China’s Defense Chief Attends Rites, Dispelling Report of His Detention

BEIJING —  China’s Defense Minister Qin Jiwei, who was reported in the West to have been under detention, was shown on state television Saturday attending a funeral service for a veteran revolutionary.

Qin was among senior leaders, including Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin and hard-line Premier Li Peng, who attended the funeral in Beijing for Gen. Fu Zhong.

The defense minister had been reported by a Western news agency to have been taken away from his residence by troops loyal to President Yang Shangkun on Wednesday after a struggle for control of China’s military.

Meanwhile, the Australian Embassy in Beijing disclosed Saturday that it had given refuge to dissident Chinese pop star Hou Dejian for 10 weeks but that nobody else on the run from authorities was being sheltered in the compound.

It had been rumored that Hou, 33, and student leader Chai Ling, 23, were hiding in the Australian Embassy. Chai was in hiding in China but not in the embassy, an informed Western source said.

Hou, who rallied students in Tian An Men Square, disappeared after the June 3-4 crackdown. He reappeared Thursday night on state television and said he helped negotiate the safe withdrawal of students from the square and that he did not see any students killed.