Human Rights Groups Says China Has Expelled a Prominent Dissident

Human rights groups say China has expelled a prominent dissident, Fang Jue (fung zhay) after detaining him for almost three months.

In a statement, the New York-based organisation Human Rights in China said Mr Fung had left Beijing on a flight to Chicago.

It says he was accompanied by an American State Department official.

A businessman and former government official, Mr Fang is best known for a statement issued in 1998.

In that statement, he called for direct elections at all levels of government, freedom of the media and independent trade unions.