New York Times - April 19, 1997

By STEVEN ERLANGER

WASHINGTON President Clinton met Friday with a prominent Hong Kong democratic politician and warned Chinese leaders that they should "live up to their agreement" to protect Hong Kong's economic, political and civil liberties after the British colony returns to Beijing's sovereignty July 1.

"The United States has to make it clear that Hong Kong is important to us the people of Hong Kong are important," Clinton said after meeting with Martin Lee, the leader of Hong Kong's Democratic Party and a prominent critic of China's effort to change Hong Kong's laws, even before the handover.

Clinton made no new policy Friday, but his meeting with Lee, who has traveled the world to point out the risks to Hong Kong of the world's inattention, was an important symbol of closer U.S. attention to the colony's fate.

Clinton, asked what he would do if China cracked down on Hong Kong, called the question hypothetical, then said: "We believe it's an important matter, and we expect that they will live up to their agreement. And it's our policy, strong policy, that they should."

White House spokesman Mike McCurry expanded on Clinton's position: "There would be consequences for any erosion of the freedoms and liberties that are currently enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong," he said. But he was careful not to define those consequences.

The chief executive Beijing has chosen for Hong Kong, Tung Chee-hwa, has already proposed restricting public protests and free association in a move he described as a "balance between civil liberties and social stability."

U.S. officials often say that Hong Kong will be "a benchmark" in relations that cannot "reach their full flowering" if China continues to repress dissent at home, let alone begin to do so in Hong Kong. "Clearly any diminution of the freedoms enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong would be a serious impediment in the relationship," McCurry said.

Last year, Lee met with Anthony Lake, then the national security adviser, and Vice President Al Gore dropped by.

But this year, after Gore was widely criticized for not going to Hong Kong on his visit to China last month and House Speaker Newt Gingrich was widely praised for going there the administration decided that Lee would meet Gore, and Clinton himself would "drop by."

Lee had 45 minutes with Gore, and Clinton stopped by for 25 of them, said McCurry. The center of the discussion was the 1984 treaty between Great Britain and Hong Kong, in which China promises to preserve Hong Kong's way of life, a policy the late Deng Xiaoping called "one country, two systems."

Last week, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with Lee and then announced she would, as Lee had requested, accept a joint British-Chinese invitation to represent the United States at the handover ceremony in Hong Kong.

Lee, a serious, polite lawyer who is a member of the elected legislature that China will abolish July 1, in favor of a chosen group that is already discussing future legislation, called the conversation "warm and frank and constructive." China will have new elections by July 1998, but under regulations Lee says he believes will restrict free choice.

"I have no doubt at all after this meeting and of course last week's meeting with Secretary of State Albright that the U.S. government will defend Hong Kong's freedoms," Lee said.

Congress has paid increasing attention to Clinton's China policies and the fate of Hong Kong, which will go back to China about the time Congress is debating the annual extension of most-favored-nation trading rights to China. Last week, Lee was received warmly by congressional conservatives, adding pressure on the White House to arrange Friday's meeting.

Lee's activities are highly irritating to both Beijing and to Tung, who has postponed his own planned visit here next month.

In a news conference earlier Friday in Hong Kong, Tung said he hoped Lee would "present a real picture" to Clinton of what is happening in Hong Kong.

Clinton is unlikely to meet another sensitive visitor to Washington next week, however. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will meet with White House officials "at some level," McCurry said Friday. China has repressed the Dalai Lama's followers in Tibet and accuses him of being a political leader who is trying to split China.