2- The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 28, 1994 China's pro-democracy leaders like. tough U.S. stance on trade issues In a home interview, Wei Jlngsheng and Xu Wenil, two political radicals recently released after more than a decade in prison, praise U.S. efforts to use trade to curb human rights violations. Both men speak against granting China most favored nation status. BEIJING (AP)-- The two godfa- thers of China's democracy move- ment make their point with a certain authority: They know Western pres- sure advances human rights in China - it got them out of prison. Wei Jingsheng and Xu Wenli, who topped the list of prominent Chinese political prisoners for more than a decade, say they're Exhibits A and B in this year's debate in Washington over how to deal with China. Using trade to wring human rights concessions out of China "may not be the best method, but it's what the United States chose," Wei said. "If you retreat, you lose." They're articulate and savvy ex- hibits, especially Wei, who arrived for a joint interview at Xu's home with his own translator. The soft-spoken Xu put a tape recorder on the table and turned it on. Nothing personal, but misquotes could get him in trouble with the police, he said. Any suspicion that the media-wise pair actually spent the last dozen years in politics, instead of jail, vanishes when they laugh: there's barely a full set of teeth between them. Xu, 50, and Wei, 43, were leading advocates of democratic reform in 1979-80, cranking out home-mimeo- graphed journals of political essays. Wei was arrested in 1979, Xuin 1981; both were sentenced to 15 years. Xu was released last May, as Washington debated for the fourth year whether to cancel China's most- favored nation trade status as punish- ment for suppressing dissent. Loss of normal trade status would sharply raise tariffs on Chinese ex- ports to the United States, effectively shutting them out of their largest mar- ket. Wei was freed in September, 10 days before the International Olym- pic Committee voted on Beijing's bid to hold the 2000 Olympic Games. China lost the Olympic bid, but kept its MFN status for another year. Now, as the U.S. government again debates what to do about MFN, Xu and Wei said they hope Washington will be tough. The pressure on the U.S. govern- ment to play down human rights is strong this year. China is wooing American com- panies with the prospect of rich con- tracts if MFN stays in place. Some China scholars in the United States say the annual MFN battle is too bruising and that quiet diplomacy is more effective. A growing chorus - including U.S. Ambassador Stapleton Roy says China has already made big hu- man rights improvements. Wei, who isn't free to travel or find work, responded angrily. "It's certainly not true that now is the best time in Chinese history. Many Chinese are disgusted with what your ambassador said." Xu said he was alarmed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen' hints that the United States migh make China's MFN statuspermanent, eliminating the annual pressure for human rights improvements, if China makes significant concessions this year. "That would be very bad," Xu said. "If today they release two or three people, tomorrow they can arrest four or five more." "Very convenient!" Wei cut in. "The United States should wait for China to make human rights im- provements a long-term thing, and then gradually lift sanctions." Although they have respect and influence in China's dispersed dissi- dent community, Wei and Xu do not speak for all dissidents. Most dissidents and intellectual in Beijing say they oppose canceling China's MFN status because they fear the loss of the U.S. export market would cost tens of thousands of fac- tory workers their jobs. We have only had this happen once in 25 years," Bolton said. "This is Michigan. We expect re- ally bad weather." Evidently, other people are stay- ing indoors-maybe near warm fire- places - to avoid the dangerous weather. "The emergency room