CHINA made United States President Bill Clinton's decision to renew its Most Favoured Nation (MFN) trading status almost a foregone conclusion yesterday by releasing Chen Ziming, the second alleged ''black hand'' behind the 1989 democracy movement.
Chen, 41, was released from Beijing No 2 prison early yesterday morning and, together with his wife Wang Zhihong, was immediately escorted by police to an undisclosed destination outside the capital for ''medical treatment''.
He will stay out of Beijing for about 20 days, or until just after the fifth anniversary of the June 4 massacre and Mr Clinton's MFN deadline, according to his sister, Chen Zihua, who saw him briefly after his release.
''They originally wanted to send him abroad, but Chen said he wanted to stay in China,'' she said.
Ms Chen said her brother was in good spirits.
''He was positive, but you could see he was tired. He has problems with his heart and has a bad skin ailment but I should say his condition is not that serious.'' Chen's release on medical bail after serving nearly five years of a 13-year sentence, comes just three weeks after his alleged co-conspirator in the 1989 democracy movement, Wang Juntao, was allowed to travel to the US for medical treatment and follows the release of six Chinese Christians over the last couple of days.