Instead, Zhao, an employee of the Beijing office of The Times, remained in jail even though there no longer were any charges against him. Now, one question is whether prosecutors used the withdrawal as a procedural manoeuvre to delay a trial, which had been scheduled for late March. Legal experts say Zhao should have been released after the withdrawal, regardless of any intention to reopen the case.

“This is a man who has been held for a long time after the indictment was withdrawn,’’ said John Kamm, a human rights campaigner, whose Dui Hua Foundation, based in San Francisco, works to free political prisoners in China. ‘’I think it is a terrible black eye for the Chinese justice system. It’s a terrible black eye because there is no transparency, there is no accountability.’’

Hu is spending four days in the United States this week for an important diplomatic visit that includes a White House meeting with Bush. In years past, China has often released at least one high-profile political prisoner in advance of a presidential visit.

But as yet China has not released anyone and has refused to discuss Zhao. The Chinese news media are forbidden to report on the case. A Foreign Ministry spokesman has said China will act “according to law.”

“We are not authorised to speak to you,” Wang Zhiqin, the Beijing prosecutor in charge of the case, said on Monday afternoon. She refused to confirm that the case was going forward.

For weeks there have been indications that local prosecutors no longer have decision-making authority over the case. Employees in the prosecutors’ office have told Zhao’s family that higher authorities would decide his fate. Kamm said decisions were probably being made at high levels of the Communist Party outside the framework of the legal system.

... contd.