Asa Hutchinson: “Your logic is compelling. There should be no objection to the United States utilizing denial of visas as a furtherance…”

“Your logic is compelling. There should be no objection to the United States utilizing denial of visas as a furtherance of our foreign policy and our belief in human rights, because it is now obvious that it is the practice of the Chinese Government, when they feel it is in their security interests or their national interests, to deny visas. They have no compunction about doing that. In fact, to me, as we look at the buildup to this trip, there has been a lot of give and take, a lot of negotiating that has gone on. It seems to me that we have made many concessions in leading up to this trip. We have been concerned about embarrassing, about causing them to lose faith, about being insensitive to their situation. But for the Chinese Government to deny visas for Radio Free Asia reporters I think is a tremendous kick in the teeth to the American Government and to the American people, who value the freedom of the press so preciously and put such high esteem upon that freedom. So it is unfortunate that this has happened, and it is, I think, all too reflective of the attitude of the Chinese Government toward the freedom of the press and freedom in general to have made this clampdown. They just do not seem to get it--rounding up dissidents in Tiananmen Square in preparation for the President. We would rather have a protester there. How heartening it would be to the American people to see someone holding up a sign saying ``Free Tibet'' there in Tiananmen Square. But no.…”