Chinese Leaders' Fear of Freedom

With the approach of the fifteenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, China is cracking down not only on living dissidents and their families, but on survivors of those murdered on that infamous day. I noted earlier the mainland's saber-rattling over election squabbles in Taiwan. Chinese president Hu Jintao is clearly worried that democracy, which has taken hold in Taiwan, will prove infectious among his own people.

This is borne out in China's cynical exploitation of Taiwanese democracy's growing pains. Taiwan is weathering the storm and will, it appears, emerge with its democratic institutions in tact. Nevertheless, China is pointing to Taiwan's troubles to argue that Hong Kong shouldn't be allowed to hold free elections. The WSJ ($) reports that China's official Xinhua news agency says that "the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress would 'give interpretations' on Hong Kong's Basic Law [Hong Kong's constitution] during an April 2 - 6 meeting. The provisions they will interpret govern how much leeway there is to introduce direct elections for the city's chief executive and the full Legislature."

Such talk is dampening hopes that Hong Kong and Taiwan would act as agents of change on the mainland. Perhaps it should, but Taiwan isn't about to fall under the boot heel of Beijing, and Hong Kong's democratizing institutions, along with its financial markets and Westward-looking culture, are resilient to mere political pressure. China does seem intent on insuring that liberalizing forces on Taiwan and in Hong Kong are contained and, when possible, weakened through intimidation and internal propaganda. The Bush administration should send a clear signal to China that it won't tolerate the bullying of Taiwan, and that China is expected to abide by the Basic Law of Hong Kong.