Beijing ? A court dismissed state secrets charges against a Chinese researcher for The New York Times in a surprise move Friday ahead of a visit by President Hu Jintao to Washington.

Zhao Yan, who worked in the Times’ Beijing bureau, was detained in September 2004, prompting an outcry by free press advocates, who appealed to President Bush to lobby Hu for his release.

The government has not disclosed details of the charges against Zhao, but he was believed to have been detained in connection with a Times report in 2004 on former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s plans to step down from a key military post.