I'M ON THE PASS LIST! HONEST!

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Hillary Clinton's speech to the Nongovernmental Organizations Women's Conference in a suburb of Beijing was such a hot ticket that even Donna Shalala had a hard time getting in. The Health and Human Services secretary and Winston Lord, an assistant secretary of state, were kept outside in the pouring rain for a half an hour until the two soaked Clinton Administration officials were admitted through a side door. Thousands more were kept out as more than 3,000 women packed into a 1,500-seat theater to hear the First Lady urge them to make the goals of the women's conference a reality. "Hillary Clinton's speech may please women's rights advocates, but it won't change China's human right's policies at all," says TIME's Oscar Chiang. "The government blocked out all internal media reports about her speech. Later, they may criticize her for meddling in China's internal affairs, but right now their strategy is to just keep quiet."