What do Hong Kong people expect from the President Jiang Zemin's recent visit to the United States? Like many in the international community, we hope improved relations between the world's most powerful country and the most populous country will encourage the mainland to adhere to minimum international standards, such as due process, government accountability, rule of law and transparency.
Mr Jiang said he saw American democracy first hand but that the mainland need not emulate the US. No one is arguing that the mainland should adopt the US model, but many Chinese people desperately want their government to be less repressive and more tolerant.
Every day, many people from different countries, including the mainland, try to enter the US by legal or illegal means. The same cannot be said about the mainland.
US president Bill Clinton said America must 'engage' the mainland, not isolate it. Few people would disagree. Unfortunately the Clinton administration 'engages' the mainland on business and diplomacy, but only 'talks' about human rights. Criticism of the mainland's human rights record is branded as a violation of 'constructive engagement'.
It is obvious that frank discussions about freedom and democracy did not derail the Jiang-Clinton summit. Therefore, the US and other democratic countries should draw up a principled, long-term strategy for engaging the mainland on all fronts, including human rights.
Many people in the international community have a warm place in their hearts for the mainland but are appalled at its repressive government. A USA Today poll published on the morning of Mr Jiang's White House visit showed that 59 per cent of Americans favour greater support for Chinese human rights, even if that disrupts relations between the two countries.
Concern about disruptions, particularly on trade, is groundless. The mainland, like many other countries, bases economic decisions on economic, not political, factors.