By Jim Hoagland

Thursday, May 7, 1998; Page A23

The White House says President Clinton will visit Tiananmen Square as part of his June trip to China, instantly contradicting those of us who believed this presidency could not plumb new depths in its continuing moral decline.

Clinton is far too smart and political to be oblivious to the symbolism of his standing where pro-democracy demonstrators were shot down and bayoneted by Chinese troops nine years ago in the name of "stability." Abroad as at home, Clinton has decided to brazen out troubles and controversies that would cause lesser politicians simply to hunker down.

His high poll ratings indicate that brazening it out is now a viable presidential strategy, at least in times of prosperity. Americans enjoy a good mudslinging contest, and Clinton has been blessed at home with opponents who splash the stuff on themselves as well as on him: Paula Jones, Ken Starr, Dan Burton et al.

Reporters who cover the White House have portrayed the China trip as a welcome diversion for Clinton, who would prefer to argue over the morality of his contacts with the Chinese Communist leadership rather than the morality of his contacts with Monica Lewinsky.

Welcome to New Age politics.

Clinton already will have armored himself against criticism that he is dishonoring the memory of the hundreds of Chinese dissidents brutally cut down "to ensure that China enjoys stability," as Clinton's host, President Jiang Zemin, said just before he visited Washington last October.

Clinton's wordsmiths and spinners can only be underpaid for what they must do on this trip. They will draft the phrases Clinton will speak at Tiananmen to show that his journey is about national interest and global stability, that dark events of 1989 cannot freeze U.S.-Chinese relations forever, that those who question his sincerity or commitment to human rights just don't understand globalization and the new era.

But as with most of these speeches, the words will not matter in any substantive way. They will float away almost as soon as they have been uttered, like beautifully colored balloons rising into a bright blue heaven at the end of a birthday party. The Chinese, knowing that, will not react to the few barbs about dictatorship that their visitor will feel compelled to toss their way.

It is the fact of his having gone to that place, at the behest of a government that still lies about what it did there, that will matter and will remain long after the word balloons have floated away.

Ask Wang Dan about Clinton's going to China, and the Chinese dissident, who was freed from prison and forced into exile in America on April 19, voices support for the trip and for Clinton's engagement with China in general. But ask him specifically about the Tiananmen appearance, and a frown crosses his youthful features.

"I am not comfortable with the decision," says Wang finally. "But I respect the right of the U.S. government to make its own decision," he adds, speaking through an interpreter at a meeting at The Post.

The last time I had seen Wang, now 29, was in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations. He has spent six of the nine intervening years in jail for his moderate criticisms of the regime and his calls for democracy.

Prison has softened his manner and words, which he must also measure against his family being in China, where they can be punished for what he says here. He urges that foreign governments neither confront nor comfort the Communist leadership, but rather apply steady pressure for political change.

"The Chinese government treats me as a symbol of the 1989 democracy movement," Wang says when I ask why he has been the target of systematic repression despite his moderation.

Tiananmen was, he accurately recalls, "a large-scale confrontation between the Chinese people" and the Communist leadership, "which claimed to represent the people. If it admits to killing the people, it loses its legitimacy." Lies are the basis of totalitarian rule, he adds, suggesting the Jiang government can never afford to tell the truth about Tiananmen.

Tiananmen today is not a symbol of murder. It is a symbol of organized lying and of coverup. Clinton's China visit will not be the comforting distraction from his problems at home that many expect: By going to Tiananmen, the president has ensured that his attitudes toward truth-telling and truth-hiding will continue to be at the center of attention, and of doubt.