Many people are interested in what Chinese President Jiang Zemin has to say on his visit to Harvard on Friday, but Chinese nationals in the community have more at stake than most.

For Chinese nationals, it is a visit by the leader of their country, which for some inspires patriotic feelings and hopes friendly relations between their home country and the United States.

For Chinese dissidents, it is a visit signifying the existence of a regime that has persecuted them for speaking out against a totalitarian government and which is guilty of countless human rights violations.

A significant number of Chinese nationals have taken prominent roles in the protests surrounding Jiang's visit, but many others say that the media has over-emphasized human rights problems in China and that conditions in the nation have improved dramatically.

The Opposition

Protesters say they want to raise awareness for human rights violations perpetrated by China against its own people and against the people of Tibet and Taiwan.

Many say the demonstrations are directed toward the people back home in China as well as the American people here.

"The most important reason [for the protest] is to send a message back to our colleagues in prison in China or who are still carrying on the struggle," says Shen Tong, who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and is currently the president of the Democracy for China Fund.

Others say they oppose Jiang's visit because it implies a tacit endorsement of the Chinese government.

"He will use Harvard to fool the Chinese people, in an effort to show the Chinese people back home that the atrocious human rights policy is endorsed by such prestigious universities as Harvard," says Jian-li Yang, another participant in Tiananmen now working towards a doctorate at the Kennedy School of Government.

Yang is one of the leaders of the Joint Committee for Protesting Jiang Zemin's Visit to Harvard.

"His visit can only strengthen his position in the Chinese government to squash the dissent and the criticism," he says.

Protesters say they want to present a more balanced view of China's political and social situation than they believe is going to be reflected in his speech.

They object to the rule that audience questions must be pre-screened.

"This process is not fair that allows Jiang Zemin to speak freely but doesn't allow the audience to ask freely," Yang says.