CLINTON STRESSES RIGHTS IN BEIJING.

Byline: Steven Thomma and Jennifer Lin Knight Ridder Newspapers

President Clinton on Monday took his message of human rights and personal freedom in China to Beijing University, the intellectual birthplace of the pro-democracy movement that was crushed nine years ago in Tiananmen Square.

``We do not seek to impose our vision on others,'' Clinton told the campus audience of about 800, amplifying on the sensitive subject he had raised directly to Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Saturday. But, Clinton continued, Americans are convinced that certain rights are universal, and that, as one hero of independence, Thomas Jefferson, wrote in his last letter 172 years ago, `` `all eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man.' ''

Challenging the notion that China's definition of human rights differs from America's, Clinton said, ``I believe that everywhere, people aspire to be treated with dignity, to give voice to their opinions, to choose their own leaders, to associate with whom they wish, to worship how, when and where they want.

``These are not American rights or European rights or developed world rights. They are the birthrights of people everywhere,'' Clinton said.

The president's criticisms of China's human rights record have been tempered with his acknowledgment that sweeping economic changes are in the air.

Clinton said that during his visit to China he has felt the ``steady breeze of freedom,'' citing village elections and the free flow of information.

Though he praised China's move toward a free market economy, Clinton cautioned that ``true freedom must mean more than economic opportunity. In America, we believe that freedom itself is indivisible.''

Aware that China's leaders crushed the pro-democracy movement nine years ago in part because they feared chaotic change, he assured his audience that ``freedom strengthens stability. China's greatest source of strength resides in the minds and hearts of its citizens.

``It is profoundly in your interest, and the world's, that those minds be free to reach the fullness of their potential,'' he said.

The president also raised the issue of personal freedom following a Sunday sermon at Beijing's Chongwenmen Church. ``China allows the practice of religion, but within the tight strictures of government control. Groups that express allegiance to foreign organizations, such as the Vatican, or preach a political message, face suppression.''

Live broadcast

Though Clinton's speech at the school was billed as the centerpiece of his nine-day trip, its significance was somewhat overshadowed by Saturday's press conference with Jiang, which unexpectedly was televised live and uncensored to the Chinese people. But possibly because of the talk it generated among ordinary Chinese, his speech at the Harvard of China was expected to find a lively reception.

The Clinton speech at Beijing University was broadcast live on Chinese television and radio.

Students from the school were among those killed or imprisoned when government crushed their pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

About 800 students and faculty, mostly from the English, international and American studies departments, were invited to the lecture inside the university's main auditorium.

Clinton emphasized to the students the need for partnerships among nations to solve problems of the next century, stressing the urgency to address the degradation of the environment. He said governments always will be torn between the need to provide jobs and the need to protect the environment, leaving it up to the youth of the world to press environmental concerns.

``Your generation must do more about this,'' Clinton said. ``This is a huge challenge for you, the American people and the future of the world.''

During questions after the speech, one student said Americans seem to have a limited view of China.

Clinton agreed, saying: ``I hope that my trip would help to show a full and balanced picture to the United States and by coming here it would encourage others to come here.''

Taiwan question

He also was questioned about United States' military support for Taiwan, which China considers a wayward province that should be reunited with the rest of the country. ``U.S. policy is not an obstacle to the peaceful reunification,'' Clinton said.

Beijing University, known in Chinese shorthand as ``Beida,'' has a 100-year tradition as a bastion of free speech, independent thought and support of ``science and democracy,'' which is the school's motto.

For Beijing University's centennial anniversary last May 4, economics professor Shang Dewen wrote an open letter recalling the ``air of horror'' that engulfed the campus after the bloody 1989 military crackdown on student protesters.

``Isn't it clear who was right and who was wrong in the 1989 Tiananmen incident?'' said the 66-year-old professor and alumnus. ``It will be left for history to judge.''

When Jiang visited the United States last October, he addressed students at Harvard University, where he was confronted by protectors and fielded hostile questions on Tiananmen. Like Harvard, Beida has long been a symbol of the country's intellectual elite, as well as a hotbed of revolutionary spirit.

The university's president in 1912, Yan Fu, wrote that ``having liberty or not having liberty'' was the basic difference between Western and Chinese cultures, and the key to whether or not China would ever be a strong nation.

In 1919, Beida students led protests that broke out on May 4 and turned into a nationalist uprising against Japanese and Western domination of China. That tradition was alive in 1989, when dormitories and lecture halls came alive with heated talk of democracy.

Today, student rallies are banned. For most of today's 20,000 Beida students, the political ferment of 1989 has been replaced by more pragmatic, individual concerns like finding a job.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) President Clinton visits China's Great Wall with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea.

Greg Gibson/Associated Press