HONG KONG -- China's release of prominent dissident Xu Wenli on Christmas Eve was a welcome gesture, but not much more than a gesture, unless the Communist Party fundamentally alters its policies and allows its citizens basic rights such as the peaceful expression of differing political views and the formation of opposition parties.
Certainly, for Xu and his family, his exile to the United States on "medical parole" must be welcome, since it allows him to once again taste freedom, the first time since 1998, when he was jailed after helping to organize the China Democracy Party.
Two years ago, while Xu was languishing in prison, President Jiang Zemin protested when Mike Wallace of the American television program "60 Minutes" called him a "dictator" during a broadcast. Jiang declared that he was an elected president, though the election was perhaps different from that of the American president.