A MAINLAND dissident made his first public appearance in Hongkong yesterday ahead of the memorial activities for the Beijing massacre.
Painter Gao Ertai, 58, was among 10 mainland artists represented by 60 drawings exhibited at City Hall with the theme of ''The Dream of China'' to commemorate the June 4, 1989, killings.
Gao was detained for 41/2 months for ''counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement'' after the crackdown and said he was told he might be re-arrested.
Gao and his 41-year-old wife, Ms Pu Xiaoyu, fled to Hongkong last summer and said they would not return to China. They are likely to head for the West where Gao will research China's contemporary history.
Gao said he wanted to use his paintings to remind people about the June 4 crackdown.
''Hongkong could play an important part in the democratic development of China as it is a demonstration to Taiwan as to how the mainland views democracy,'' he said.