SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS Tue. Jun.7,1994

The fax will set them free

WANG RUOWANG has some good advice for Americans who are concerned about China: Use telecommunications and business to make it easier for scattered democracy activists to organize.

Wang, nearing 80, is the white-haired godfather of China's democracy movement. But after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the Shanghai writer came to the United States. On Saturday he visited a memorial in San Francisco on the fifth anniversary of the massacre.

Wang said he was disappointed that President Clinton extended most favored nation trade status despite China's human rights abuses. But there are other ways to make a difference.

Use new telecommunications to stay in touch with democracy activists, for instance. "Fax is the most effective," Wang said, speaking through an interpreter.

Burgeoning human rights computer networks offer another way, although few Chinese have computers or access to the Internet, which links 20 million to 40 million computer users worldwide.

Businesses, Wang believes, should help by building companies and connections that enable ordinary people to get their hands on computers, phones, fax machines and other high-tech products.

And Americans should continue speaking out on human rights in China. "Chinese are very sensitive to (what) Americans are talking about," Wang said. "Continued pressure will make a difference."

S.L. Bachman is a Mercury News editorial writer.