World Tibet Network News Sunday, June 28, 1998

By Laurence Mc Quillan

BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Bill Clinton on Sunday took to a Beijing pulpit to send a message on religious freedom, a day after condemning the Tiananmen Square massacre before a Chinese television audience of millions. From a simple wooden lectern in a grey-brick Protestant church, Clinton told several thousand believers that "Chinese and Americans are brothers and sisters as children of God." In a country where Protestant and Catholic clergy -- as well as Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns -- are jailed and harassed for worshipping outside the state-approved church system, Clinton's trip to the back-alley church with his wife Hillary sent a symbolic message.

Later, the first couple with daughter Chelsea toured the Forbidden City, amaze of palaces and courtyards behind vermillion walls that was home to the ancient emperors, and then rode a cable car up to the Great Wall of China. Beijing was buzzing on Sunday with a debate on the debate -- Saturday's extraordinary on-air exchange between Clinton and his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin on hot-button topics from the Tiananmen Square massacre to Tibet. The White House was elated, clearly believing the broadcasting milestone --the first time Chinese citizens had seen their leader go head-to-head in public with a foreign visitor -- had overtaken the controversy over Clinton's earlier appearance at a red carpet welcome on Tiananmen Square. Clinton's decision to go to the square and review goose-stepping soldiers from the People's Liberation Army had threatened to become the searing image of his visit. Instead, it was the pictures of Clinton and Jiang thrashing out their differences before the biggest television audienc

e on earth. Some analysts saw the broadcast as a Chinese gift to Clinton to make up for his bowing to their terms for a welcome on the square to help the world forget the massacre of democracy activists there in 1989.

In the post-summit news conference, the U.S. president held forth to the Chinese nation on human rights. Referring to Tiananmen, he said "the use of force and the tragic loss of life was wrong." Jiang fired back that the action had ensured China's stability, making quite clear he had no regrets about using guns and tanks to protect communist rule. "Truly historic," be amed National Security Adviser Samuel Berger after theheated political ping-pong match in a country where communist propagandatsars keep a tight rein over what people hear and see. In homes and meeting places, the news conference was the talk of the nation. Some took Clinton's side, others lined up behind Jiang. Many simply applauded that it had happened at all. "My father and I got into a fight about the Tiananmen event after the broadcast," said freelance photographer John Li. "He kept arguing for the Chinese government." But while the exchange broke new ground on free speech in China, and signalled a growing confidence by Jiang, newspapers o

n Sunday ignored the sensitive remarks. The official People's Daily said tersely: "While replying to reporters' questions, President Jiang Zemin and President Clinton set forth their stances and viewpoints on human rights, Tibet and other issues."

Midway through his nine-day, five-city tour of China -- the first by a U.S.president since the Tiananmen killings -- Clinton appeared to have answered critics who said he should never have come, even though China has given nothing away on human rights and the summit produced no break throughs. At the Chongwenmen church, the largest church in Beijing tucked away in a back alley, there was a commotion when security guards stopped an elderly woman who was walking towards Clinton down an aisle. Clinton chatted to her after the service, and later told reporters "she just kept saying how happy she was that I was in the church." The president swapped his formal suit and tie for a green open-necked shirt to go sightseeing in 37 degree Celsius (99 degree Fahrenheit) heat. First stop was the Forbidden City -- so named because commoners were never allowed to gaze on the emperors who lived inside with their eunuchs and concubines. The First Family sweated and panted as they clambered up a steep section of the Great Wall

of China. "It's quite unbelievable, isn't it?" Clinton said as they posed for pictures. The enormous wall -- said to be the only man-made object visible from space-- has been cited by Chinese revolutionaries from Mao Zedong to Jiang as a symbol of internal strength. Clinton himself used the wall to underline his determination to build lasting ties between the capitalist superpower and the communist giant. "I believe this wall now is a symbol that China shows to the rest of the world, not a wall to keep people out," he said before returning to Beijing and a private dinner at Jiang's house.