Hu’s March
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The New York Times news report yesterday of the visit to Washington of the apparent next leader of China, Hu Jintao, says Mr. Hu “gave a standard defense of China’s economic gains and what he called a steady march toward more human rights and democracy.”
Steady march? There’s no mention of it in the Times article, but, as The New York Sun reported yesterday, during Mr. Hu’s trip to Washington, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, tried to present him with four letters seeking the freedom of political prisoners in China. He wouldn’t even touch the letters, let alone free the prisoners.
Lest our interest in this be interpreted as some kind of crusty nostalgic hankering for the old days of the Cold War, let it be noted that one of the letters, on behalf of Liu Yaping, was signed by Senator Dodd of Connecticut, who has been nothing but an obstructionist when it comes to the fight against the Communists in Central and South America. Another, on behalf of Fong Fuming, was signed by those noted cold warriors, Senators Torricelli and Corzine.
And lest there be any misunderstanding about exactly for what reason these men are languishing in Chinese prisons, consider the cases of Xu Wenli and Wang Youcai. The indictment against Xu Wenli, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for planning to “subvert the state power,” states that he planned to “overthrow the socialist system.” Wang Youcai, who tried to start a democratic party in China to rival the Communists, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the crime of “subverting state power.” His trial lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes, and he had no defense lawyer.
There have been a lot of photographs these past days of Mr. Hu dining with American business leaders. On Monday he even rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. But the image to remember of Mr. Hu’s visit to America is of Liu Yapin, Fong Fuming, Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai and the untold millions of Chinese like them, languishing without freedom while the Americans — but for a brave few like Rep. Nancy Pelosi — toast the man who is keeping them in jail.
