Chinese Leader’s Visit to U.S. Stirs Protesters

For Chinese President Jiang Zemin, his upcoming visit to the United States is his coming-out party as a world statesman. But a disparate coalition of protesters vows to rain on his parade, spotlighting the gulf between American and Chinese social values and tarnishing efforts by both governments to create a new businesslike relationship.

Labor leaders, Protestant fundamentalists, human rights activists, Roman Catholics, environmentalists, Buddhists, students and others plan demonstrations in Washington, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia and Williamsburg, Va., to protest the first state visit by a Chinese leader in more than 12 years.

The expected protests already have Chinese officials squirming. Beijing tried to keep Jiang’s itinerary for next week secret for as long as possible to disrupt demonstration plans and, at the same time, flooded the cities he will visit with advance teams to plot ways to make the receptions appear as friendly as possible.

Jiang insisted on a full-dress state visit--marked by a 21-gun salute, a glittering state dinner and high-profile visits to cities outside Washington--to underline his stature as leader of the world’s most populous nation. He got what he wanted in terms of protocol, but the ceremonial gloss has also given energy to activists opposed to China’s human rights record and its policies on religion and labor.

Organizers expect thousands of people at a rally across from the White House on Wednesday while Jiang and President Clinton meet in the Oval Office. That same evening, the protesters plan to compete with the White House state dinner by staging a “stateless dinner” featuring actor and activist Richard Gere, human rights leaders, members of Congress and Tibet’s unofficial “ambassador.”

Smaller demonstrations are planned for other cities that Jiang will visit, beginning with a candlelight vigil and rally in the colonial town of Williamsburg, where the Chinese president will rest and recover from jet lag Monday and Tuesday before his arrival in Washington.

Organizers said the protests will be the largest in decades directed at a visiting foreign leader. In the past, visits by officials of Communist governments frequently highlighted yearnings for detente and peace that overshadowed concern about the human rights record of a guest’s country.

This time, support for Jiang’s trip comes from U.S. industrial leaders who hope to sell their wares to China’s billion-strong market and from retail chains that feature low-cost Chinese imports. The visit is also important to Clinton as a vindication of his policy of engagement with Beijing. But such support, while obviously important, does not generate the same sort of noise as the ideologically based opposition.

For Clinton, the planned demonstrations create a dilemma. Like Jiang, Clinton wants the summit to go smoothly as a showcase of his own international skills. But free speech, human rights and religious tolerance are core American values, White House officials point out, making it virtually impossible for the U.S. government to attempt to silence the protesters.

The Chinese side views the protests as an impudent attempt to interfere in its internal policy by foisting on Beijing the cultural values of the West.

The Chinese government makes an attractive target for activists with widely differing agendas. For instance, many Christian groups--especially Roman Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants--object to what they call China’s persecution of religion. Secular human rights groups, which often are at odds with the religious right on other issues, point to Chinese suppression of democracy.

Labor unions complain that imports from China have an unfair competitive advantage over American-made products because of low wages there and the Asian country’s use of forced labor in prison workshops. Tibetan nationalists also are winning support in the United States, and proponents have become more vocal.

Administration officials have said they hope that China will try to defuse the opposition by releasing some high-profile political prisoners such as Wei Jingsheng, 47, a political essayist and democracy advocate, or Wang Dan, 27, a former student activist. But protest organizers said such a gesture will not be enough.

“We have been campaigning for three years to get Wei out of prison,” said Abigail Abrash, program director of the Washington-based Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights. “We would be extremely pleased if he were released. However, that alone is just the tip of the iceberg. Wei’s case is one of thousands.”

John Ackerly, an official of the International Campaign for Tibet, said the release of Wei or Wang would be welcome but would not help Tibetan political prisoners. Besides, he said, the Chinese government often has released political prisoners in advance of important international meetings and then picked up the prisoners again once the events were over.

“This is a new kind of pingpong diplomacy,” Ackerly said in a sardonic reference to China’s use of table tennis matches 25 years ago to signal its shift from isolationist policies. “Dissidents are released, then popped back in prison depending on who the Chinese are talking to.”

But Ackerly added that talk of a high-impact release is still just speculation: No one has been freed.

“It makes you wonder if they think they are in a position where they don’t even have to do that,” he said.