By The Associated Press, 07/22/97

HONG KONG - Two dozen democracy campaigners rallied for jailed Chinese dissident Wang Dan Tuesday in the first such demonstration since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty three weeks ago.

The protest, sparked by reports that the 27-year-old Wang is ill, would have been unimaginable anywhere else in China. But it passed peacefully and looked no different from similar gatherings under British colonial rule.

Demanding freedom for jailed opponents of the Chinese regime, and an end to the Communist Party's monopoly on power, the demonstrators marched several blocks through the business district to the office of Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's post-colonial leader.

Before the July 1 change of sovereignty, many feared Tung's government would curtail protests regarded as interfering in China's internal affairs.

The government has provoked criticism from civil libertarians by empowering police to ban demonstrations harmful to "national security." But last week it said "national security" applied to causes such as independence for Taiwan and Tibet, and made no mention of curbing protests on behalf of Chinese dissidents.

The demonstrators said they notified police a few hours in advance of their protest and received no objection. Police kept watch on the rally and directed traffic.

Cheung Man-kwong, a leader of the protest, rejected the notion that the protesters were interfering in China's affairs.

"I never heard of a country which doesn't allow its nationals to express opinions about their own nation," said Cheung. "If we were not allowed to say it, then it meant we were stripped of our rights to be Chinese."

Wang was the most notable dissident arrested after the Chinese military cracked down on the pro-democracy student movement at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Freed after 31/2 years in prison, Wang remained an outspoken critic of the Communist government and was arrested again in May 1995. He was sentenced last October to 11 years in prison.

In March, his family claimed Wang had stomach, throat and prostate problems.