A Falungong protester who disrupted a White House welcome ceremony for China's President Hu Jintao made a brief appearance in court here on Thursday.
In a courtroom packed with Falungong supporters, Wang Wenji, a 47-year-old doctor, replied "yes" when asked whether she agreed to have the preliminary hearing continued until May 31, when she will next appear in court.
Wang has been charged with seeking to "intimidate, coerce, frighten or harass Chinese President Hu Jintao, a foreign official in the performance of his duty" on the White House lawn on April 20.
If convicted she could face a 5,000 dollar fine and six months in prison.
Besides the Falungong members in the courtroom, about 20 supporters of the spiritual group gathered outside the US District court to show their backing for Wang.
Wang interrupted an elaborate welcome ceremony at the White House laid on by President George W. Bush, who later apologised to Hu.
In Chinese and English, Wang shouted "President Bush stop him from killing" and "President Bush stop him from persecuting Falungong."
The outburst lasted about three minutes until Secret Service guards detained the woman, who entered with the event with a press pass.
A spokesman for the Epoch Times, a newspaper founded by the Falungong, said Wang was a pathologist who had researched allegations by the Falungong that thousands of its followers have been killed in Chinese concentration camps and had their organs harvested and sold.
Chinese authorities reject the claims by the group, which is banned in China.
