BEYOND SYMBOLISM

 OFFICIALS in Beijing and Washington alike have been hinting that when the departing president of China, Jiang Zemin, visits President Bush on Friday, the two leaders can be expected to put symbolism before substance. It would be regrettable if, as expected, Bush and Jiang leave themselves just an hour for serious talks. They have a lot to talk about.

  If Bush were wise, he would not merely instruct Jiang to tell China's erstwhile allies in North Korea to meet all US demands concerning their nuclear and missile programs and their conventional forces along the border with South Korea. He would also ask Jiang to explain Pyongyang's behavior. If Jiang comes well briefed, the Chinese leader will likely say that, despite their truculent tone, the North Korean leaders are trying to entice Washington into a true dialogue that can lead to a peace treaty with America - a certified end of hostility between the two countries.

  Jiang, playing the statesman's role to which he aspires, could then advise that Pyongyang should be taken up on its offer to place its program for uranium enrichment on a negotiating table. Nothing could do more to foster stability in East Asia than for Bush to understand and respond to the unorthodox plea for dialogue coming from North Korea.

  The second most dangerous hot spot in the region is Taiwan, and on this potential source of tension both leaders need to say the right things to each other. Ideally, Bush would tell

Jiang that he can ignore the bellicose bluster about Taiwan heard from Republican right-wingers, but that Beijing must nevertheless be careful to abjure force and threats of force against Taiwan. Jiang, who is scheduled to retire as president and Communist Party boss at a Party Congress Nov. 8, should agree to advise his successors to damp down their threats against Taiwan and generally to cool their super-patriotic rhetoric.

  The crucial strategic message Jiang needs to hear is that US military bases sited on China's periphery are intended only for America's antiterrorist campaign and not for the purpose of containing or threatening China. Bush, however, should not permit Jiang to think that America approves of China's harsh repression of Muslim Uighurs in East Turkestan as if it were equal to the US campaign against Osama bin Laden's terrorism. And Bush should commend dialogue with the Dalai Lama, leading to autonomy for Tibet.

  Bush also ought to demand the release of Yang Jianli, a Brookline resident and veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement who was detained in China last April. Bush should insist on the freedom of Yang and other democracy activists not only for the sake of human rights, but also to take sides with a Chinese population that, sooner rather than later, is bound to achieve self-government.

--------------------------
Source: "The Boston Globe"