China to free Tiananmen prisoner

BEIJING - A Chinese journalist, jailed for splashing paint over a portrait of Mao Zedong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, was due to be freed today, his mother and a rights activist said, ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States.

The release of Yu Dongyue, who rights groups say suffered a mental breakdown after persistent prison beatings, would leave about 70 Chinese political prisoners still serving time for their roles in the student-led demonstrations for democracy crushed by the Army on June 4, 1989, the human rights watchdog Dui Hua Foundation said. "He's the last major Tiananmen figure [to be released]," said John Kamm, chairman of the San Francisco-based foundation who helped the release of Yu and other Chinese political prisoners.

It was unclear if Yu's release was connected to Hu's visit, expected in April. China has in the past freed political prisoners ahead of major state visits.

- REUTERS