EDITORIAL : HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA; BEIJING HEARS FROM CLINTON. NOW WILL IT PERMIT ITS OWN PEOPLE TO SPEAK?

President Clinton has been performing a balancing act during his visit to China, sometimes leaning one way to accommodate Beijing and, on other occasions, responding to domestic critics of China by speaking out on human rights.

The president's allies will call his behavior diplomatic. His critics will characterize it as political. We are inclined to view it as a bit of both.

The same may be said about the president's comments during a news conference Saturday and a speech Sunday at Beijing University urging China's leaders to pay more attention to human rights. We, however, believe Clinton chose the correct words under the circumstances when he said Sunday:

``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.''

Those were words to warm our hearts. It also was refreshing to witness the willingness of Beijing's leaders to permit such subversive - in their view - ideas to be exposed to China's people, such as when they allowed Clinton's exchange Saturday with Chinese President Jiang Zemin to be covered on live television. That was a breakthrough, since the Chinese people aren't accustomed to seeing anyone disagree with their leaders.

Whether the exposure of the president's position signifies a changing attitude in China toward political freedom is, however, uncertain.

On one hand there is the hospitality shown Clinton and his delegation. On the other is what happened Monday.

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement, police detained Wang Youcai in eastern China after he tried to register his China Democracy Party with provincial authorities. It reportedly was the first time that dissidents tried to gain official approval of an opposition party.

China has come a long way since the passing of Mao Tse-tung, but one thing remains the same: the unwillingness of the ruling Communist Party to tolerate any official opposition to the party's authority.

That's the most striking difference between China and the free world. The free world recognizes the right of people to choose their own leaders. In China, leaders are chosen for the people by an all-powerful elite.

We would like to have friendly and constructive relations with China. But as always is the case when dealing with authoritarian states, how far can the United States trust a government that doesn't even trust its own people?