The China Summit: How Bad Is China?

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Such allegations, the experts say, should not crowd out attention to China's main sin: a system that does not permit any freedoms that might challenge the control of the ruling Communist Party in word or deed and arbitrarily punishes anyone who tries to do so. These issues are most directly antithetical to American values but do not lend themselves to quick, dramatic solutions. China's government does not allow freedom of expression or association, peaceful demonstration or independent labor unions; it does employ detention, torture, the denial of due process. Western experts and the Chinese government agree that there are about 2,000 prisoners incarcerated for "counterrevolutionary" crimes, and 158 Beijing residents are still in detention for their roles in Tiananmen. Of the 230,000 Chinese who have been in labor camps for "re-education" for up to three years without trial, a number are thought to be prisoners of conscience rather than ordinary criminals, the incidence of this decidedly extrajudicial form of punishment has increased more than 50% in the past four years. The crime of "counterrevolution" was abolished a year ago, but the new crime of "endangering state security" has proved to be an even better catchall provision. "They have made a hard-nosed decision to maintain political stability at all costs," says Jendrzejczyk.

While the religious right has tarred Beijing with a reputation for wholesale repression, religious freedom is officially guaranteed, and millions of Chinese eagerly embracing Christianity and other faiths can pray at thousands of houses of worship. The freedom is qualified, however, by a requirement that all religious organizations register, so authorities can keep a watchful eye lest activism stray too far. "If it's anything but pure worship, the Chinese get very nasty," says a White House official. Religious groups that refuse to register, such as openly pro-Vatican Roman Catholics and energetically proselytizing Protestant sects, invite harassment, interrogation, sometimes even arrest and fines from overzealous local officials. A handful of major organizers and outspoken leaders are known to have been jailed for lengthy terms.

Persecution of Tibet's Buddhists is another matter. Along with restive Muslims in Xinjiang province, followers of the Dalai Lama are regarded as dangerous "splitists" who must be ruthlessly suppressed to keep the nation together. It is not their religion but their nationalism that is worrisome to Beijing, driving the government to clamp harsh controls on the monasteries where the independence drive is strongest. China--and the U.S.--regard Tibet as an integral part of China, giving Clinton the tricky task of pushing to end Buddhist repression without supporting separatism.

The increasingly powerful Dalai Lama lobby in the U.S. calls Tibet an "occupied country" and presses vociferously for independence, accusing China of a deliberate campaign to wipe out the Tibetan religion and Sinicize the region by flooding it with ethnic-Chinese migrants. Barry Sautman, a Hong Kong law professor deeply involved in Tibet-related issues, says between 600 and 1,200 people are imprisoned for various political offenses that boil down to preaching separation. He insists "there is no evidence" independent demographers can find that Beijing deliberately masterminded any planned program of population transfer.