A TOP dissident intellectual who left China after the 1989 massacre, has quietly returned to work in Beijing. Xu Gang, 47, a poet and journalist famous for his investigative style of reporting, has returned from France, according to a dispatch last night by the semi-official Hongkong China News Agency (HKCNA). The agency said that Xu would soon publish an article entitled Paris Dreams in the prestigious journal People's Literature. ''Xu Gang went to Paris after the political storm in 1989,'' the agency said. ''His rendition of life overseas is sincere and finely wrought. It has a special angle and yields a particular flavour.'' Sources in Beijing literary circles said Xu had returned to the mainland last July partly to look after his wife and daughter. They said that Xu had decided he could contribute more to the country by settling back in China. ''Beijing has decided not to take action against Xu Gang in order to persuade intellectuals and professionals based in the West to go back,'' a source said. ''But politically active exiles are still unwelcome.''
