US citizen detained in China during Obama's visit.

US Embassy in Beijing. (Greg Baker - Pool/Getty Images)

American citizen detained in Beijing for petitioning Obama outside of the US Embassy.

American citizen Lily Zhu was waiting outside the US Embassy in Beijing this week, hoping to submit a petition letter to President Obama, She was intercepted by Chinese police, taken away in a police car and interrogated for two and a half hours.

The US woman was representing her fiancé Liu Shiliang in his appeals for help. In 1999, Lily Zhu travelled to China and met Liu Shiliang in Anhui while Liu was working as a security guard at a local post office. They were engaged in 2007, but were forced to delay their wedding as Liu was detained by the local police station.

Liu was arrested on June 17, 2009 by Bengbu Wuhe Public Security Bureau in Anhui province. According to Ms. Zhu, the court accepted a complaint about Mr Liu for ‘trespassing’ on Sep. 4th 2009, from a neighbor of Liu’s.

Mr. Liu and his neighbour were in dispute in 2007, and Liu’s neighbour was sentenced 5 years in jail for occasioning serious bodily harm to Mr. Liu.

With the new ‘trespassing’ case, the court has so far made no decision. Ms Zhu had already tried to appeal to the National People's Congress, the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of State appeal centre, but received no response.