China's Warning to Scholars

On April 4, I was deported from the country where I was
born and raised.  I had entered China the day before, with a
valid visa in my American passport, and had headed straight to my
parents' home in southern Sichuan Province.  This was only the 
second time I had visited my parents in 11 years, since I moved
to the United States.  And this time, in addition to seeing my
parents, I had gone back to conduct academic research on the
recent social and political changes in China.

But less than an hour after I arrived at my parents'
apartment, the local police took me into custody.  Later that
night, I was told that my name was on a list of people banned
from China - presumably because of my work in the United States
to promote human rights in China.

As the police drove me to the airport that evening, they
repeatedly invited me to admire the smooth new highway and impressive
high-rise buildings along the way.  "During the day," an officer told 
me, "you would see clusters of red-tiled white cottages that the farmers
built to replace mud huts.  This is no longer the backward countryside 
you remember."

But the authorities wanted to have it both ways: they wanted
activists like me to admire such achievements, but not to meet the people
who created them or those who were missing out on the economic boom.

My expulsion was probably intended to intimidate other academics
who study China, warning them to avoid discussing human rights if they 
wished to do research there.  In recent months, at least two other American 
scholars who have spoken out on human rights were expelled from
or denied entry to China.

These expulsions also send a warning to Chinese citizens not to
speak to visitors like me, or risk being accused of threatening state security.

The new houses, high-rises and highway I saw impressed me, but
I knew that these accomplishments carried a price.  Although some economic
sectors are booming, there have been reports that state-sector workers are
being laid off and some are not being paid.  Last year, thousands of workers
in Sichuan Province staged protests and clashed with the police.  Many
labor organizers involved in the unrest were imprisoned.

As we drove to the airport, the officer seated next to me boasted,
"In five years, you won't even recognize Chengdu," the capitol of
Sichuan Province.

"But I won't have a chance to, since I'm banned from entry,"
I told him.

"This will change in a few years," he assured me.

Will economic growth free China up politically?  Acting on this
assumption, many Western nations have allowed companies to compete for
business and military contracts in China.  President Clinton has planned a
state visit in late June.  But those of us who are blacklisted are still
banned from returning home or seeing our families.  For us, it's not so
easy to make that assumption.

"I hope you are right," I replied.

Xiaorong Li is a research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. NYT, Monday April 20, 1998, pg. A23