Beijing - The Chinese-born Nobel laureate, Gao Xingjian, whose writings are banned in his native country, was reportedly snubbed by leading officials during a tour of Hong Kong yesterday, Miriam Donohoe reports.
The Hong Kong leader, Mr Tung Chee-hwa, is among those reported to have given the writer the cold shoulder. He has turned down an invitation to attend a cocktail reception in Gao's honour tomorrow. A spokesperson for Mr Tung said he had another engagement scheduled. Gao, who won the Nobel Prize for literature last year, left China in 1987 after the authorities blacklisted him. He settled in France as a political refugee and later became a French citizen.
China criticised the granting of the Nobel award to Gao, saying the committee harboured "ulterior political motives". Gao was invited to Hong Kong to deliver speeches at Chinese University and City University. Before he went into exile, many of his experimental plays were condemned by Communist Party ideologues.