VICTORIA, Thursday 28 August 1997, (Vancouver Sun) -- The decision to present President Jiang Zemin with an honorary degree has been called "outrageous."

Lori Culbert Vancouver Sun Students are threatening to walk out of classes, stage campus protests and circulate petitions if the University of Victoria gives an honorary degree to Chinese President Jiang Zemin, says the students' union.

"We're outraged, we're stunned," said Anita Zaenker, student union director of academics, in commenting on the university senate's recent decision to offer an honorary doctorate of law to Jiang.

"We hope the senate will have the good sense, the common sense to rescind the decision. . . . If not, we're prepared to sign petitions, to demonstrate, to organize student walkouts if the president comes on to the campus."

Students say Jiang represents a regime that has authorized the ongoing death, disappearance and jailing of students and journalists in China. And they believe Jiang was responsible for the severe crackdown following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy students.

Zaenker and representatives from the Graduate Students' Society will send information about China to the senate in an effort to get it to reserve its plan to offer Jiang the degree at a special convocation ceremony in November.

University president David Strong, who heads the senate, said it "is always possible" to reverse the decision, made Friday in a 26-to-9 vote.

But Strong maintained the senate chose to recognize the economic and civil reforms made by Jiang, adding the university's support could advance human rights in China.

"The evidence is very strong that reforms in China are changing in leaps and bounds, and I suppose the senators felt [the degree] would be the best way [to support that]," Strong said.

The economic aspect is why the university is co-nominating Paul Desmarais, chair of Power Corp. of Canada and founding chair of the Canada-China Business Council, for the honorary doctorates.

Business professor Ralph Huenemann and Asian-Pacific studies professor Richard King nominated Jiang because his reforms "have contributed significantly to improving the living standards of the Chinese people, to strengthening economic links between Canada and China, and to repairing the great damage done to China's universities by the cultural revolution," say the professors in a memo to the senate.

Strong said Jiang is a moderate leader who was appointed general secretary of the Communist party of China after Tiananmen Square "to rescue the situation."

"Whenever the university offers anyone an honorary degree, if that person is alive, there is always a chance there will be regret," added Strong, who believes the risk is worth taking in this case.

An invitation has been sent to Jiang, but the university has not yet heard if he will accept the degree. The Nov. 26 convocation coincides with Jiang's visit to B.C. to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit.

Strong said that Jiang was chosen, in part, because he would be in the country for the ceremony.

But Michael Conlon, president of the Graduate Students' Society, said the honorary degree was merely "an opportunity for the university to get some of the spotlight" from APEC.

Conlon challenged the university's approval of Jiang's moderate economic record, saying: "China is only stable because dissidents know they will be shot or jailed if they speak out."

He added that the country is still lacking a free press and claimed university curriculum is also suppressed.

"We don't feel that China has made anywhere near enough strides to reward Jiang."

Formal plans to organize protests will start once students start classes next week, Conlon said.

Bill Yee, president of the Vancouver Chinese Benevolent Association, sees the move as a gesture of support to China, because the degree itself will likely mean little to Jiang. And, Yee noted, Jiang may decide not to attend the convocation because of the controversy.

"As far as I'm concerned, he might not ever accept, knowing there is such a big fuss. And what is that [the degree] to him," asked Yee, whose association represents 63 community organizations in the Lower Mainland.

Yee said it is wrong for Canadians to impose their standards on reforms on China.

"We wish everybody can be as free and democratic as what we have taken for granted. But for some countries it does take time, and to be overly critical doesn't assist those countries," he said. "I think I would support this kind of move more than a hostile one."

Derick Cheng, chair of the local Chinese Cultural Centre, agreed the degree would be a show of friendship from Canada to China but acknowledged not everyone would support it.

"There's a balance. If both sides dig in their heels and try to come to a point of who is right, then you might have to wait for a long, long time," Cheng said. "Someone has to take the first step."