Experiencing China again for the first time
By Willis P. Whichard Special to the Smoky Mountain Sentinel

Editor's note--Willis (Bill) Whichard is a former member

the North Carolina State Senate; a former Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and has recently retired as Dean of the Law School at Campbell University. He and

wife, Leona, are part-time residents of Clay County. A report of his trip to China is being published as a 12-part series in the Sentinel.

Part II China--cooperating with its neighbors

Our first session as a delegation, following our arrival in Beijing, featured John Pomfret, Los Angeles Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. Pomfret was a student at Nanjing University in the early 1980s, has subsequently spent time in China as a journalist, and is quite knowledgeable about the country.

Pomfret noted that when he first came to China in 1980, it was a totally different place from what it is now. There was a wide range in ages of students at Nanjing University - "some 17, some 30." Their lives had essentially been put on hold during the Cultural Revolution, which is considerred to have ended with Mao Tse-Tung's death in 1976. The Chinese students' lack of knowledge of, or interest in, a legal system was particularly striking. Everything was done in "backdoor" way, through influence. Law was a joke; no one paid any attention to it

When Pomfret returned to china in 1988, there was considerably more interest in law and a much greater appeal for human rights.

In 1989, he was expelled in the "crack down" following the Tiananmen Square protests. In 1997, he joined the Washington Post. He was readmitted to China when Katherine Graham, the Post's owner, "pushed as only she could," and he served there as the Post's Beijing Bureau chief from 1998- 2003. During this period, he observed a growing consciousness of legal rights on the part of the middle class and the peasants. Chinese lawyers now represent peasants in issues with landlords and with the Chinese Communist Party over the taking and use of land. A consciousness of rights is rising throughout the society.

Still, adjudication is difficult, and actually getting payment from the losing party to the prevailing party is hard. There is corruption in the courts; parties prevail by paying money to the prosecutor, the judge or someone in the system. This makes for interesting contradictions in the legal system, and many people con- clude that it is not the place to obtain justice. Increasingly, there are violent protests; these are growing at the same rate as the economy.

When Pomfret was expelled from China, it was based on his being "uncooperative and unfriendly." A member of the military, who was in custody serving a 2- 1/2 year sentence, had watched the news about his expulsion. When Pomfret returned years later, the man saw him on television and sent word for him to see him. The man had been working on construction projects and writing songs on the side. He had become very successful as a professional songwriter and, as many middle and upper class people do, he had gotten rich by making some corrupt bargains.

Pomfret concluded his remarks by stating that "a lot of historical ghosts walk around this country." In 1958- 59, Mao instituted "The Great Leap Forward." It was an economic disaster that put him "on the sidelines." "The Cultural Revolution" (1964- 1976) was his way of regaining power. His shock troops were the high school students, who were schooled to love Chairman Mao. They became the "Red Guard." One of Pomfret's classmates was one. Through these means, Mao managed to stay in power until he died. His death ended the Cultural Revolution, but the setting in of economic reality was also a factor.

The Communist Party has been the source of considerable chaos in China. So far the Party has been vigilant about stoping protests and then"buying off" the protesters. Still, personal freedom and access to information is greatly advanced from the1980s. The party does not really want to stop that. It wants to use the Internet to develop the country but does not want this to collapse the government. The nature of the debate about how the Party is going to manage this transition is fairly elevated now.

The session concluded with many of the delegates purchasing Pomfret's book, Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China, and securing his personalized inscription on the title page. It made for informative and interesting reading over the remainder of the trip.

On our first night in Beijing, the Beijing Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine, Melinda Liu, addressed the group and fielded questions. She noted that on the previous Sunday, the Prime Minister of Japan had visited Beijing for the first time in five years. The two countries had been at odds,and there had been no summit meetings as a result. It is the threat, or reality, of North Korea's nuclear tests that has brought the two countries together.

The tone of the week's meetings, she said, is very encouraging. The prime minister made a lengthy expression of remorse to the Chinese hosts. In light of the history of relations between the two countries, this is quite remarkable. The meeting went over well with Chinese officials, and the probability is that South Korea has the same reaction to the situation.

In Ms. Liu's opinion, there is a real question as to what China will do now that North Korea appears to have had a nuclear test. China sees a "madman" on its border. It supplies 60 percent of North Korea's energy and one-third of its food. North Korea could not withstand having these supplies cut off; and from China's perspective, it would mean North Korean refugees streaming across the Chinese border. Further, China generally does not believe that sanctions work. The situation thus is very volatile.

Russia would like to be a player in this. Russia and China usually vote more moderately on questions involving North Korea than do other members of the United Nations Security Council.

China, she said, is marching resolutely toward a market economy. Reform of the Chinese political system is not keeping pace with reform of its economic system, which makes China unpredictable.

The Chinese have lost ground in the area of women's' rights in the post- Maoera. There was such an extensive social leveling and equalization under Mao that women were included. Prostitution is now widespread, however. There is considerable discrimination against women in the workplace. Still, there are some very dynamic female entrepreneurs. The one-child-perfamily policy has led to considerable selective abortion. Many communities have a severe gender imbalance; men cannot find wives because of the reduction in the female population.

Often, environmental laws are not enforced. Recently, however, there has been serious effort to enforce them. It is one area in which there has been a serious grassroots movement - a real "airing" of views by the citizenry. Environmental law is an area in which Ms. Liu sees progressive policies coming. (In light of the extensive pollution we observed, they can come none too soon.)

In response to a question as to whether China views the United States as an enemy, she replied that opinion on this is divided. Publicly, the government's position is that it desires a friendly relationship. It understands that if one nation perceives another as an enemy ,it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. There is significant disagreement with the policies of the American government, but considerable good will toward the American people.

Next week: Part III - China--Rule of Law

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