Chinese woman convicted in Washington parental kidnapping case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese woman was convicted on Friday of kidnapping her young son from the United States, a plan that was foiled when the flight to Beijing they were aboard was forced to turn back to Washington's Dulles International Airport, federal prosecutors said. Wenjing Liu, 32, of Tianjin, China, was convicted by a Virginia federal jury on charges of international parental kidnapping, according to a statement from Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Liu and her 4-year-old son were two hours into their flight on Sept. 4 when the FBI alerted pilots to the attempted kidnapping and requested that the flight return to Washington. The plane returned to Dulles and Liu was arrested. The boy was reunited with his father, who is separated from Liu, but at the time shared joint custody. Liu faces a maximum of three years in prison when she is sentenced June 5. (Reporting by John Clarke; Editing by Sandra Maler)