U.S. Lets Kin of Envoys Return to China

The Bush Administration, easing restrictions imposed after China’s suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations, Wednesday authorized about 260 dependents of U.S. diplomats to return to China and softened earlier advice to Americans to avoid the country.

The action, taken after talks between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen late last month in Paris, marks the first tentative step toward a return to business as usual between Washington and Beijing.

State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said the Administration has concluded that “security conditions have improved, though the situation is still more unsettled than before the imposition of martial law in May.”

The families of U.S. diplomats were ordered to leave China for their own safety June 7, shortly after Chinese troops routed dissidents from Tian An Men Square in a military crackdown that left hundreds dead, perhaps thousands. The diplomats themselves were allowed to remain in the country.

“Now is the time to let these 260 individuals return to their families,” Tutwiler said. “They’ve been gone for 63 days.”

The State Department also withdrew its earlier advice to Americans to stay out of China. The department issued a far less restrictive travel advisory suggesting that Americans avoid “non-essential” visits and urging those who do travel to China to exercise caution and avoid actions that might provoke Chinese authorities.

Although the earlier travel advisory was not mandatory, Administration officials had cited it in urging American businessmen to shun China. By relaxing the advisory, the department in effect canceled its objections to Americans resuming business ties with the Beijing regime.

A senior State Department official said that about 150 Americans of the 350 in the business community in China before the crackdown already have returned.

“Other than the Japanese, we are the last people to go back,” the official said.

Waited for Congress’ Recess

U.S. officials have said privately that the Administration had been ready for weeks to approve the steps but decided to wait until this week, when Congress began its monthlong August recess.

With sentiment on Capitol Hill favoring much stronger punitive action toward China than the Administration has been willing to take, the action would probably have drawn sharp criticism if it had been taken while the Senate and House were in session.

On June 5, the day after the Beijing massacre, President Bush suspended the sale to China of military equipment and civilian merchandise with possible military uses. About two weeks later, the President cut off most high-level diplomatic contacts between the two countries. He also prevented the World Bank from making loans to China.

Although those sanctions remain in effect, Baker’s meeting with Qian lessened the impact of the ban on high-level contacts. After his talks with the Chinese foreign minister, Baker said that the ban applied only to official visits to the other country and did not cover his meeting because both men were in Paris to attend an international conference on Cambodia.