A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

ng that China `` continues to commit very serious human rights abuses , '' Clint

on said he has come to believe that broader American strategic interests justify

 the policy reversal . Striking a defensive , almost apologetic posture at a lat

e afternoon White House briefing , Clinton acknowledged that his previous approa

ch to U.S.-China relations had failed and said he intended to set a new course .

 `` That linkage has been constructive during the past year , but I believe , ba

sed on our aggressive contacts with the Chinese in the past several months , tha

t we have reached the end of the usefulness of that policy , and it is time to t

ake a new path toward the achievement of our constant objectives , '' Clinton sa

id . `` We need to place our relationship into a larger and more productive fram

ework . '' Therefore , Clinton said , he will renew China 's most favored nation

 status , meaning that China can ship its exports to the United States on the sa

me tariff terms as most other American trading partners . Last year China export

ed about $ 31 billion worth of goods to the United States , running a trade surp

lus of $ 23 billion . The United States exported $ 8 billion in goods to China .

 The only limitation Clinton imposed on the China trade was a ban on U.S. sales 

of Chinese-made guns and ammunition , which amounted to roughly $ 100 million in

 sales last year . Clinton dropped the idea of forming a human rights commission

 to monitor progress in China . The Chinese rejected such a body as an insult to

 its sovereignty and human rights groups derided it as likely to be ineffective 

. The president announced his new China policy in the White House briefing room 

. Unlike previous major presidential announcements , he appeared alone , without

 Secretary of State Warren Christopher or senior White House aides . Clinton see

med prepared to take the inevitable criticism his change in course generated . F

rom Capitol Hill to human rights organizations to Chinese dissident groups came 

immediate expressions of anger and dismay . Human Rights Watch/Asia called the C

linton announcement `` one more capitulation on human rights . '' `` Clinton has

 left his administration looking vacillating and hypocritical , while the Chines

e leadership , by contrast , has emerged as hard-nosed , uncompromising and vict

orious . We 're deeply disappointed by this decision , '' said Sidney Jones , ex

ecutive director of the organization . AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland , in a pa

rticularly scathing statement , said Clinton 's decision `` sends a clear messag

e to the world : `` No matter what America says about democracy and human rights

 , in the final analysis profits , not people , matter most. .. . America should

 be standing with the Chinese people not their oppressors . '' Senate Majority L

eader George Mitchell , D-Maine , an important ally of the president 's on healt

h care and other major policy initiatives , also quickly criticized Clinton 's n

ew China policy . `` I disagree with the decision. .. . The experience of recent

 years has been that each concession to the Chinese Communist regime encourages 

its intransigence and I believe this will be the unfortunate result of this deci

sion , '' Mitchell said . `` It will confirm for the Chinese Communist regime th

e success of its policy of repression on human rights and manipulation on trade 

. It is likely to produce a result that is the opposite of what the president in

tends . '' Mitchell added that when Congress returns from its Memorial Day reces

s he will introduce legislation to reverse Clinton 's decision . That legislatio

n probably will be similar to bills sponsored by Mitchell and Rep. Nancy Pelosi 

, D-Calif. , during the Bush administration , attaching conditions to future ren

ewals of China 's trade status . ( Optional add end ) Bush repeatedly vetoed suc

h legislation , and , in 1992 , Clinton accused him of `` coddling dictators '' 

in China . During his presidential campaign , Clinton also specifically endorsed

 the idea of imposing human rights conditions on the renewal of China 's trade b

enefits . Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz. , defended the decision on policy grounds b

ut accused Clinton of adopting precisely the Bush administration policy that he 

assailed as cynical during the 1992 campaign . Renewing most favored nation stat

us for China `` is a sound , if politically embarrassing , decision , '' McCain 

said . Clinton said he believed he had reached the right decision and said he wa

s prepared to defend it against his critics . `` I want to make it clear to you 

I do not do this with rose-colored glasses on , '' Clinton said . `` I know ther

e will be , no matter which approach we take .. . continuing human rights proble

ms . ''

