China Denies 2 Senators’ Visa Requests

WASHINGTON —  In an extraordinary move, Chinese authorities Monday turned down a request by two congressional leaders, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman David L. Boren (D-Okla.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), to visit China later this month, State Department and congressional sources said.

Boren and Pell both sought permission to visit China during the next congressional recess, which starts next Monday. But the Beijing regime informed them that the timing of the trip was “not convenient.”

If China’s action stands, it could mean new trouble for the country’s already shaky standing on Capitol Hill. Last month, the Senate fell five votes short of the two-thirds margin necessary to override President Bush’s veto of legislation that would have attached a series of conditions to any renewal next year of China’s trade privileges in this country.

“If this is going to be the policy by the Chinese, they have got well over half the Senate and three-fifths of the House who cannot go there,” a congressional source said. He was referring to the number of lawmakers who opposed the Bush Administration’s efforts to extend China’s trade privileges next year without any conditions.

In the case of Pell and Boren, it is rare, if not unprecedented, for China to deny congressional leaders of such stature permission to visit. Last year, Chinese authorities were encouraging members of Congress to visit, granting visas to such determined critics of China as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

State Department officials and congressional sources were engaged in a last-ditch effort Monday night to persuade Chinese officials to grant the two senators visas. “The American ambassador in Beijing (Stapleton Roy) is going to go in and remind the Chinese of the senior level of these two very important senators,” a congressional source said.

“We very much hope the Chinese government will make an effort to find a mutually convenient time for the Pell-Boren visit,” a State Department spokesman said Monday night.

Boren and Pell have both criticized China’s human rights and weapons proliferation policies. In addition, Pell, in particular, has been a strong critic of China’s policies in Tibet and has championed the cause of Tibetan independence.

Pell had asked to visit Tibet, and one U.S. source suggested that it was this request that may have prompted China to turn down his and Boren’s requests.