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A Tibetan nun, imprisoned by Chinese authorities for 15 years, flew into exile in the United States on Wednesday, a month before Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington.
Phuntsog Nyidrol, 34, arrived in San Francisco with a US embassy official, after being released, following an additional two years of house arrest in Lhasa, The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said.
She was greeted at an emotional reunion by her former cellmate Ngawang Sangdrol, who already lives in the United States.
"Phuntsog Nyidrol and Sangdrol have been hugging, holding hands and crying, overjoyed to be reunited," said Mary Beth Markey, ICT's executive director.
"This release is wonderful for Phuntsog and her former prison comrades. However, it is important to note that despite serious engagement between the US and China over the years, there has been little or no progress on fundamental human rights issues in Tibet."
"Tibetans like Phuntsog Nyidrol continue to suffer torture and imprisonment simply for the peaceful expression of their views."
The ICT said the release appeared to be gesture of goodwill by China towards the United States -- not an unusual move before high-level meetings between the two sides.
A US-based dissident group said earlier Wednesday that China had also freed Tong Shidong, 72, the oldest jailed member of the banned China Democracy Party. There have been several other releases of dissidents this year.
Phuntsog Nyidrol told Radio Free Asia she was forbidden by Beijing officials from talking about her situation to spare her family, which is still in Tibet, from reprisals.
"Although I was released from prison in 2004, I suffered many hardships, as did my family members. I developed three ailments," she told the congressionally-mandated radio station.
Phuntsog Nyidrol was among a group of nuns arrested on October 14, 1989, after taking part in a peaceful protest against Chinese rule.
She was sentenced to eight years in jail, and received another sentence of nine years after she joined 13 other nuns in secretly recording songs about life in prison.
Her sentence was commuted in February 2004, and she spent the next two years at her home under close surveillance.
Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, 70, fled Tibet in 1959 when Beijing crushed an anti-Chinese uprising there. He then set up his government-in-exile in the northern Indian hilltop town of Dharamsala.
He says he is not fighting for independence but "self-rule and genuine autonomy" for Tibet within the "provisions of the Chinese constitution."
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AFP 152054 GMT 03 06
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