Li finally returned to the United States after being jailed in a Chinese prison and spoke up the tortures he experiences in the prison.

The article said, "The businessman, Charles Li, 41 and a resident of Menlo Park, arrived at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday, welcomed by more than 100 supporters, who for three years have protested and petitioned for his release."

"In prison, Mr. Li said, he was beaten, deprived of sleep and food, and handcuffed in painful positions. He said the government tried to 'force brainwash' prisoners and subjected him to 'slave labor.'"

"I feel relief," Mr. Li said in a telephone interview Monday. "I'm also concerned and worried because the persecution is still going on and there are so many practitioners who have been physically and mentally tortured."

ABC TV station interviewing Li's fiancee, Yeong Ching Foo

In addition, The San Francisco Chronicle, International Herald Tribune, KESQ TV Station and Monterey County Herald also reported on this event.