Freed Chinese dissident, Xu Wenli, has dismissed his release as a token gesture by Beijing, saying that movement for democratic changes was gathering momentum in China.

It seems I have become a Christmas gift from [Chinese] President Jiang Zemin to President George Bush Xu Wenli

Mr Xu - one of China's most prominent pro-democracy campaigners - spoke just hours after his arrival to the United States, following his release from a Chinese jail.

He was arrested in 1998 after trying to help set up the opposition China Democracy Party, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Mr Xu, 59, suffers from Hepatitis B and was granted "medical parole" following a deterioration in his health, according to US activist John Kamm.

Mr Xu and his wife were met at Chicago's O'Hare airport by their daughter, Xu Jin, who teaches in America. They later flew to New York.

Defiant

"It seems I have become a Christmas gift from [Chinese] President Jiang Zemin to President George Bush," Mr Xu told the AFP news agency.

XU WENLI: BIOGRAPHY

1943: born 1979: participated in Democracy Wall protest 1982: jailed for 12 years for "counter-revolutionary" activity 1993: released from prison 1998: sentenced to 13 years in jail for founding China Democracy Party (CDP) 2002: freed from prison, flies to United States

Xu Wenli: "Godfather of dissent"

He said he was used in what he described as the "political game", and insisted that democratic change remained an unshakeable force in China.

"People like me in the so-called 'frontline' are really just stepping stones. It is the Chinese people who will make the leap themselves."

Although welcoming Mr Xu's release, the New York-based Human Rights Watch welcomed said it was not enough.

"No-one should mistake his release as a sign of improvement in China's human rights record," said the head of the group's Asia division, Brad Adams.

"This was a token gesture to the Bush administration, and a cynical move by Beijing to head off international criticism."

Mr Xu's release comes in the wake of an official visit to China by US human rights diplomat Lorne Craner, who handed over a list of 298 people that Washington believes are being held as political prisoners.

As part of the visit, China agreed to invite United Nations experts on torture and religious freedom to visit the country in an attempt to improve its human rights reputation.

But in an unrelated move, it signalled it was still not prepared to tolerate dissent by confirming it had detained Wang Bingzhang, another veteran dissident now based in the US, for "spying and terrorism".

Exile

Mr Xu was one of the founders of the China Democracy Party, which was set up in the hope of introducing multi-party democracy to China and challenging the Communist Party's grip on power.

Authorities in Beijing at first appeared to tolerate the threat, before cracking down and arresting all the leaders of the new party, which was branded an "illegal organisation".

Following Mr Xu's sentencing, his case has regularly been raised with Chinese authorities by human rights groups and foreign governments.

The BBC's Holly Williams in Beijing says the terms of his release effectively mean exile.

She says Mr Xu will not be free to live in China or return for visits and will not be allowed to contact other members of the China Democracy Party, most of whom are still in prison.