�Curtain comes down on another human rights hiccup on Jiang visit

LONDON, Oct 20 (AFP) - Another human rights hiccup hit the second full day of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Britain on Wednesday, with a protest by the director of a theatre hosting one of his sightseeing trips.

Mark Rylance, artistic director of the newly-rebuilt Globe Theatre, which the president visited in the afternoon, wrote a letter to the Foreign Office expressing concern over human rights abuse in China.

"While I have enormous respect for the Chinese people, history and culture ... I struggle to understand many of the government's present day actions, particularly towards their own young people and towards the Tibetan people," he wrote.

"I will be dismayed if this friendly relationship is being built only to benefit trade and economic wealth (particularly through the sale of weaponry) rather than to enable open and frank dialogue between our nations, between the benefits and abuses of human rights in both our nations."

The open letter was released as Jiang headed to the theatre, which takes its name from the venue where William Shakespeare staged his first productions.

Jiang, making the first visit to Britain by a Chinese leader, watched a rehearsal of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, "Julius Caesar."

As elsewhere throughout his visit, he was greeted by a small but vocal protest from a pro-Tibet group waving Tibetan flags and chanting anti-Chinese slogans. Human rights and Taiwanese groups are also tailing him everywhere.

Rylance's letter was written earlier this month. He said he agreed to the request of the Foreign Office to host Jiang for a rehearsal, but not without reservations.

A statement from the Globe theatre said Shakespeare would have encouraged communication to explore difficulties that exist between people.

The Office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness His Holiness the Dalai Lama in London. This Web page may be linked to any other Web sites. Contents may not be altered. 21-Oct-99.