Jiang Will Take China on Road To Democracy

In response to your editorial of October 14 ("Welcome Jiang, But Not With Open Arms"), we at the Fairbank Center would like to make it known that we are very pleased that President Jiang Zemin has chosen Harvard as the one university in the United States where he will make a public address.

It will be the first time in history that the head of China has spoken at Harvard. We who believe in the importance of the United States and China learning to live together in the next century consider this a special opportunity.

We at the Fairbank Center are also gratified that members of the Harvard community have taken such an interest in the event. We have received more than twice as many requests for seats as are available at Sanders Theater, and are using a lottery to determine who should be admitted.

I am not sure your editorial writers are aware of President Jiang Zemin's role during the Tiananmen incident. He was at the time the mayor of Shanghai, where there were also large masses of protesters. Jiang allowed the demonstrations to take place peacefully.

Many people who have pushed the frontiers of democracy in China feel that Jiang is personally committed to moving China in a more democratic direction. He faces massive problems within China, including issues of how to cope with widespread poverty, the more than 100 million migrants who have come to cities since reform began and inefficient state enterprises which provide security to over 100 million workers and their families.

Because Jiang's schedule in the United States is tight and his visit to Harvard brief, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research is sponsoring a public discussion of issues concerning China on Monday, November 3.

We are inviting several speakers, including those critical of China's treatment of human rights and Tibetans, and those sympathetic with Chinese leaders' efforts to respond to its massive problems. We invite those interested to attend.

-Professor Ezra F. Vogel, director of the John K. Fairbank Center for East Asian Research