CLINTON FORESEES FREEDOM IN CHINA.

Byline: Jennifer Lin Knight Ridder Newspapers

President Clinton ended his nine-day visit to China on Friday, voicing strong support for Chinese President Jiang Zemin and making the bold prediction that China's current leadership could lead the country to democracy.

Asked at a closing press conference whether there could ever be democracy in China, Clinton said, ``I believe there can be and I believe there will be.''

He acknowledged that hard-liners in the Communist Party did not endorse such a vision for China, but said he had faith in the leadership of Jiang and Premier Zhu Rongji.

``What I would like to see is the present government, headed by this president and this premier, who are clearly committed to reform, ride the wave of change and take China fully into the 21st century and basically dismantle the resistance to it,'' Clinton said.

He also elaborated on his private discussions with Jiang about allegations that high-level Chinese officials had sanctioned or participated in channeling donations to the Democratic Party in an effort to influence the 1996 U.S. elections. The Justice Department and Congress are investigating the allegations.

Clinton said Jiang had looked into the matter and was ``certain'' it had not happened. ``I do believe him that he had not ordered or authorized or approved such a thing and that he could find no evidence that anybody in governmental authority had done that,'' Clinton said.

The 43-minute news conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel was only the second time the president has faced reporters alone since the January revelation of allegations that he had sex with a White House intern. It was the first such news conference when he was not asked a single question about the sex allegations.

Clinton, the first U.S. president to visit China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators, took obvious satisfaction in the trip's success, particularly the unprecedented access the Communist government gave him to ordinary Chinese.

To the surprise of the White House, the Chinese government decided to broadcast on national television Clinton's news conference with Jiang in Beijing last week. The two leaders disagreed over such issues as human rights, the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama.

Clinton's speech to Beijing University students also was broadcast on television and radio. In Shanghai, the president fielded questions for one hour for a radio call-in show, and he taped a 20-minute television interview that later was broadcast nationally.

Asked whether the televised appearances were ``a personal expression of gratitude'' from Jiang, Clinton said, ``I think it was a personal expression of confidence that he could stand there and answer questions before the people of China that might come not only from Chinese press, but from ours as well.''

Clinton arrived in the ancient city of Xian on June 25 under attack by critics in Congress, who accused him of ignoring human rights, trading away sensitive U.S. technology and pocketing political contributions from donors with links to the Chinese military.

But he left from Hong Kong on Friday night with strong proof that his policy of engaging China instead of confronting it was having an impact and could help to usher in a new era for the authoritarian country.

Risks for Jiang

For Jiang, this new closeness to Clinton does carry risks. More conservative Communist leaders are skeptical about where this new relationship with the United States will lead.

Clinton said there was still evidence of repression in China, including restrictions on free speech, the freedom of assembly and worship.

``One of the questions I have tried to frame on this trip for the future is how do we deal with these issues in a way most likely to promote progress,'' Clinton said. ``The answer I think is clear: dealing directly, forcefully, but respectfully with the Chinese about our values.''

Clinton said he would continue to press China on human rights and urge the government to release the more than 150 political prisoners in Beijing who are facing heavy sentences for their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests.

According to international human rights monitors, many of those prisoners have been jailed on ``counterrevolutionary'' charges that no longer exist in the Chinese legal system.

``The next big step would be for China to look at whether there could be some expedited process to review the sentences of whole categories of people because that would tend to show a change in policy rather than just the product of negotiation with the Americans,'' the president said.

A long journey

China Central Television, the national network, ran a 10-minute news report on the Hong Kong leg of Clinton's journey and mentioned the closing news conference, but omitted any reference by Clinton of Jiang leading the country to democracy.

The success of Clinton's China trip marks a tortuous journey from his days as a candidate in 1992, criticizing Bush for continuing ``to coddle China's aging leaders,'' to the moment now where he publicly lauds Jiang as a visionary.

Clinton conceded that he now has a better understanding for the ``nuances of all policies.'' But he defended his handling of China by saying there was now a stronger human rights component to U.S. policy.

Earlier in the day, Clinton met with some of Hong Kong's best-known democracy activists.

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Photo

Photo: The Clintons wave farewell at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport.

Vincent Yu/Associated Press