And Liberals Whine About Nothing

Christian Science Monitor: A list aids China's political prisoners---

BEIJING AND SAN FRANCISCO - In prisons across China, inmates languish for committing "political crime" - anything from starting an illegal newspaper, trade union, or unofficial religious church, or speaking a democracy slogan in public.

China is not a liberal state with tolerant laws, as its leaders agree. President Bush, showing solidarity with Christians who are sometimes arrested here, Sunday visited an official Protestant church in Beijing on the last leg of an Asia trip that has stressed what Mr. Bush called the "universal" value of freedom of expression.

In China, such expression can be prosecuted with zeal; sentences are stiff. Take Zhang Wei, in a Chongqing jail for six years for running unapproved news in his paper. Or Huang Aiping, in a Fujian jail seven years for being an elder in an illegal Protestant church that allowed "holy singing and dancing." Or two Uighur teens, serving 15 years in a Kashi jail for swapping China's flag for an east Turkistan one at 2 a.m.

What's remarkable is that such cases are known at all, say China experts. In fact, more than 4,000 political prisoners have been saved from obscurity by the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco. Their names go on lists shared with Western officials and presented to Chinese authorities, for better treatment and early release.

Protests by President Bush - and a list of human rights cases raised in September - nonetheless come at a time when China is systematically taking human rights off the table - with little complaint from foreign capitals. China has long engaged in what experts call a "game" of political prisoner releases ahead of visits by Western leaders as a show of good face. Rabiya Kadir, a leading Uigher was released before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit last spring.