BEIJING A Chinese court sentenced U.S.-based scholar Gao Zhan to 10 years in jail on Tuesday for spying, just days before a fence-mending visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"We are dismayed by the news," A u.s. official told reporters aboard the plane taking Powell to an Asian regional forum in Hanoi, where he was due to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday.

Asked if Powell would raise Gao's case in his meetings with Chinese officials, the U.S. official replied: "Yes."

Gao's lawyer, Bai Xuebiao, said the court did not order the formal expulsion of the academic -- as it did for U.S. citizen Li Shaomin after his conviction on similar charges -- because she was a Chinese national.

But the lawyer said that he had applied for medical parole for Gao, a permanent resident of the United States who was convicted of gathering intelligence for Taiwan and sentenced after a trial lasting just three hours.

The government has used medical parole in the past to expel dissidents and a leading Chinese academic told Reuters he expected Gao to be put on a plane home very soon.

"I have a feeling that they will expel her within days" said Zhu Feng, professor of International Studies at Peking University.

"On the one hand, China needs to uphold its sovereignty and legal rights," he said. "On the other, there is no need to provoke any unnecessary dispute because of this."

Strong Medical Case

Gao was tried less than two weeks after Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympic Games despite opposition from critics who said China's human rights record precluded such a decision.

But Bai, whose firm worked last year to free another U.S.-based academic suspected of gathering state secrets, said that procedurally the trial was very fair.

"She had eight opportunities to speak during the course of the trial and was not interrupted once."

Nevertheless, Bai said Gao had potentially serious heart problems and had a strong case for gaining medical parole.

He said Gao also had 10 days from Wednesday to appeal but had not decided immediately whether to do so.

He said Gao was "in very low spirits" after being sentenced, although she received the minimum sentence on charges that could result in execution.

"She believed the length of her sentence was too long," said Bai. "She persists in believing her actions do not constitute espionage."

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sun Yuxi said in Hanoi that Gao was properly convicted. "We have irrefutable evidence that Gao Zhan worked for Taiwan espionage agencies and received funds from them. Moreover, she openly admitted her crimes," Sun said.

Bai showed Reuters an application for medical parole which describes Gao was suffering from "severe cardiovascular diseases" which "could quite likely kill her" if not treated properly.

The application said Gao's irregular heart beat had led to several severe attacks in the United States and she had only been saved by the "best American doctors".

He also produced medical records of Gao's condition dating back to 1999.

Bai said the final decision whether to appeal was Gao's.

"But if she asks me, I would suggest she do so," he said.