I disagree with your May 28 editorial ”Double standard on trade status.” One day after President Bush recommended renewing China`s most-favored-nation trade status, the Chinese authorities detained Peng Rong, a democracy advocate studying at Beijing University. If this is a sign of the
”progress” that you said would be ”achieved by opening channels,” then we are progressing in the wrong direction.
Are democracy and freedom values that the United States government should have to compromise on? Do a few billion dollars of trade outweigh the liberty that has been denied to a billion Chinese?
If an unarmed Chinese man could halt a column of tanks during the Beijing massacre, I think that the president of the United States should have the will to stand up against the lobbies of big business and be firm in his commitment to human rights.
