Nobel Prize winner Gao used to fewer restrictions in his adopted home of France

Exiled Chinese Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian said he was embarrassed by the lack of freedom he felt in Hong Kong - but could not resist the warmth of his welcome.

Asked at a City University seminar whether he thought his controversial visit put the Government in a dilemma, the France-based author said literature should have nothing to do with government. However, he praised Hong Kong for its freedom of creativity, compared with the mainland.

'If I don't come, my friends will be disappointed. The situation of Hong Kong is a bit subtle. I also felt a bit embarrassed as I don't feel very free [here]. I have been used to being free,' he said.

'However, it is difficult to resist a warm invitation and I have also received a warm welcome here. I have no relations with the Government. Literature has nothing to do with government in the first place.'

The central Government has said the conferring of the Nobel Prize for Literature on Gao was politically motivated. Gao has refrained from making political comments since arriving on Monday.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has not met the author during the visit. The highest ranking official to attend a function for Gao has been Secretary for Home Affairs Lam Woon-kwong, who was at a speech at Chinese University on Tuesday.

Deputy Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Choi Suk-kuen was among 360 invited guests at yesterday's speech and seminar. A further 800 academics watched on TV monitors outside the hall.