2010-08-12 10:26

Zhai Tiantian, a Chinese student once charged with making terror threats in New Jersey, held a press conference in Beijing, Aug 11, 2010. Zhai, 27, from Xi'an of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, who was a PhD student at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey，left JFK airport for Beijing on Monday after being arrested and serving jail time of more than one month in the United States for threatening to "burn to the ground" a campus building. At his second press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, he talked about his suffering and experience in jail.[Photo/CFP]

NEW YORK - Zhai Tiantian, the Chinese student charged with making terroristic threats in New Jersey, left the JFK airport for Beijing Monday afternoon aboard Air China 982.

Zhai's lawyers, friends and a small group of journalists were waiting in vain for Zhai at the Air China counter as Zhai, with hands cuffed and feet shackled, entered the terminal via a private channel, accompanied by five guards.

Hai Ming, Zhai's lawyer, told China Daily that Zhai called him after boarding the plane, using the cell phone of another passenger. "He wanted me to lodge a complaint," Hai said. The handcuffs and foot shackles were removed before boarding the plane.

"He was leaving on a voluntary departure granted by the federal judge of the immigrant court. But now he has been treated like a felon," Hai said.

Hai said he will file a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security, which agreed with Hai to buy an air ticket for Zhai and leave voluntarily. "This is not voluntary departure, this is like deportation," said the lawyer.

Zhai's friend, Wang Meiying, a woman from Taiwan, had prepared two small suitcases of luggage for Zhai at the airport but did not get a chance to see him. "Can I at least give him some clothes?" she asked Air China customer service manager Lin Ying.

The customer service agent denied her request, citing rules by the US authorities.

Zhai was imprisoned in New Jersey for nearly 120 days. The 26-year-old first enrolled in the Stevens Institute of Technology in 2003. He finished both his bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in system engineering there. He was pursuing a doctorate in enterprise systems when the school suspended him on March 12 this year, citing his major violations of the code of conduct for students.

On April 15, police arrested Zhai after the institute reported that Zhai phoned the school and threatened to burn down a school building. His student visa was revoked that day by immigration authorities.

After spending two and a half months in the Hudson County Correctional Center, Zhai was moved on July 2 to the Elizabeth Detention Center, where suspected illegal immigrants, including asylum seekers, are held.

On July 21, the New York County Attorney's Office declined to prosecute him for alleged aggravated harassment, one of two criminal cases Zhai was facing at the moment. The case was filed by a young woman teaching at the New York University.

Hai said Zhai retains the right to sue the teacher for making the false complaint. That charge was believed to have a direct link to Zhai's ordeal in the past six months.