Democrats Predict Defeat of Veto on China Students

House Democrats angry about the Bush Administration’s overtures to China predicted Tuesday that there will be strong bipartisan support when Congress tries to override President Bush’s veto of a bill aiding Chinese students in this country.

“I think we have enough to override,” said California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). “We feel the President’s actions this weekend are such a slap in the face to the forces of democracy and such an encouragement of a tyrannical regime that it is making our job easier.”

Pelosi said she has received assurances from House and Senate leaders, including House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, that Congress would make consideration of the veto override its first order of business when it reconvenes in January.

The vetoed bill, sponsored by Pelosi, would allow Chinese students to remain in the United States indefinitely if they fear retaliation at home. Bush contended he could accomplish the same thing by executive order.

The bill passed Congress overwhelmingly last month. Pelosi said at a news conference that she was gaining commitments from Democrats and Republicans to support an override, predicting a strong bipartisan majority.

Democratic leaders made clear their strong disagreement with Bush’s decision to send National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger to Beijing over the weekend for the first high-level meetings with Chinese leaders since the crackdown in Tian An Men Square in June.

Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on international economic policy and trade, called the trip “an outrage . . . a disaster.”

He scheduled a hearing today on the trip and said Eagleburger was invited to testify.

“The butchers of Beijing have been consolidating their power, increasing tyranny in China, and the Administration then goes and sends two of its top people to China,” Gejdenson said.

“What kind of message is this to those in the East Bloc who want to use military force to crush the democratic movements?” he asked. “Is this a statement by the Administration that it has one standard for human rights in Eastern Europe, and another standard for human rights in Asia?”

Bush gained support, however, from Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa), who called the criticism premature and said the trip was “a risky but thoughtful consultation” that could lead to moderation by China.

“If China significantly moderates over the course of the next year, Bush will be vindicated,” Leach said. “If not, the Administration runs the danger of being perceived as helping to legitimize a less than legitimate regime in Beijing.”

Zhao Haiching, chairman of the National Committee on Chinese Student Affairs, met with Pelosi, later telling reporters the visit will strengthen the hard-liners in Beijing and encourage a “slide into darkness.”

Zhao said thousands of young people are being jailed and tortured in China and that the government has begun a new round of suppression against intellectuals.

In the United States, he said, some Chinese students who have demonstrated against their government have been intimidated and harassed by Chinese authorities. He said the Chinese government has warned students that if they persist, they will be regarded as counterrevolutionaries and punished when they return to China.