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Q. Have the democratic revolutions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had any impact on China?
A. The influence of events in the Soviet Union has been stronger because we + and the Soviets have had a similar type of system. In the past several months, the actions of the Soviet Communist Party at conferences and congresses have been watched very carefully by the Chinese people, because the Soviets have passed laws on the development of multiparty democracy.
Q. What is your prediction for China in the next five years?
A. The old generation of the party will die. A generation of younger leaders will emerge, and they will be better on average. I say on average because some individual leaders in the new generation could even be worse than those in the old one.
Q. The Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski has said he believes the desire for freedom may be a genetic characteristic of the human race, and I believe you agree. Why, then, have some civilizations been slower to implement freedom than others?
A. That is a question for the historians. It depends on many factors of tradition and history. If you compare the development of democracy with the whole history of China, it may arrive several decades later than in the West -- but in view of our history of thousands of years, that is almost nothing. Of course, when I tell young men that 20 years is not too long, they don't agree, since for them it's an entire lifetime.
Q. Until your sudden departure for England two months ago, you and your family were given refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing for 386 days. What was it like?
A. We stayed in a two-bedroom temporary apartment on the main floor of the ambassador's residence. The door was always locked, and they put wooden boards on the windows. You couldn't open them, and no light came in or went out. From morning until 5 or 6 at night, we stayed in the apartment. After that, we could leave the apartment, and we could see the sky from other windows, but we could never go outside. In the winter, because it was dark by 5 p.m., we never saw daylight.
Q. What contacts did you have with anyone else?
A. The ambassador saw us quite often, and there was a political officer who came almost every day. Also a nurse came every day. We had a telephone, but even when it rang we never picked it up. We could send letters outside through the diplomatic pouch. That was quite safe but very, very slow.
Q. Has the British or American government placed any restrictions on your activities?
A. Originally, the Chinese government demanded that the Americans supervise my | political activity. But the U.S. government refused absolutely. People in the embassy told me that this would be a violation of your constitution.
Q. What would your advice be to Chinese students in the U.S.?
A. They should study, be proficient, but also be concerned with Chinese life. Democracy is a long-term project. It is not something accomplished in a day, but step by step.