Dissident Wei Jingsheng told Newsweek he left China only because of his illness and that he yearns to return to his homeland.
Wei, a pro-democracy activist who has spent more than 18 years in prison, was released Sunday on medical parole to get treatment for problems including high blood pressure, a heart condition and arthritis.A tired-looking Wei said he agreed to enter exile only after being denied medical treatment.
"The authorities told me point blank: `You can't be let out into society. So if you want medical treatment you only have this one opportunity,' " Wei told Newsweek on his flight to the United States. The interview was released Tuesday.
Wei, 47, was in good condition Tuesday in Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. He was scheduled to leave Thursday for New York, where he will have dental work done.
His medical conditions can be controlled with diet and medicine, said Dr. Thomas Royer, Henry Ford's chief medical officer.
Wei said he hopes to return to China and his only concrete plans for his U.S. stay are to get treatment "and make my health a bit better."
China's best-known political prisoner was taken from his glass-enclosed jail cell and allowed to spend a few hours with his family before being placed on a flight to Detroit on Sunday.
He said during the interview - his first in three years - that the differences between him and his late adversary Deng Xiaoping were not personal but ideological.
"For many things he did, such as develop the economy, I was not only supportive but wanted to lend him a hand," Wei said. "If I opposed him, it was over politics."
Despite reports of routine beatings in prison, Wei said he was beaten "only once." When the news leaked out, "it brought pressure and they (prison officials) changed their methods."
Wei was arrested in 1979 when he was among dozens of youths who mimeographed underground political journals and posted essays on a public wall in Beijing dubbed the Democracy Wall.
Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Wei was released in 1993 in the midst of China's bid to be named host for the 2000 Summer Olympics. He was arrested again a few months later in Beijing after meeting with U.S. human rights officials.