China Eases Up on 4 Dissidents After Baker Trip

Improved treatment of four high-profile Chinese dissidents was announced here Friday in an apparent first step by Beijing toward granting some human rights concessions in response to a recent visit by Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

Dissident journalist Dai Qing, whose sudden detention during Baker’s visit cast a long shadow over his trip, and Hou Xiaotian, the wife of one of China’s most famous political prisoners, both may apply to go abroad, the official New China News Agency reported in a brief article Friday. The report strongly suggested that travel documents would be issued. Both had previously been denied permission to visit the United States.

Beijing also will soon release imprisoned student leader Wang Youcai and will approve overseas travel by ailing independent labor union leader Han Dongfang--who has already been released from prison--and his wife, according to Chinese officials quoted Friday by John Kamm, a prominent Hong Kong-based U.S. businessman and human rights activist.

Wang, 25, was a law student at Beijing University who tried to organize continued protests in Shanghai after the June 3-4, 1989, army massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing. He was 15th on a “most-wanted” list of 21 student leaders issued after the crackdown. He is now serving a four-year sentence.

Han, 27, a former railway worker, played a key role in organizing the first independent labor union in China since the 1949 Communist revolution. The union was formed largely to support the student-led pro-democracy protests of 1989. Han was imprisoned for 22 months, in circumstances that led to his developing severe tuberculosis. Then he was released in April without ever having faced trial.

Kamm said Friday that officials from several government agencies told him that charges against Han will soon be dropped and that he will be allowed to go abroad.

A former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Kamm has become a prominent activist working for improved Sino-U.S. relations. He has urged Congress to maintain most-favored-nation trade status for China and has repeatedly urged Beijing to reduce congressional opposition to normal trade ties by improving its human rights record. He played a role in the release of other political prisoners earlier this year.

Kamm told reporters here Friday that he had just finished three days of talks with officials from the Justice and Public Security ministries, the Supreme Court and other agencies. High officials told him that other dissidents jailed for their roles in the 1989 movement also will be released by the year’s end, he said.

Among those under consideration for release, he said, is Wang Dan, the Beijing University student leader who was No. 1 on the most-wanted list and who now is serving a four-year sentence.

Kamm said he was not given any date for Wang Youcai’s release but was assured that it would be soon.

There can be little doubt that the Beijing government sees Friday’s announcements as part of its payoff to the United States for Baker’s visit here. But Beijing has repeatedly stressed that how it treats political dissidents is entirely an internal matter.

Because the Chinese government takes this position, it cannot formally or publicly link political prisoner releases to any specific agreement or negotiation with Washington. During Baker’s visit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wu Jianmin stressed that any decisions about prisoners in China would be made solely by the country’s own authorities.

Beijing appears to have adopted a similar strategy in dealing with Dai and Hou. Despite the risk of adverse international publicity--which materialized on a large scale--both were detained last Saturday, the first full day of Baker’s visit. This ensured that they could not meet with Baker nor any of his aides, as they had intended. It also constituted a show of government authority in the face of international pressure.

Hou, 27, the wife of Wang Juntao, who is serving a 13-year sentence for his role in the 1989 demonstrations, was released the next evening. Dai, 50, was allowed to return home Wednesday.