Published by: World Tibet Network News Tuesday, January 13, 1998

by Giles Hewitt

PARIS, Jan 13 (AFP) - Leading Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng accused France and other western governments here Tuesday of kowtowing to Beijing's economic strength and forsaking the struggle for human rights in China.

Wei, who is considered the father of China's democratic movement, said the recent "retreat" of western governments over the issue of human rights in China had "provoked intense disappointment" among pro-democracy activists in the country.

Wei, 47, arrived in Paris on Tuesday afternoon to the news that requests for meetings with President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine had all been turned down.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had issued a strong warning to France against holding any high-level meeting with the ailing dissident, who was freed on medical parole November 16 after spending all but six months of the past 18 years in Chinese prisons and labour camps.

Condemning the Chinese warning as a "clear interference in France's internal affairs," Wei said he was surprised there had been no official protest from Paris.

"What is even sadder is that the French government seems to be under the orders of the Chinese government," he told reporters.

Wei will address the French parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday.

His arrival in France coincided with the publication in a French newspaper of an open letter written by Wei and fellow-dissident Liu Qinq, criticising the French authorities.

"But what brings us despair is that Jacques Chirac, president of the French Republic that was built on the principles of human rights and democracy, has on the contrary shown that his government is more interested in profit than in human rights," the letter said.

Widening his criticisms at his press conference, Wei voiced his "profound disappointment" that Beijing's tactic of using its vast market as "a lure" to

secure the silence of western countries over continuing human rights abuses was bearing fruit.

"Western politicians are preoccupied by the Chinese market and seem ready to renounce their principles" in order to ensure their slice of the cake, he said.

In April last year, as Chirac prepared to pay an official visit to China, France, followed by Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain, backed out of its traditional support for a UN motion censuring China's approach to human rights.

Wei stressed that international pressure was "crucial" to promoting democratic change in China and to supporting the efforts of the country's dwindling band of human rights activists.

He also argued that up to 95 percent of Chinese Communist Party members believed that democratisation was inevitable.

"They know in their hearts that without democratic progress, China will be unable to meet the challenges it faces in the years that follow," he said.

Wei, who arrived here from London, labelled the British government's attitude towards him as "chilly."

British Foreign Minister Robin Cook, who will visit China later this month, turned down a meeting, but Wei said he had been told before his departure that he might be able to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair if he returned in March.

Wei has yet to decide whether to accept an invitation to visit China's rival, Taiwan, but he said Tuesday that he hoped to hold talks with the Dalai Lama when Tibet's exiled spiritual leader visits the United States in March or April.

Following his release from prison, Wei was immediately put on a plane for the United States, following the path of numerous other exiled dissidents.

Questioned about his future, Wei said he had no plans to join any specific overseas dissident group, but would focus on countering Chinese propaganda and western misconceptions about the situation back home.

Tuesday's press conference ended in some confusion as Wei challenged an attending journalist from China's official Xinhua news agency to ask a question.

The journalist retorted that since Wei had been released on medical parole, he could better spend his time looking after his health.