He's the Voice of the Tiananmen Generation

Li's conclusion? "Dictatorship is in an unwinnable war against technology." To be sure, there's a role for outside political pressure. But forget inside-the-beltway wrangling over China's trade status; Li says denying China Most-Favored-Nation status is unrealistic and counterproductive. ("MFN has become an utterly ineffective showcase for channeling all of the truly serious issues in China: human rights, nuclear proliferation, intellectual-property theft.") Instead, coalitions of companies with business in China should press for progress on three specific issues: freedom of the press, fair treatment of labor, and greater market access and entrepreneurial opportunities. These issues are central to human rights and successful business: "If companies push for a credible legal system -- the rule of law -- they will create conditions for competition and revitalize the private economy."

That's precisely what Li Lu predicts will unfold. Despite the traumas and tragedies of his youth -- and the enormous challenges facing his country -- he remains a stubborn optimist. Today real unemployment in China runs as high as 17% in the cities and 33% in the countryside. An estimated 100 million peasants are floating around rural areas looking for jobs. These conditions, Li says, are sowing the seeds of renewal: "People in China are sick of being poor. That's why the country will change."

He expects to be able to return to China one day. And he believes his training as an investment banker, along with his years in America, are just what he needs to be an effective champion of democracy.

"Business success and financial knowledge give you more credibility than any other experience to speak out on public issues," he says. "And no country in the world has as deeply rooted a sense of egalitarian society as America. There's a belief here that if you work your tail off you will be rewarded. That's a fundamental impulse of all human beings. I long to take that integration of democracy and capitalism back to my fellow Chinese."

Stephan (Somogyi sfs@gyroscope.net) is a San Francisco-based writer and consultant. His work has appeared in "The Economist," "I.D. Magazine," CNET's News.com, and "Upside."