The Chinese dissident spoke at Harvard afterthe Tiananmen Square protests.

Shen knew he might be imprisoned when hereturned to China a month ago to resume hisprodemocracy efforts, Terrill said. "He may wellhave seen it as a necessary part of his politicalexperience," he said.

A China Expert

Terrill said he has visited China since 1964,when he was "a wandering Australian student."

Since then, he received a Ph.D. in governmentfrom Harvard in 1970, and taught as an associateprofessor of government at Harvard while earningthe reputation as a top journalist and author onChina.

And, for the past 20 years, Terrill has been aresearch associate at Harvard's Fairbank Centerfor East Asian Research.

While Terrill has made many trips to China, hesaid none compare with 1989 when he witnessed thedevastation in Tiananmen Square. On assignment forNational Geographic, Terrill said he was on thescene all night.

"It was unforgettable, especially in the climaxwhen the tanks were shooting."

Terrill remained in China for a month followingthe uprisings to write about the rioting and itsafter math. "China in Our Time," his newlyreleased book, contains four chapters on theuprisings including "an eyewitness account of themassacre."

And he said his friendship with Shen would havenever begun if he had not witnessed the massacre.

"The impact of that night just made me feelthat this regime is not legitimate," Terrill said."And so I had the sympathy for the young Chinesepro-democrats."

Terrill said he is not an activist in Shen'sorganization, but he advises Shen and "introduceshim to older liberal intellectuals that he hadheard about but hadn't met."

Terrill said he supports President Bush's viewson dealing with the Chinese government in "abusinesslike fashion" while exhibiting discontent,because China is "too important a country" inworld affairs.

"We can't stop relations with a country thatborders 12 countries and has more than one-fifththe world population," he said "We could do itwith a nation like Uganda or Somalia, but notChina."

However, he said the United States must be morepersistent in showing that economic freedom can'tbe separated from political freedom."

"We've got to speak up for our values," hesaid. "Marxist regimes have been falling one byone, and China is sort of the dinosaur now, tryingto prop up Leninism with consumerism."

"That's why I'm willing to take risks for ShenTong. He went to China to try to say out loud thata full stomach and gadgets in the home is notgoing to still the hunger for freedom," he said.

Terrill predicted that China will avoid aconversion to democracy for years to come.

"It will take a lot of effort and courage forsuch a change, and China will need some heroes,"he said. "Shen Tong may be one of thos