THREE mainland dissidents stranded in Hong Kong have been told they will be accepted for resettlement in Canada. This follows the visit last month by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and a request by Governor Chris Patten for help in sheltering some of the activists. A source said the Canadian Government had selected the three from the 80 or more asylum-seekers in Hong Kong, even though the dissidents had not applied. A source said the trio, all in their 20s, arrived in Hong Kong early last year. They were interviewed by Canadian officials in early July, shortly before Mr Axworthy's visit, and are now waiting a medical check before departure. One was a male student at Beijing University who was arrested and detained in April 1994 for democratic activities but released in September the same year. The others are a male university student and a female labour activist. 'It is a good news, but it is still far away from our goal to send all 80 away from the territory,' the source said. 'It's too early to say the situation is improving; many Western countries still have made no response to our plea. We hope there will be more good news to come in the future.' British embassies around the world are believed to have approached governments which have already granted asylum to those fleeing China since the pro-democracy crackdown in 1989. Concern about the dissidents has risen since Zhang Junsheng , a Vice-Director of Xinhua (the New China News Agency), said the activists who had been allowed to stay in the territory would not be given permanent residency status because of their illegal entry.
