The trials of two US-based Chinese scholars arrested for allegedly spying for Taiwan are under way in China, and are expected to conclude early next week.
The US said yesterday it had received confirmation from China that the trials of Mr Li Shaomin, a US citizen, and Mrs Gao Zhan, a permanent US resident, have started.
It is likely that the two scholars, whose families have denied the spying charges, will be expelled at the end of the trial and sent back to the US.
There are at least three other Chinese-born academics known to be detained in China.
News of the trials comes one week before Beijing learns whether it is to host the 2008 Olympics. Freeing the scholars would take away a major irritant in US-China relations. The cases of Mr Li, Mrs Gao and other detained academics have been championed by Congress.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, said yesterday that President Bush had spoken to the Chinese President, Mr Jiang Zemin, by telephone about the cases.
Mrs Gao, a researcher at American University in Washington, was arrested on February 11th at Beijing Airport while returning to the US after a holiday in China with her husband and five-year-old son. Her son was detained for four weeks, and separated from his parents, before being allowed to travel back to the US.
Meanwhile, the US State Department expressed concern about reports of the deaths of up to 15 female members of the banned Falun Gong movement in a labour camp in north-east China.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday that three Falun Gong supporters had died and eight had been saved in a mass suicide attempt at the camp.