BEIJING ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed regret Saturday that Chinese police blocked a human rights lawyer from meeting her and said the Communist government should have the confidence to allow dissent.
The lawyer, Mo Shaoping, said Beijing police told him Thursday he could not attend a dinner and private meeting with Merkel. The order came amid restrictions on Chinese political and human rights activists.
"Unfortunately the lawyer was unable to attend. I regret that," Merkel told reporters in the southern Chinese business center of Guangzhou at the end of a three-day visit, according to a German government transcript.
Merkel said a country with China's vitality and dynamic economic growth should have the confidence that even dissident voices are necessary for its society.
The "vitality and plurality of a civil society must be admitted, and it will finally contribute to strengthening the society and its capabilities," Merkel said, according to the transcript.
Merkel earlier said her talks with Chinese leaders would include discussions of human rights and other "sensitive topics." No details of her meetings with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other officials were released.
Mo said he and the German leader had planned to discuss China's legal environment and lawyers who have suffered from official harassment. Mo has defended imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and dozens of pro-democracy, labor and religious activists.
Mo said police cited the need to maintain stability ahead of a Communist Party congress late this year. The meeting is a key stage in a once-a-decade handover of power to younger leaders, and the government is cracking down on dissent ahead of the event.
A second invitee from the pro-democracy community said he was able to attend the dinner and a meeting with Merkel.
Wu Si, editor-in-chief of the online journal Yanhuang Chunqiu, said he saw guests from economics, environmental protection and education at the dinner. He said no lawyers were present.
Mo said he had run into similar interference during visits by top officials from France, the Netherlands, the U.S. and the European Union.
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Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.
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