A WOMAN has been released early from a Chinese labour camp after a campaign by her family in Nottingham.

Wenjian Liang, 41, was imprisoned for practising the Falun Gong religion, which has its roots in Buddhism and is banned by the Chinese government.

However, Wenjian’s sister, Jane Liang, of Tom Blower Close, Wollaton, has secured her release two months before the sentence was due to expire.

It is the second time in eight years Jane, 45, has helped free her sister and she thanked the people in Nottingham who have supported her.

She said: “Everybody has been a support and help. It gives me confidence. It has encouraged me to carry on, otherwise I would feel alone.”

Jane said she was relieved about her sister’s release but she remains very concerned.

“I am not in the mood for a celebration. I always worry about her. This is the second time she has been released.

“I have not even asked what happened in the labour camp. It is likely her phone has been tapped. I just ring her to say hello and make sure she is there.

“With this regime in China, nothing is for sure. The regime is not concerned about human beings, only power and control.”

Wenjian, an accountant, was first imprisoned without trial in 2000 in her home city of Guangzhou. A campaign was launched, which was highlighted in the Evening Post.

A year later the Chinese authorities released her, but in April 2007 she was arrested again with seven others, including her husband, after an alleged gathering of Falun Gong members.

Politicians in Nottingham and campaign groups have supported the family’s demand for Wenjian’s release.

One of those prominent in the campaign has been Nottingham South MP Alan Simp- son.

In a letter to Mr Simpson, Jane’s husband, Li Shao, praised the MP’s efforts to secure the release of Wenjian and her husband. He wrote: “Their improved conditions during the incarceration and their early release could not have happened without your strong and persistent interventions.”

Mr Simpson described her release as “brilliant news”.

charles.walker@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Nottingham-campaigners-help-win-release-woman-s-sister-Chinese-labour-camp/article-682711-detail/article.html