Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los
Angeles Times 1989all Rights reserved)
Just after President Bush vetoed a bill
Thursday that would have enabled tens of thousands of mainland
Chinese students to stay in this country, a message from Caltech
flashed across a computer network that links university students
around the country:
"Bush has vetoed the bill. He not only
shut off our hope, but also did it in the worst way. Any Chinese
student should be angry if he still has blood left."
A few minutes later, another message flashed
across the same network: "We have won! Don't lose
sleep!"
In a few hours, a third message was
transmitted: "The bill is vetoed finally. . . . So
what?"
The disparity in tone of the messages is a
measure of the confusion and uncertainty that the Bush veto has
sparked among mainland Chinese students in this country.
Although Bush refused to sign the bill, saying he was opposed to
"congressional micromanagement of foreign policy," he
announced as a compromise that he would grant the students many
of the same protections the bill offered. Specifically, students
would no longer be required to return to China after completing
their studies.
Therein lies the confusion. For some, the
protection offered by the President's move is a welcome relief.
But others worry that the lack of ironclad legislation leaves
their future just as cloudy as before.
"If I think about just myself, I am
actually pretty happy," said Caltech graduate student Liu
Gang, who would have had to return home next year. "I am
grateful he didn't just veto the bill."
But, he added, unlike a law, Bush's promise
could be revoked at any time. "All these things are
promises," Gang said. "It's better than nothing, but
how long will it last? What if he changes his mind?"
Wang Youqi, another Caltech graduate student,
said that many Chinese students, despite the protection of
Bush's administrative action, are outraged at the veto. The
perception among many students, he said, is that Bush killed the
legislation because of pressure from the Chinese government to
return the students.
"It's very scary," Wang said.
"Students here have been intimidated by the mainland
Chinese government. Now they see the Bush Administration
intimidated too."
"If he really wanted to help us, why
didn't he just sign the bill?" Wang asked. "It's that
simple. Now it's like something hanging over your head, and you
don't know when it's going to drop."
Feng Hui, a graduate student at UCLA, said
the veto has already had a chilling effect on the efforts of
Chinese students in the United States to support the democracy
movement in China. He said one woman has already resigned from a
UCLA Chinese student group because of fear that she may have to
return to China when her studies are over.
"Everyone is going to be silent,"
he said. "Who will speak out when they don't know what will
happen in the future?"
There are now about 40,000 Chinese students
and scholars in the United States, the largest group of students
from any foreign country. About 75% have come with visas that
require them to return home for at least two years after their
studies are completed.
Liu Yongchuan, the president of the
Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars, the
national student group that spearheaded the lobbying effort to
pass the bill, said only legislation will be able to provide a
real guarantee of protection for these Chinese students.
Liu said he was disappointed at the veto of
the bill but is confident that Congress will either override
Bush's veto or send another version to the President in the next
session.
"We'll try it again," Liu said.
"We have no confidence in Bush now. He always wants to
satisfy the Chinese government."
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Pelosi
(D-San Francisco), was unanimously approved in the House and
passed by voice vote in the Senate. And in addition to messages
of support from other cities, Los Angeles City Councilman
Michael Woo on Friday sent telegrams to congressional leaders
condemning Bush's veto and urging legislators to take up the
issue again.
