One-way tickets for its dissidents will rebound on Beijing

BY sending Wang Juntao into perhaps permanent exile, Beijing has deprived itself of an opportunity to build bridges to the dissident community and other disaffected sectors of society.

Permission given the veteran activist to leave jail and seek medical treatment in the United States confirms a policy the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) adopted more than a year ago: to get rid of ''trouble-makers'' by exiling them.

The administration of US President Bill Clinton has already cited the ''release'' of Wang as a sign of improvement in Beijing's human rights record. ''Emigration'' is one of several criteria set forth in Mr Clinton's executive order, the fulfilment of which is necessary for the renewal of China's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in early June.

In spite of Beijing's refusal to allow Han Dongfang and other exiled dissidents to return to China, Washington - and Western governments in general - have yet to decry this as a violation of the civil rights of Chinese citizens.

''Almost all dissidents who have left China have seen their effectiveness as the custodians of the national conscience suffer,'' said political scientist Yan Jiaqi, who fled the country immediately after Tiananmen Square.

Professor Yan, who recently moved to New York from Paris, added: ''They are cut off from their soil. Moreover, even big names among exiles have to solve their livelihood problems. This detracts from their ability to pursue the [pro-democracy] crusade on a full-time basis.'' In spite of Wang's credentials as one of China's most respected and combat-hardened intellectuals, analysts are pessimistic that he could unify the badly fractured overseas dissident movement.