Washington, Dec. 9 (CNA) US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Monday criticized the Clinton administration for rolling out the red carpet to a Communist Chinese military leader who was in operational command during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and who directed the military exercises that threatened Taiwan in March this year.

In a statement to the press, Rep. Pelosi said she was not objecting to Communist Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian's visit to the United States, but to the United State giving full military honors to him.

She noted that while unwilling to meet with any of mainland China's dissidents or have an official meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, President Bill Clinton chose to have an official meeting with the person who crushed and continues to crush dissent in mainland China and Tibet.

Pelosi, who has been critical of Beijing's human rights abuses ever since the regime's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy students in 1989, deplored President Clinton's actions for giving "great face" to hard-liners in Beijing.

The Democratic congresswoman from California pointed out that those students killed in the Tiananmen massacre had rallied around the symbol of US democracy, the Statue of Liberty. "These people responded to our ideals, they were crushed and now we honor those who crushed them," she said.

"We will not forget those who died in the struggle for freedom in China and we will not abandon those who continue the struggle against the forces of repression," Rep. Pelosi said.

Chi Haotian, heading a 20-man delegation, is in the United States on a 10-day official visit. Officials at the US Department of Defense have explained that the Pentagon has extended full military honors to Chi in return for the military honors accorded US Defense Secretary William Perry during his visit to Beijing in 1994. (By Han Nai-kuo)