Chinese Dissident Set to Leave Hospital

Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng appeared vigorous, showing no outward signs of having spent most of the last 18 years in prison as he roamed around his hospital room in Detroit. Wei also tried on the new bifocal glasses that doctors at Henry Ford Hospital provided for him, using them to read letters and faxes of support from friends and others. Earlier, doctors said Wei is in good health and ready to be discharged today from the hospital, where he spent his first four days in the United States. “He’s remarkably healthy at this point, given all the considerations,” said Dr. John Popovich, a lung specialist who has been Wei’s lead physician. Popovich also said he saw no “overt” signs that Wei was beaten during his jail term, which began after his arrest in 1979 on charges of subversion.