"Above all it, is funny to have the audience to ask the questions before they actually listen to the talk," Yang says. "We Harvard people are supposed to be experienced as teachers and as students. I never had a professor ask me for questions before he told me anything."

Jiang's Supporters

But although much media attention has been given to prominent figures who are protesting his visit, many other Chinese nationals say their feelings do not represent those dominant in the Chinese community.

Most Chinese, they say, support his visit and think the protesters are presenting a distorted view of Chinese society.

"It's no longer the Cold War, and China is no longer the Communist country it once was," says Hui Kuok '00, who is from Hong Kong.

They say they hope people will keep an open mind about China's situation in his when they listen to his speech.

"It's a good opportunity to let all the students and faculty know more about China. In recent years, China has changed a lot," says Liping Zheng, a student at the Kennedy School of Government.

Zheng was an executive vice-mayor in the Shenzen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) before coming to study at the Kennedy School.

The Western media has skewed coverage of Chinese political situation, Zheng adds.

"Frankly speaking, in China, most people [have] forgotten about June 4th," the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, Zheng says.

He says that many people he knows in China are enthusiastic about Jiang's visit and see it as a step toward improved relations between the United States and China.

"Now we have reform and an open door to the world," he says. "Many Chinese consider the U.S. our partner and our friend."

However, protesters say that the political situation in China is still unjust.

People tend to downplay the government's faults because they are not directly affected by the persecution, Tong says.

"Things happen all around them, and they choose not to look at it," he says. "When you know you're powerless, you become cynical. You feel you can't do anything, so you make peace with the situation."