Posted on: Thursday, July 26, 2001

Editorial
China not the place for naive academics

The remaining mystery in the recent "spying" convictions of several U.S.-linked researchers in China is what Beijing thought might be gained by all this heavyhandedness.

This occurs in the context of the expected arrival Saturday in Beijing of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, on a mission to smooth relations roiled by the EP-3 collision, and to prepare for President Bush's scheduled visit to Shanghai and Beijing in October.

China is no place for naive academics. It has a vast and nebulous definition of what constitutes a state secret, and material innocuous elsewhere is sometimes declared secret if it serves broader political goals, or if it is sent abroad.

Last year a Muslim executive was sentenced to eight years in prison for mailing newspapers from the restive northwest to her husband overseas. Anywhere else in the world, of course, a "secret newspaper" is a contradiction in terms.

A Chinese spokesman said those convicted — Li Shaomin, an American citizen who already has been deported to San Francisco; Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang, U.S. residents who were sentenced to 10 years and also have been released; and Qu Wei, a Chinese scholar who received 13 years for passing materials for Gao and Qin to deliver to Li — were all part of a Taiwanese spy network.

There may be an element of truth in that otherwise absurd statement, as more and more scholarly research on China is being made possible by Taiwanese money and institutions. Given the unclear rules of the game, researchers can't be sure when their contacts or their information will put them in jeopardy.

The quick deportation of Gao and expected deportation of Qin will improve the atmosphere for Powell's visit, but at least two more U.S.-linked scholars remain behind bars. One apparently is accused of a role in the recent release of "The Tiananmen Papers," detailing the decisions leading to the 1989 killings.

China's ambassador to the United States remarked that such small potatoes mustn't interfere with weighty relations between great powers. Powell should make clear that under no circumstances will the United States sweep these travesties under the rug.

What in the end is most appalling about this affair is China's cynical refusal to acknowledge the worth of individuals.