Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday, October 16 1996

BEIJING, Oct 15 (AFP) - China denied Tuesday it had any dissidents, but the claim came as one outspoken dissident fled to the United States and another faced charges of subverting the government.

"It is not against the law to have different points of view or opinions or ideas," said foreign ministry spokesman Shen Guofang.

"There are no dissidents in China," he told a media briefing in the capital.

China consistently claims that is has no political prisoners and that only common criminals languish in its jails.

But the family of imprisoned dissident Wang Dan warned Tuesday that the sedition trial of their son on charges of writing articles critical of the government was imminent.

In Hong Kong, sources close to dissident Wang Xizhe said he had been granted political asylum in the United States after writing an open letter calling for the self-determination of Tibet.

The co-author of the letter was detained Tuesday and sentenced the same day without a trial to three years in a labour camp.

Other Chinese dissidents serving jail sentences for the non-violent expression of their opinion include Wei Jingsheng, sentenced to 14 years for subversion, and Chen Ziming, who got 13 years for his role in the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.