The Battalion
OPINION
Thursday, May 3,1990
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs
U.S. should support Lithuania’s fight for freedom
Since the days of David and Goliath, fluorish, our recognition of a free World War III. the Bay of Pigs invasion. Just as we
Since the days of David and Goliath,
it’s been human nature to back the
underdog in any sort of confrontation.
Whether rooting for the Cubs to make
the Series or pulling for an upstart
fighter from Cleveland to knock Mike
Tyson on his duff, we as Americans/
have always rooted for the little guy.
Until now.
Why are we hanging little Lithuania
out to dry? This small Baltic republic
with roughly the same population as Los
Angeles has asked us for nothing but an
affirmation of the democratic ideals and
principles which we as a nation have
espoused for over two centuries.
A public declaration of support for
Lithuanian independence and
recognition of the democratically
elected government of President
Vytautus Landsbergis is a pitifully small
price to pay in order to demonstrate our
resolve to support democracy and avoid
charges of hypocrisy.
Why do we hesitate? Simply put, our
polite president doesn’t want to step on
his new buddy Gorby’s toes. In this
matter, however, Gorbachev doesn’t
have a leg on which to stand.
President Landsbergis has pointed
out time and again that Lithuania is not
seeking to secede from the Soviet Union
and establish independence. Rather, it is
working to restore an independent state
which had been illegally suppressed by a
foreign power and its army fifty years
ago.
If Gorbachev is truly interested in
allowing democracy to spread and
fluorish, our recognition of a free
Lithuania will hasten this process.
If, on the other hand, glasnost and
perestroika are merely ploys to divert
attention away from crises within the
Soviet Union, isn’t it time we found out?
It’s prudent to ask whether we’re
willing to watch another Tiananmen
Square type situation unfold in
Lithuania and then, after a few weeks of
saber rattling, go back to playing
footsies under the bargaining table.
Or, are we as a nation willing to stand
up for our principles and risk pushing
Gorbachev toward an untimely
retirement? In either case, his
usefulness as a democratic reformer is
nearing its end if he intends to stop the
spread of democracy at the Soviet
border.
With or without Gorbachev,
democracy has inexorably progressed
across Eastern Europe and will not be
turned back by any means short of
World War III.
The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania,
and Estonia were forcibly annexed by
the Soviet Union after the second World
War, and should be given the same
backing and support from our
government that Poland, Hungary, and
the other former Soviet slave states are
being given.
Our hesitation in this matter brings to
mind two historical perspectives.
The first occurred during our own
American Revolution, when General
Lafayette and the French gave us critical
support against that time period’s most
powerful nation — Great Britain.
Without this heroic display, a heroism
apparently lacking in our current
administration, we might have
remained a British pawn for decades.
the Bay of Pigs invasion. Just as we
trained and then abandoned those
heroic Cubans at the height of the
War, we have nurtured the denn
ideals which are driving Lithuania
towards democracy and appear rea;
compromise those ideals to keep alt
the Great Thaw.
Thomas Jefferson said thatall
necessary for evil to triumph istli
good men do nothing.
George Bush, a big fan of nothinj
unless the opinion polls dictate
otherwise, appears willing to oblige
In the battle for Lithuanian
independence,it looks like Goliathn
finally pull one out.
The second perspective is more
unsettling but particularly apt — that of
It’s ironic that in this battle, unlit
many others, David is not askingusi
rocks- just recognition.
Larry Cox is a graduate student
range science.
Mail Call
International experiences worth effort
Editor:
As a graduating senior, I want to take a moment to share some thoughts
with my fellow aggies.
I began at this University at age 25 as a freshman. Before coming here, I
had various chances to go overseas, i.e. Columbia, Mexico, Japan, Hong
Kong. Those were some of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences
of my life. Then when I came here, I bagan to be friends with students from
those countries as well as from other countries.
Sincerely, I want to say that what I have learned from these “interna
tional” students during the past five years is much more valuable than any les
sons I learned in any of my classes. These students have so much to share with
us if we’ll take the time to hear and to understand.
The Bible tells us to “love those who are aliens” (Deut. 10:19), and Jesus
said that to welcome the stranger is to welcome him (Matt. 25:35). We have
received so much that we can share with them by just being a good American
friend. Let’s take the time to get together, because we really need each other.
