Yu Jie, author of 34 books, including many critical of the Chinese government, has been in exile in the US state of Virginia for four months now.<br /><br />Yu says his long-time friend and fellow democracy advocate, Chen Guangcheng, may have been unaware of the danger he faced in leaving the US embassy.<br /><br />In a situation similar to that described by Chen to Al Jazeera, Yu says he was arrested by authorities of the People's Republic a day before democracy activist, Liu Shiao Bo, of whom Yu had penned a biography, was to receive his Nobel Peace Prize.<br /><br />Yu says upon his arrest, surveillance and torture became part of his daily life.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman spoke to Yu in Herndon, Virginia, where he lives with his wife.
