
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 21, 1993                   TAG: 9309210064
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BEIJING                                LENGTH: Medium

CHINESE DISSIDENT RELEASED, UNREPENTANT

Older, a bit battered in body, unprepared for life on the outside - China's longest-held political prisoner confessed to those weaknesses Monday in his first interviews since his release.

But flashes of irreverent wit and vows of unrepentance showed that Wei Jingsheng's spirit survived 14 1/2 years in the Chinese gulag, most of it in solitary confinement.

"I can't take part in political activity," he said, noting that he was still on parole.

Wei, 43, was released from prison Sept. 14, but instead of coming directly home went with police to a guesthouse in the Beijing surburbs. Confusing signals filtered through his family: First they said he was at the guesthouse of his own choice, then they said he was eager to come home.

Wei finally returned to his father's small Beijing apartment Monday evening and began patiently answering the questions of foreign journalists, while dozens of neighbors gathered outside in the darkness to watch the comings and goings.

Yes, Wei insisted, he willingly delayed his homecoming to rest and get used to freedom slowly.

Yes, he still stands by his old calls for democracy.

Yes, he supports Beijing's bid to hold the 2000 Olympic Games.

And maybe authorities have used him by releasing him just before Thursday's International Olympic Committee vote on the venue for the 2000 Games.

Opponents of Beijing's bid have cited the Communist government's suppression of dissent, and no one symbolized that better than Wei, who was sentenced in 1979 to 15 years in prison because of his essays in favor of multi-party democracy and his criticism of senior leader Deng Xiaoping.

"I don't know if I've been used," Wei said of the timing of his release, six months before his term would have ended anyway. "But I can tell everyone, I don't like being used by others."

Someone asked, could he have refused to leave prison to avoid that? Wei laughed incredulously.

His sister, Wei Lingling, injected softly, "Anyway, one's happy to be freed anytime." He gave her a smile and agreed.

- Associated Press

by CNB