believes that the number of auto accidents is down because fewer people are driv- ing or they left early," Rose said. The blustering weather is also af- fecting area businesses. Sara Pasky, RC sophomore, waO sent home from work early. "I walked to Middle Earth, and it took me longer than usual. They told me to go home because we were clos- ing early," she said. "I stopped in at a couple of stores afterward and they were dead. The roads are so bad that business is not booming as usual." WIPEOUT Continued from page 1 Last week, faculty members re- ceived a message from administra- tors, who suggested leniency for stu- dents who may have been tardy or missed classes due to the subzero temperatures. The slick ice and freezing rain have also made road travel difficult. Dave Contorer, a School of Social Work student, lives in Ann Arbor but commutes to an off-campus place- ment in Oak Park. "I tried to go. I got about five miles on I-14 and my whole windshield became a sheet of ice. I could not clear the ice off my windshield be- cause it kept building up so fast." Both the Ann Arbor Transporta- tion Authority (AATA) and Yellow Cab experienced problems with the road conditions yesterday. "We are not sending any cabs to side streets, only main roads," said Jessica Derr, a dispatcher for Yellow Cab in Ann Arbor. "We are basically only taking people to go home or if they have an emergency." She said restrictions may continue if the weather does not improve. Mike Bolton, executive director of AATA, said that there were a num- ber of delays but no accidents. "We don't discontinue service unless we have a serious enough con- dition, such as the roads are not salted. ' Present this coupon at the Record Town in Briarwood Center, Ann Arbor' and get $2 off any cassette regularly priced $6.99 and up. Limit 3 per coupon. Sale items excluded. Coupon good only at the Briarwood Center ' store. Hurry, coupon NJes1 / ---fl exirs 13094 r9 IC Ta TOI l ' ) ..M.I .... VI O U S i C- -&-V-- -D- E- - A 1 1 1,11I111 IIIbb 1 1111 jlj I I w iL Iaw3l"v Present this coupon at the Record Town in Briarwood Center, Ann Arbor and get $3 off any CD regularly priced $9.99 and up. Limit 3 per coupon.' Sale items excluded. Coupon good only at the Briarwood Center store. Hurry, coupon Ifi expires 1/30/94! recotow M u s IC a D Eo - --.- .-. . . . . .. Religious Services AVAVAVAVA AMERICAN BAPTIST CAMPUS CENTER 502 E. Huron (near State) Wednesday:5:30 p.m.,- 7 p.m. Dinner, discussion, study 663-9376 for more info ANN ARBOR CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH 1717 Broadway (near N. Campus) 665-0105 SUNDAY: Traditional Service-9 a.m. Contemporary Service-11:15 a.m. Evening Service-6 p.m. Complete Education Program Nursery care available at all services CAMPUS CHAPEL (Christian Reformed campus ministry) 1236 Washtenaw Ct. 668-7421/662-2402 tone block south of CCRBJ EXPLORE and ENJOY your FAITH SUNDAY WORKSHOP: 10 a.m. - "Commitment" 6 p.m. - No service WEDNESDAY: 9-10 p.m. - R.O.C.K. student gathering Fun, food, provocative discussion. Rev. Don Postema, pastor Ms. Barb O'Day, ministry of students CHRISTIAN LIFE CHURCH Schorling Auditorium School of Education SUNDAY: Service 11 a.m. HURON VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH Gay-Lesbian Ministry 741-1174 LUTHERAN CAMPUS MINISTRY Lord of Light Lutheran Church, ELCA 801 S. Forest (at Hill), 668-7622 SUNDAY: Worship - 10 a.m. WEDNESDAY: Soup & Supper dinner - 5:30 Study and discussion on human sexuality 6 p.m. Evening Vespers - 7 p.m. John Rollefson and Joyce Miller Campus Ministers ST. MARY'S STUDENT PARISH (A Roman Catholic Parish at U-M) 331 Thompson Street Weekend Liturgies Saturday: 5 p.m. CT TA n A V. Q.,in a m-1 n om17n HELLO Continued from page 1 airport uses about 15 of these GTE call boxes. He added that they have been reliable and require little main- tenance. Each unit is powered by a solar panel, perched atop a 14-foot pole, which charges a 12-volt battery. The system operates in powered- down mode when not in use, and powers up when a user opens the cover. Johnson said the prices of the cel- lular systems are lower than conven- tional hard-wired phones. 