The President Made the Right Call, but . . . : The enduring image of Tian An Men Square

The world should never forget what happened five years ago in Tian An Men Square. The searing image of a lone, unarmed Chinese demonstrator facing down tanks is a chilling reminder that Beijing turned its army and its guns on peaceful protesters. On June 3 and 4, 1989, an orderly, seven-week demonstration on behalf of greater freedom turned into a bloody confrontation. Hundreds were killed, injured or imprisoned. To this day, many are still in jail or unaccounted for. Only recently did the government release two of the most important Tian An Men dissidents, Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming.

Now, as China seeks to become a respected citizen of the world, Beijing is tarnishing its march toward modernization by its continuing policies of repression. Over the last several days it has blanketed Tian An Men Square with tight security to prevent any commemoration of the 1989 demonstrations. Police ordered hotels to turn off the Cable News Network, apparently fearing it might broadcast pictures of the 1989 events. But while the blood of those June days long has been washed from the streets, the horror of Tian An Men Square remains indelibly in the mind.

The demonstrations began in mid-April in 1989 upon the death of Hu Yaobang, the reform-minded leader of the Communist Party who was forced to step down in 1987. Students turned out to mourn his death and to protest rampant official corruption and nepotism. But at no time during the demonstrations did they ever attack the authority of the Communist Party, nor did they demand a multi-party system. The government responded first with patronizing equivocation, then with threats and finally with brutal repression.

In the years since, China has opened up to trade, investment and technology. That has exposed many Chinese to new ideas. But Beijing’s human rights record has not significantly improved. The abuses include use of prison labor and imprisonment of Tibetans demanding political and religious independence.

Washington tried unsuccessfully for a year to use trade privileges as leverage to persuade Beijing to make improvements. President Clinton took heavy criticism last week when he decoupled trade from human rights in an effort to build a long-term security, political and economic relationship with Beijing. That was a hard decision--and an unavoidable one. Clinton is betting that, as in other Asian nations like South Korea and Taiwan, prosperity will result in a more open society.

So the United States will now pursue a low-profile human rights strategy, including broadcasting to China over the new Radio Free Asia, developing voluntary human rights standards for U.S. firms doing business in or with China and promoting international attention to and support for human rights in China.

For its part, Beijing must be willing to play by international rules beyond the rules of trade. Only progress in human rights will earn China the respect it covets. But Beijing has not signed the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (although it says it supports the document’s key ideas) and it has yet to agree in talks with the International Committee of the Red Cross to permit prison visits.

Thanks to television, Beijing’s human rights abuses in Tian An Men were put on worldwide display. Now China strives to hide its repression under a cloak of national sovereignty. It is fooling no one.