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SCMP Reporter

CHINA'S best-known dissident, Wei Jingsheng, has been barred from seeing foreign journalists for the next three years.

  Sources in the dissident community said last night that because of intensified pressure from security officials, a number of dissidents were considering leaving the country temporarily.

  The ban was slapped on Mr Wei in spite of the fact that he completed his 15-year prison sentence this week.

  ''Wei Jingsheng has been deprived of his political rights for three years and is not allowed to meet foreign journalists during that time,'' the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

   However, ministry spokesman, Wu Jianmin, was unable to specify the legal basis for such a statement.

    Deprivation of political rights usually refers to the right to vote, stand for public office or join the Communist Party.

  There does not appear to be any specific provision banning those deprived of their rights from meeting journalists.

    The Foreign Ministry also refused to say whether the ban extended to foreign diplomats and government officials.

   China severely criticised United States Assistant Secretary of State, John Shattuck, for meeting Mr Wei in February, claiming he had violated Article 75 of the criminal code since at that time Mr Wei was a ''criminal on parole''.

  Since Mr Wei completed his period of parole on Tuesday, Article 75 can no longer be cited as a reason not to meet foreigners.

    Analysts said the only way a ban on meetings could be justified was if it were deemed that by talking to foreign reporters, Mr Wei was ''engaging in political activities''.

   The Foreign Ministry statement reflects the determination of the Government to keep China's ''No 1 trouble maker'' under control for the foreseeable future.

  Mr Wei, who was pressured into leaving Beijing prior to the arrival of US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, has still not returned to the capital and there is no indication of when he might come back.

    The leader of the Democracy Wall movement originally said he was just going out of town for a ''few days'' for reasons of poor health but most analysts believe he has been ordered to take an extended vacation.

   There is speculation Mr Wei might be kept out of the way for a few more months given the upcoming 75th anniversary of the May 4th movement and the fifth anniversary of the June 4 massacre, both highly sensitive dates in the Chinese political calendar.

    Dissidents in Beijing and Shanghai faced stepped-up harassment by police and state-security agents. A source said several black-listed dissidents were considering heading towards the south-east coast, the traditional springboard for fleeing the country.

  It is understood these pro-democracy elements feared being taken into custody in the run-up to June 4.

  ''Security agents hauled in scores of 'trouble-makers' in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities in May and June in 1992 and 1993, and some of these detainees are still behind bars,'' the source said.

  ''Police believe there will be more protest actions this year, and they may take tougher action.''     Sources in Beijing said authorities in the industrial city of Tangshan were investigating the escape late last month of activist Wang Jiaqi, a 34-year-old postgraduate law student at Beijing University.

  Together with law lecturer Yuan Hongbing and underground labour unionist Zhou Guoqiang, Wang was detained on March 2 for allegedly organising a petition on political reform.

     and workers' rights   It is understood Wang was a Tangshan-based police officer prior to his enrolment at Beijing University.

  While most dissidents detained before and during the visit of Mr Christopher had been let go after short periods of interrogation, the authorities reportedly decided to charge the three with serious, ''anti-government'' offences.

  The sources said practically all work units in the major cities had in the past week disseminated documents and instructions from the central leadership calling on workers and other staff to ''remain calm'' in the run-up to June 4.

  Workers were particularly admonished to avoid ''agitators'' and not to leave their factories.

  Analysts said this was an apparent bid by the authorities to prevent a ''union'' between dissident intellectuals and labourers - and to prevent them from forming national networks.

   In Shanghai, sources said local authorities had yesterday told the relatives of detained activist Zhu Fuming that he had been held in a medical facility within the penal system.

  The relatives, however, were not told whether Zhu, who was detained early last month for allegedly organising pro-democracy activities, would be charged or how long he would be detained.



Three-year ban on Wei