China deports 8 American demonstrators

Romero has been demanding that Beijing free five political and religious prisoners and sign a U.N. human rights accord.

Under Chinese law, detainees can be held for up to 14 days for minor offenses.

The IOC has also come under criticism for failing to ensure Beijing lived up to its commitments on foreign media freedom and unfettered Internet access as a condition for winning the rights to host the Olympics.

The U.S. Embassy met with the eight detained Americans on Friday, it said in a statement, adding that the following day Ambassador Clark Randt pressed the Chinese government for their release. The detainees said they had not been mistreated, the embassy added.

The U.S. Embassy said that the eight released Americans -- James Powderly, Brian Conley, Jeffrey Rae, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, Tom Grant, Jeremy Wells and John Watterberg -- were deported aboard a China Air flight Sunday evening to Los Angeles.

China has become more aware of its human rights shortcomings in recent years and has taken some tepid steps to improve the behavior of officials. Police are in theory required to film interrogations, for instance, in a bid to stem the use of torture to extract confessions.

But the Communist Party sits atop a society with major problems related to corruption and injustice, and China's leaders remain fearful that even small protests could spread and jeopardize their power.

Months of foreign protests over Tibet and Darfur have put many Chinese on the defensive, leading some to suggest the West has sought to block China's rise and sabotage the Games.

Senior Chinese leaders rated the Games a great success.

"The Beijing Olympic Games are a testimony to the fact that the world has its trust rested upon China," said Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Olympic committee.

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mark.magnier@latimes.com

greg.johnson@latimes.com

Magnier reported from Beijing and Johnson from Los Angeles.