A Chinese activist who has spent more than three months living inside Tokyo's international airport said Tuesday that Chinese officials have given him permission to return home. Feng Zhenghu has been camping out at Narita International Airport since early November to protest China's refusal to let him enter his homeland. Feng had angered the Chinese government with writings on alleged wrongdoing by local authorities and for supporting student protests. He said he planned to enter Japan on Wednesday before heading back to Shanghai for the Chinese New Year in mid-February. On his last attempt to return, he got as far as Shanghai's Pudong airport, where Chinese officials forced him to get back on a plane for Tokyo, which arrived Nov. 4. Staying in a restricted area near immigration control, Feng had no access to vending machines or a food court and survived on food and clothes provided by tourists passing by. He used a sink inside a restroom to wash himself.