Respect for other people is something the A&M tradition represents, but
to actually respect others is not easy. Becoming friends with the international
students around us teaches us to respect the people of the world.
It’s an adventure that is well worth experiencing. When a chance comes to
meet and spend time with one or more of these students, don’t hesitate. Give
it all you’ve got.
Paul Wyatt ’90
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Bush administration’s policies too soft on China
Three score and eleven years ago, on
this day, the people of China took to the
streets, demanding democracy. One
year ago, they demanded once again in
Tiananmen Square. But exactly eleven
months ago, Tiananmen Square flooded
over with blood, and her Goddess of
Democracy crumbled under the wheels
of government tanks.
The violence spread throughout the
country, to places that have no television
cameras. No one will ever no how many
were maimed or killed.
The Chinese government had
slaughtered people once again, and this
time our own government could not
ignore it. The president spoke on
television — spinelessly. He said that he
could not condone and he wasn’t sure
because the line was busy on the
telephone. He suspended both high-
level contacts and military sales, to the
Chinese government — minimal actions
in response to the massacre of
thousands of people.
In the following days, weeks, then
months, the crackdown continued. By
February, over 100,000 people had
been arrested for simply expressing
their opinions. Hundreds had been
executed (109 soldiers alone, said one
report). The torture, the forced
confessions, the re-education, the self-
criticism were all parts of a new
repression that swept over China.
Children and college students had to
learn how to think the way the
Communist Party wanted them to think.
People were not allowed to smile and
walk at the same time through
Tiananmen Square. And liberal
members of the Communist Party were
kicked out of political office.
The repression continues today, and
no one sees any end to it. And U.S.
foreign policy continues to make it
politically and economically affordable
for Chinese hard-liners to continue the
crackdown.
George Bush’s China policy went
from soft to softer soon after the
crackdown in China began. Less than
one month after the Tiananmen
massacre, Bush lifted the ban on
military sales to send the hard-liners $48
million of military aircraft. A few weeks
after that, Bush ended the suspension
of high-level contacts to allow the
American ambassador participate in a
celebration with the Chinese
government over a business deal. And
not long after that, Chinese government
engineers were allowed to resume work
in New York state to improve the
Chinese Air Force’s F-8 fighter planes
with American technology — teaching
killers to kill more efficiently. Still later,
in December, our president sends
General Scowcraft (National Security
Adviser) and Lawrence Eagleburger
(Deputy Secretary of State) to visit with
the newly-installed hard-line
conservative leaders of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP). The two
Americans toasted their drinks with
those who ordered the massacre on
Tiananmen Square.
A Bush official defended these
actions with a statement that amounted
to ‘Forgive and forget’.
Tell that to the four Chinese students
that jumped to their deaths in a mass
suicide at Quinghua University. They
killed themselves as a result of an
intimidation program set up in the
continuing repression in China.
In America, the Chinese students
feared, as well. Government agents
secretly intimidated the students right
under the FBI’s apathetic nose. The
students knew that when they returned
to their homeland they might be sent
directly to prison. So they worked with
the American Congress to create a bill
that would guarantee an extension of
their visas.
The bill was drafted and passed
unanimously through both houses of
Congress. But then the President vetoed
it! Only under political pressure did the
President finally issue an executive
order equilavent to the bill. He issued it
in April — months after the original bill
was passed.
Meanwhile, American companies
were allowed to give the Chinese
government billions of dollars tobl;
American satellites into orbit. Thehi|
technology that the Chinese
government needs for its military,
monitoring, and economic power is
allowed to be traded.
Ironically, former chairman Deng
Xiaopeng once said that truth mustb
gotten from facts. Unfortunately,the
facts convict our president forcreatic
China policy that supplies the guns
money, technology, and political
support that enables the Chinese
government to continue the repressifl
of their own people (and I have not
even mentioned the killing of Tibetiai
Cambodians, and China’s minorities
the government).
No, the United States does not
support human rights in China. It
supports human death. So, tomorro*
after we have honored the momentoi
silence, let us scream, cry out for hum
rights and democracy in China.
Irwin Tang is a junior political seif#
major.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Cindy McMillian,
Editor
Timm Doolen, Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
Holly Becka, City Editor
Kristin North,
Meg Reagan,
News Editors
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Sports Editor
Eric Roalson, Art Director
Lisa Ann Robertson,
Lifestyles Editor
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