Two Sentences That Speak Volumes : Beijing lays 13 years each on two Tian An Men Square political dissidents

For the second time in their lives, Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming have been hustled off to prison, this time for unconscionable sentences of 13 years each. They represent a new generation of political prisoners, jailed because of pro-democracy leanings and association with the 1989 Tian An Men Square demonstrations. Beijing’s grim abuse of human rights should make us pause.

Newspaper editor Wang, 33, and social scientist Chen, 38, are believed to be the last sentenced in the Tian An Men trials. The government accused the two, who received the harshest sentences, of being the “black hands” behind the protesters. They were convicted of having “wantonly incited some persons to subvert the government and the socialist system,” officials said.

Wang and Chen, though relatively unknown compared to the young student demonstrators who received much lighter sentences, have been leading crusaders for political liberalization for 15 years. They were sentenced to labor camps for their roles in the 1976 Tian An Men protests against the radical Gang of Four, which ironically helped to bring Deng Xiaoping back to power.

During a brief two-year period of openness and freedom, Wang and Chen founded the private Beijing Institute of Social and Economic Sciences to promote economic and political liberalization. During a crackdown against 1979’s pro-democracy demonstrators, the pair managed to escape arrest, but their colleague Wei Jingsheng is still imprisoned on a 15-year sentence.

The precise roles of Wang and Chen in the 1989 Tian An Men demonstrations are unclear, but they are known to have advised student leaders behind the scenes. Both reportedly refused to admit any guilt during their trials, which, like earlier proceedings, were closed to foreign observers, journalists and the general public. Also on trial were Liu Gang, a former graduate student in physics who received a six-year sentence, and Chen Xiaoping, a constitutional lawyer, who was released.

As it did in the earlier trials, the U.S. State Department deplored the latest sentences, describing them as “deeply troubling,” and complained that U.S. requests to place observers at the trials were denied. But deploring is really not enough.

This new generation of political prisoners should not be forgotten by the world during the Persian Gulf War or after. Beijing’s dismal human-rights record ought to be regarded as a serious impediment to improved relations with the West.