The panel also included Juntao Wang, one of the student organizers of the 1989 democracy movement in Beijing, who said he hopes that human rights issues do not get in the way of U.S.-Sino relations.

"We need political reform. We need basic human rights," he said. "But we should not hold human rights as a hostage."

At the heart of the optimism expressed toward U.S-Sino relations is the effect of Jiang's visit on public opinion.

Ezra F. Vogel, director of the Fairbank Center, said the public no longer sees the Chinese President as "just a butcher of Beijing."

"I think Jiang was quite successful in breaking the spell of wild hostility," Vogel said.

Vogel said he attributes the change in public opinion to Jiang's personality.

"He can laugh, he has a sense of humor," Vogel said.

Silence prevailed when Kirby opened up the discussion by offering four very broad main areas of discourse--Taiwanese independence, the political impact of Jiang's visit on the U.S., Tibetan independence and U.S.-Sino relations as a result of Jiang's visit.

"I guess everybody is all talked out," he said.

One member of the audience, who introduced himself as a Kennedy school student and an organizer of the protest, brought up an additional issue.

"I found myself somewhat frustrated by the stance of the Fairbank Center. Dissenting opinions were silenced," said the student, referring to space that was supposed to be allocated to protesters but was blocked off.

Vogel said that this was a decision on the part of the Harvard University Police Department and the Secret Service.

The biggest complaint expressed by the audience reflected Lobsang's--the ignorance of the rights of the Tibetan people.

"After panels and a visit from Jiang, still nobody is talking about human rights in Tibet. I find that very sad," Mortensen said.