 CHICAGO The mail here has lately seemed defiant of the laws that govern time an

d space . Recent bill payments disappear into the void while bank statements fro

m 1988 suddenly show up . Tens of thousands of undelivered letters have been dis

covered in the oddest spots : smoldering under a railroad viaduct , rotting in a

 field , in the trunk of a postal carrier 's truck , stockpiled in a mailman 's 

suburban condo . Three times last week , people opened collection boxes around t

own only to be greeted by smoke streaming from the slots . `` Somebody doesn't w

ant the mail to be delivered , '' said Mark Szumny , rolling his eyes heavenward

 for clues while his daughters , one 6 years old , one 5 , jumped rope on the si

dewalk on a waning afternoon . The girls at play reminded him of something . An 

old friend of his wife 's sent cash when each was born . The money has yet to ar

rive . Since the dawn of the U.S. postal system , tales of astounding mishaps an

d misroutings have become part of American folklore . But those were isolated in

stances . Not so in Chicago . While Chicago may have slipped from Second City to

 third , it ranks highest on the Mail Misery index . A recent postal survey foun

d customers more unhappy with service in this city than anywhere else in the nat

ion . The satisfaction rating stands at 69 percent . The next-most troubled city

 , New York , scored 76 percent . Twenty-seven postal wizards from around the co

untry were imported in March to figure out what 's wrong here . Three top manage

rs were transferred out this month . Next week , supervisors and window clerks a

re scheduled to take training courses , and in coming months , each station is s

upposed to recruit a citizens advisory council . The U.S. Postal Service takes t

he uproar seriously , said Rufus F. Porter , interim postmaster for Chicago . Ab

out 1,500 early retirements in 1992 and this year 's severe winter took their to

ll , he said . But mostly , he added , `` it 's a matter of bad work habits on t

he part of our employees . It is embedded in the culture .. . and that was a dir

ect result of management inattention . '' The locals , some of whom have been co

mplaining for nearly a decade , remain pessimistic . `` The post office has not 

reached out to private consultants . It is still trying to use its own people , 

'' said Chicago Alderman Mary Ann Smith . `` They 've had shake-ups before but e

very time things as we say in this office returned to abnormal . '' Each day , t

he postal service is blamed for something else , from the lack of an audience fo

r the Bozo TV show hardly anyone got tickets to the decision of a mail-order cos

metics firm to move out to the suburbs . Leaders of the sizable Polish community

 report with fury that their letters to the homeland are ransacked frequently fo

r cash . Smith fumes . `` We 're not asking them to cure cancer , '' she said . 

`` We 're not asking them to build pyramids . We 're asking them to move pieces 

of paper from one place to another . '' ( Begin optional trim ) The first report

 from the postal task force , released earlier this month , found the worst prob

lems at five northside , lakefront post offices where 40 percent of the mail fac

ed delays . Service there is already improving , the troubleshooters said . Thos

e zip codes , however , are by no means the only ones that need help . David J. 

Craven , a 35-year-old attorney in the downtown Loop , specializes in customs an

d international trade law , but he also has become a reluctant connoisseur of po

stal blunders . He has noticed spotty deliveries since 1991 , but by January and

 February , the quality of service had deteriorated dramatically . On March 3 , 

for the first time in its seven-year history , his office received no mail at al

l . Craven was waiting for a U.S. . Customs opinion in a $ 5 million case . He c

hecked with another law firm on the 20th floor . Also no mail . Craven telephone

d the post office . When he got no satisfactory response , he took another tack 

. He wrote a letter . Four days later , the written complaint was returned to it

s sender . The address of the central post office 433 W. Van Buren was scratched

 out . The envelope was stamped `` NO SUCH ADDRESS . '' ( End optional trim ) In

 Chicago 's leafy Belmont-Cragin section , the brick bungalows and two-flats are

 filled with working-class families trading postal horror tales , fueled by the 

knowledge that 40,000 pieces of their mail turned up last month at their carrier

 's house . Firefighters found it when they answered an emergency call . Along t

he route , Diane Gaertner had missed two of the paychecks that her employer , an

 air-conditioning and heating company , sent to her apartment . `` It affects my

 life when I live from check to check and I 've got a son to raise , '' she said

 . The carrier , Robert Beverly , is suspected of having sifted through the mail

 for items he could sell or otherwise turn to profit , Porter said . He has been

 charged with felony theft . Beverly used his own car , an older Jaguar , on his

 route , which made hauling the stacks home that much easier . The Chicago distr

ict just doesn't have enough vehicles to supply one to every employee . But his 

replacement , Eddie Ponce , had a regulation truck the other day . `` They told 

me , ` Keep it clean , ' ' ' she said , when they assigned her to the route .

