Chinese Dissident Given Right to Stay

Hong Kong has granted the right of permanent residence to one of the territory’s most vocal critics of the Chinese government, the dissident said. Lu Siqing, a former student movement leader who runs a one-man news agency called the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, applauded the Immigration Department’s decision to give him residency but said it was a surprise move. A department spokesman said only that such issues were resolved in accordance with the law. The decision is good news for the few Chinese dissidents who, in effect, remain in the territory on borrowed time.