China Mayors Tout Gains, Seek U.S. Understanding

Hours after arriving in Los Angeles for the last leg of its U.S. tour, the delegation of five mayors from the People’s Republic of China entered the Gold Room of the Biltmore, smiling and shaking hands as the 300 invited guests parted to make way for the procession.

They took their places behind a long breakfast table as TV cameras rolled, flash bulbs popped and people craned their necks for a better view. Then, the packed banquet room turned silent as Shanghai Mayor Zhu Rongji stood to speak.

“Our visit is not to convince anyone of our ideology,” Zhu said. “Many Americans don’t understand the living conditions in China, don’t understand the gap between Chinese and American culture.

“We must continue opening China up and modernizing.”

Zhu, 61, is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit the United States since the Chinese government’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in June, 1989.

This month, Zhu and six other mayors have stopped in Washington, New York, Chicago and several other cities, seeking to revive business interests in China. During meetings with elected officials and public appearances, they have pleaded for patience and understanding of the political turmoil in their country.

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a New York-based educational organization that arranges high-level exchanges with China, is sponsoring the mayors’ visit.

Today, the mayors are scheduled to have breakfast with Armand Hammer, chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp.; meet Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley in City Hall; visit McDonnell Douglas’ Douglas Aircraft Co. and the RAND Corp., and have dinner with the Los Angeles-Guangzhou Sister City Assn.

On Tuesday, the mayors will leave for San Francisco, where they plan several meetings with Mayor Art Agnos, tours of UC Berkeley and Stanford University, and the Silicon Valley in the San Jose-Santa Clara area.

But the trip isn’t entirely for business purposes. Sunday afternoon, the mayors headed for Disneyland, where, like other tourists, they planned to take photographs with Disney characters and view the Main St. Electrical Parade, said Disneyland spokesman Paul Goldman.

At the Biltmore, most of the guests’ questions were directed to Zhu, whom U.S. officials consider to be a possible future leader of China. He has been compared to Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev because of his extensive exposure to Western economic thinking, and is credited with handling thousands of democracy demonstrators in Shanghai without the use of martial law.

The mayors each took their turns delivering short speeches, hailing technological and educational advances that have taken place in their respective cities. Several expressed concerns that the democracy movement has shattered some Americans’ respect for China.

“They’re afraid that after the movement China is returning to oppressive conditions of the past,” said Chongqing Mayor Sun Tongchuan. “China is not going to go back on its economic policies.”

The other mayors are Zhao Baojiang of Wuhan; Wan Liangshi of Taiyuan, and Zhong Yongsan of Hefei. Geng Dianhua, mayor of Ningbo, was in Houston on Sunday and was scheduled to join the delegation later.