Chinese Dissident Is Detained upon Return to Beijing Relations with U.S. Could Suffer

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Police detained China's leading dissident Friday as he returned to Beijing from almost a month of travel in the northeast, his secretary said.

The detention of Wei Jingsheng may complicate efforts by the United States and China to prevent relations from deteriorating further over human rights differences.

The Clinton administration has been threatening to revoke China's low-tariff trading privileges in June unless China improves its human rights record. Former Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance met with China's foreign minister Tuesday but refused to say afterward whether he carried any new messages from the White House.

In a mildly worded statement, the …