China Gives Exit Visas to Pro-Democracy Critics While Beijing Frees or Expels Dissidents, Its Ban on Political Expression Persists

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AFTER months under the constant eye of security police, outspoken journalist Zhang Weiguo said last week that he is being allowed to leave China for the United States.

Mr. Zhang, former Beijing correspondent of the banned World Economic Herald of Shanghai, told the Monitor in a telephone interview that he has been invited to be a research fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. He plans to focus on human rights and development of news media in China since economic reforms were launched in 1978.

Although he expects to receive his passport by Dec. 25, Zhang said he will postpone departure until January for health reasons. He intends to return to …