50 days camped out in an airport

Feng Zhenghu has been camping out at Tokyo's international airport for 50 days, sleeping on a blue plastic bench and surviving on handouts of crackers and noodles from passers-by.

The Chinese rights activist whiles away the hours reading and watching other travellers come and go - a situation reminiscent of The Terminal, the movie about a stateless man stuck at New York's Kennedy Airport.

But unlike the film character played by Tom Hanks, Feng is free to leave - he has a valid Chinese passport and a visa to enter Japan. He's staying to protest against China's refusal to let him return to his homeland, where he's been denied entry eight times since June.

"I'm a Chinese citizen, and I just want to go back to China. It's outrageous that I can't return to my own country," he said.

"I'm not doing this just for me. It's for the Chinese people," said the 55-year-old Feng, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with handwritten Chinese messages and a demand in English: "Return to China."

Feng had travelled often to Japan, where he studied economics and worked as a business consultant. But he angered authorities in his homeland with writings on alleged wrongdoing by local authorities and for supporting student protests. Amnesty International describes Feng, who spent three years in prison, as a prominent human rights defender.

On the last of his attempts to return to China, he got as far as Shanghai's Pudong Airport, where Chinese officials forced him to get back on a plane to Tokyo, which arrived on November 4. Fed up, he decided to camp out at Narita International Airport.

As well as handouts from travellers, some flight crews bring him sandwiches, salad and drinks.

Using his cellphone and laptop, Feng spends his time talking to supporters, reading news on the web and posting blogs and tweets on Twitter, where he has 8500 followers.

As word of Feng's predicament spread, he became something of a celebrity. Supporters at human rights organisations, including from Hong Kong, flew in to drop off food and other supplies, including a battery-charged water heater, a portable DVD player - and a copy of The Terminal.

Feng's life at Narita is tougher than that of the fictional Viktor Navorski, who was allowed to wander around to buy food, books and a suit.

"My life here is not like that," Feng said. "It's much more restricted."

The Steven Spielberg film was based on the case of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, a stateless person of Iranian descent who lived for 18 years in Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.

At the Tokyo airport, Feng is largely confined to an area near a sterile hallway that leads to immigration control. He has no access to shops or vending machines.

Still, he seems to have won over some airport officials. Patrolling guards stop and chat and look the other way when he uses the terminal's power outlets to charge batteries.

"I know I'm causing trouble to Japan," he said. "China, the one responsible for the problem, is doing nothing."

Chinese officials have said little about the case other than to insist it be dealt with by relevant Chinese laws and authorities.

"I'll be here, alone, during Christmas and New Year. I'll be here as long as it takes," Feng said. "But once I get home, I want to go see my mother, who is past 90 years old."

Japanese officials say they urged Feng to enter Japan but can't force him to do so. The deadlock could last until his visa expires in June.

"It's a problem that Mr Feng is camping out at the restricted area, where people are not supposed to stay," said Teruhisa Misu, the airport security director. "We also understand his feelings. We worry about his health. It gets colder in coming weeks, and I'm not sure he is getting enough to eat."

- AP