Pro-Democracy Ship Sails for China, Political Storm

It is just an old ship, once used by British oceanographers and later discarded. But its new name, owners, destination and mission have caused the United States and several other governments to keep track of its progress as closely as if it were a nuclear submarine.

The new owners are a Paris-based group of Chinese dissidents and their supporters seeking to bring democratic change to the Communist regime in Beijing. A few months ago, the exiles bought the 1,200-ton, 237-foot vessel, christened it the Goddess of Democracy and outfitted it with powerful radio equipment.

Now, the ship is churning through the seas of Southeast Asia, headed for the coast of China. There, from international waters, the dissidents plan to launch a series of round-the-clock broadcasts beaming pro-democracy messages to the Chinese mainland.

China is not amused. The Chinese government has been making menacing statements about the Goddess of Democracy, leaving open the possibility that it may try to seize or take some military action against the ship if it begins offshore radio transmissions.

“It is something we cannot tolerate,” a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said last month. “. . . We believe that countries friendly towards China will not support the activities of the ship.”

Because of China’s warnings, officials in Washington, London, Paris, Taipei and Singapore have been working overtime to make sure that the voyage of the God dess of Democracy doesn’t turn into a serious diplomatic or even military incident.

On Wednesday, the ship’s crew shelved previously announced plans to dock in the Taiwan port of Keelung. U.S. sources confirmed that the Bush Administration earlier had voiced concern to Taiwan about a possible military confrontation with China over the ship. Christophe Nick, a French journalist aboard the vessel, told reporters that the Keelung port call was canceled because “the pressure on Taiwan is very hard.”

Similarly, David Wilson, the British governor of Hong Kong, said Thursday that the Goddess of Democracy will be denied entry to Hong Kong.

“We have a policy here of making sure that Hong Kong is not used as a battlefield for other people’s political battles,” Wilson told reporters. “It would be quite inconsistent with that policy to have a ship of that sort coming into Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong, a British colony, reverts to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and is sensitive about relations with Beijing.

One Bush Administration official branded the effort to launch pro-democracy broadcasts to the Chinese mainland as “provocative.” U.S. officials have been checking to make sure no American citizens are aboard. The ship’s crew is French and there are journalists from France and Taiwan on board.

For American officials, the main worry is that the ship could touch off a new round of friction between China and Taiwan, which in turn would pose a serious dilemma for the United States. Since 1979, the United States has recognized Beijing as the legal government for all of China, but it also has maintained friendly, informal links with the Nationalist government on Taiwan.

The Chinese dissidents have talked of having the Goddess of Democracy anchor off the China coast near Quemoy and Matsu--the two islands in the Taiwan Strait that Communist Chinese forces shelled in the late 1950s in an episode that nearly led to war.

Members of the Paris organization, A Boat for China, which is sponsoring the ship, have acknowledged that some of the $1.5 million raised for the project came from Taiwan. It is not clear whether this money came from the government or independent private sources.

Citing the funding from Taiwan as evidence, the official Chinese news service warned Sunday: “In supporting the Goddess of Democracy ship, the Taiwan authorities are taking a new step to oppose the Chinese government and to create disturbances on the Chinese mainland.”

In recent days, China has been hammering away at the theme that broadcasts by the Goddess of Democracy would be illegal, even if the ship stays in international waters. China argues that the ship would be, in effect, a pirate broadcaster, operating without the approval of the International Telecommunications Union. In the past, the United States and several European governments have all objected to pirate commercial stations broadcasting from international waters adjacent to their territory.

The Voice of America beams both shortwave and AM broadcasts to China from its huge transmitters in the Philippines, and the British Broadcasting Corp. airs programs to China from Hong Kong. Over the past year, China has tried to jam the VOA and BBC broadcasts, but with only intermittent success.

According to one intelligence source, last year China bought two special mobile jamming units from France that could be used against the ship’s broadcasts.

However, the Goddess of Democracy reportedly will be equipped with special transmitting equipment, also from France, that has the capacity to overcome these jamming units.

The radio ship was named after the haunting white statue resembling the American Statue of Liberty that was erected in Beijing’s Tian An Men Square by pro-democracy demonstrators last spring. The vessel left the French port of La Rochelle on March 17. Organizers have said that on the way to Asia, Chinese ships followed the ship and harassed it.

So far, Singapore has been the only government willing to risk offending China by helping the Goddess of Democracy. Ignoring the Chinese warnings, the island state allowed the vessel to dock there Wednesday to refuel and take on new supplies and 10 more French journalists.

“Singapore is a free port, and we are open to any ship calling at our port as long as it does not violate our law or threaten our national security,” said Valerie Mok, an official of the Port of Singapore Authority.