0 - Johnson said he believes the in- stallation cost of a single conven- tional call box is about $10,000, but the cellular system costs about $3,800 per box. "It's just an expensive operation to lay cable down," Johnson said. The University is using this sys- tem on a test basis, with GTE supply- ing the equipment and Ameritech pr@ viding three phone lines. In early May the high-tech system will be evaluated by DPS. In addition to bringing emergency services quickly to the scene, Patrick said the system could provide agreater sense of security for the users of both outdoor areas. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publisned Monoay tnrougn rday ouring the fall ano winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $90. Winter term (January through April) is $95, year-long (September through April) is $160. On-campus subscrip- tions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 313): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 747-3336; Opinion 764-0552 Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. EDITORIAL Dubow, Editor AIIIIIIIIIIIIII&V *111jilkti i M1il 9401-082MD ..... . . ANY VIDE Present this coupon at the Record Town in Briarwood Center, Ann Arbor and get $4 off any video regularly priced $12.95 and up. Limit 3 per coupon. Sale items excluded. Coupon good only at the Briarwood Center store. Hurry, coupon expires 1/30/94! MusIc v E -(- - -- - --s----- oe ) NEWS Melissa Peerless, Managing Editor EDITORS: Hope Calati, Lauren Dermer, Karen Sabgir, Purvi Shah4 STAFF: Adam Anger. Jonathan Berndt, Carrie Bissey, Janet Burkitt, Jessica Chaffin, James Cho, Lashawnda Crowe. Demetrios Efstratiou, Michelle Fricke. Ronnie Giassberg, Soma Gupta, Michele Hatty, Nate Hurley, Katie Hutchins. Judith Kafka. Randy Lebowitz, Andrea MacAdam. Shelley Morrison, James Nash, Mona Qureshi, David Rheingld, Rachel Scharfman. Megan Schimpf, David Shepardson, Shari Sitron, Karen Talaski, Andrew Taylor, Lara Taylor, Maggie Weyhing, April Wood. Scot Woods. CALENDAR EDITOR. Andrew Taylor. EDITORIAL PAGE Andrew Levy, Editor ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Julie Becker, Sam Goodstein. Jason Lichstein, Flint Wainess. STAFF Cathy Boguslaski, Eugene Bowen. Patrick Javid, Jeff Keating. Jim Lasser, AmitavaMazumdar, Mo Park. ElisaSmith.Allison Stevens. SPORTS Ryan Herrington, Managing Editor EDITORS: Brett Forrest, Adam Miller, Chad A. Safran, Ken Sugiura STAFF: Bob Abramson, Rachel Bachman, Paul Barger, Tom Bausano, Charlie Breitrose, Aaron Bums, Scott Burton, Andy De Korte, Marc Diller, Darren Everson, Ravi Gopal. Brett Johnson, Josh Karp, Brent McIntosh, Dan McKenzie. Antoine Pitts, Tim Rardin, Melinda Roo. Michael Rosenberg, Jaeson Rosenfeld, J.L. Rostamn-Abadi, Melanie Schuman, Dave Schwartz, Tom Seeley. Tim Smith, Elisa Sneed, Barry Sollenberger, Tim Spolar, Doug Stevens, Jeremy Strachan. Ryan White. I ARTS Melissa Rose Bernaio, Nina Hodel, Editors EDITORS: Jason Carroll (Theater). Tom Erlewine (Music), Rona Kobell (Books) Darcy Lockman (Weekend etc.). John R. Rybock (Weekend etc.), Michael Thompson (Film). Kirk Wetters (Fine Arts). STAFF: Jordan Atlas. Michael Bames, Robin Barry, Matt Carlson, Jason Carroll, Jin Ho Chung. Andy Dolan, Geoff Earle, Johanna Flies, Jody Frank, Jessie Halladay, Josh Herrington, Dustin Howes. Kristen Knudsen. Rona Kobell, Chris Lepley, Will Matthews, Heather Phares, Scott Plagenhoef. Austin Ratner, John R. Rybock, Andrew Schafer. Dirk Schulze, Karen Schweitzer, Sarah Stewart. Michael Thompson, Matt Thorbum, Alexandra Twin, Ted Watts. PHOTO Michelle Guy, Evan Petrie, Editors STAFF: Anastasia Banicki, Anthony M. Croft, Mark Friedman, Mary Koukhab, Elizabeth Lippman, Jonathan Lurie, Rebecca Margolis, iuriith Perkins. Joe Westrate. Sarah Whiting. Chris Wolf. I 11 - _ __ - - - ...... a ..r - - - _ s s i JVU1U(rc nn.a, !t!F .rcau arc. vv a .. , . .6, v v ..w . I