By LOUIS MEIXLER
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS, July 18, 1995 (AP) -- Advocacy groups fear they will have to struggle to be heard at September's international women's conference in Beijing. The main meeting of the advocacy groups will be held in Huairou, some 30 miles, or an hour's drive, from the international conference.
The conference site in Beijing can accommodate only a small fraction of the almost 35,000 women hoping to pressure governments and make contacts at the fourth World Conference on Women. "There is certainly an attempt by the Chinese to marginalize the participation of NGOs (non-government permitted to attend.
Some activists also said they were concerned that the forum could hurt any budding Chinese women's movement."Groups are having to realize how careful they will have to be to make sure that their actions do not have a negative impact on Chinese women and a nascent women's movement in China is not left alone to suffer the consequences when we leave," said Rachel Kyte, a senior policy analyst with the International Women's Health Coalition. Some 5,000 Chinese women are expected to participate in the NGO Forum.