Christopher Warns China Anew

Secretary of State Warren Christopher issued a new warning Tuesday to China that its human rights policies, and particularly its detention of several dissidents over the past week, are spoiling the atmosphere for the visit to Beijing he will make on Friday and are jeopardizing China’s future trade privileges in the United States.

“It would be hard to overstate the strong distaste we all feel” for China’s recent behavior, he said at a news conference.

Christopher went out of his way to emphasize that he had talked Tuesday with congressional leaders about the need for a “stern” position on human rights in China.

But in the same news conference, Christopher confirmed that Frank G. Wisner, undersecretary of defense for policy, will accompany him to Beijing, thus becoming the highest-level Pentagon official to visit China since 1988.

Wisner said that in his meetings with senior Chinese defense officials, he will “reinforce” Christopher’s message for China.

In Beijing, police picked up a leader of the 1989 Tian An Men Square movement Tuesday for the second time in a week and threatened to imprison him again if he continues pro-democracy activities.

Wang Dan, 25, who served 43 months in prison for his role in the 1989 democracy movement, said later that police read him a statement warning he could face serious penalties if he continues his political activities.