China Denies Deal to Free Fang Lizhi
<i> Reuters </i>
BEIJING —
China denied today that a deal had been reached with the United States to free leading dissident Fang Lizhi and his wife, who have taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman described a report in a Hong Kong magazine that the couple would be allowed to go to a third country as “speculation, pure and simple.” But the spokesman said Fang could plead guilty and “mend his ways,” indicating there might be some way out of the diplomatic impasse.
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