 The May ratings sweeps rundown conducted by CBS research boss David Poltrack on

e morning each spring usually draws only reporters looking for a late breakfast 

. Thursday in Manhattan , three days after the Fox-is-snatching-eight-CBS-affili

ates bombshell , the annual Poltrack Spinorama was jammed by members of the news

 media ( `` even Time magazine showed up ! '' exclaimed a CBS spokeswoman ) hopi

ng for some nugget from CBS executives . They got a few . CBS/Broadcast Group pr

esident Howard Stringer was on hand to staunchly defend broadcasting in general 

and CBS in particular which after all did cinch the primetime ratings crown for 

the third year in a row last month and enjoyed what Stringer called `` the most 

profitable season in history don't knock it . `` Programming , '' said Stringer 

, `` is what dominates broadcasting and we 've always been the champions . You c

an be a telephone company , you can be a cable company , but in the end the qual

ity of the original programming is what drives everything , and we have the best

 . '' He reminded reporters that `` in Louisville ( the people ) who ran the CBS

 affiliate there some years ago decided in their wisdom to go to ABC .. . they s

witched and we switched to UHF . . and we are in first place with that UHF stati

on . Because , luckily , our audience has a high school education and they can f

ind programs . `` They 're going to find our programming because it 's singular 

and distinctive and that strategy has worked . '' George Schweitzer , executive 

vice president of marketing and communications for the Broadcast Group , promise

d that `` the network plans aggressive marketing campaigns in those markets affe

cted . . . so that people will know where to find their ( CBS ) programs . '' ( 

Five CBS affiliates in Detroit , Atlanta , Cleveland , Tampa-St. Petersburg and 

Milwaukee will move to Fox by late fall ) . And each reporter was given a copy o

f a letter from CBS Television Network president Peter A . Lund , dispatched to 

advertisers and agencies , promising that `` CBS will maintain its coverage in e

very single market . We expect to maintain our circulation as well . As you may 

know , many of these ( defecting ) stations were underperforming the network ave

rage and frequently pre-empted our schedule . We project these changes will have

 no impact on our 1994-95 schedule . '' The word on the street in New York is th

at initially CBS is targeting ABC and NBC affiliates in Detroit , Atlanta and Da

llas ( where another potential New World CBS affiliate will switch to Fox someti

me next year ) in its drive to recover from the Fox attack . .

 MOSCOW In a remarkable letter written in 1973 to a Soviet leadership that was p

reparing to arrest and expel him , Alexander Solzhenitsyn concluded with a bold 

declaration of independence that must have seemed hopelessly quixotic to those w

ho received it . `` I long ago grew out of your shell , '' he told the absolute 

masters of one-sixth of the world 's territory . `` The things I write will be p

rinted regardless of your permission . I am ready to lay down my life . '' A few

 months later , `` The Gulag Archipelago , '' Solzhenitsyn 's devastating compil

ation of the horrors of Soviet repression , was circulating throughout the Weste

rn world and the author was a stateless exile , stripped of his Soviet citizensh

ip and deported to West Germany . Friday that long exile comes to an end as the 

famous writer and his family arrive in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East after

 a two-day journey from Cavendish , Vt. , where he spent all but two of his 20 y

ears of banishment in the West . Speaking in Anchorage , Alaska , moments before

 he boarded an Alaska Airlines plane that would fly him back home , the 75-year-

old writer praised Cavendish . With his son Stephan , 20 , translating , Solzhen

itsyn said : `` This was the most creative period in my life and the most produc

tive period in my life . '' He said he hoped to participate in a rebirth of Russ

ia comparable to what occurred in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich , wh

en a `` spiritual and moral '' recovery helped heal the wartime legacy . `` In t

he U.S.S.R. , none of this has happened at all , '' he said . `` The atmosphere 

remains heavily stained with communism . '' Solzhenitsyn plans to deliver some r

emarks in Vladivostok 's town square and spend a few days meeting with members o

f the community . Then he intends to set off for Moscow on a train journey acros

s the vast breadth of Russia in order to reacquaint himself with his native coun

try . He will find that much has changed , and not all of it to his liking . The

 Marxist system that Solzhenitsyn castigated in his 1973 letter as a `` dark un-

Russian whirlwind '' has collapsed , along with the Soviet empire that he descri

bed as a liability and a burden for his native land . But they have been replace

d by a raw and ragged society of extreme contrasts between rich and poor , incre

asingly awash in the Western pop culture that Solzhenitsyn repeatedly condemned 

during his exile . The writer 's many statements , issued through family members

 , that he intends to play no official or political role upon his arrival has no

t prevented a lively and at times rancorous debate among Russian intellectuals o

ver the impact of his return . `` Numerous representatives of the Moscow politic

al intelligentsia are tearing at each other 's throats regarding Solzhenitsyn , 

'' commentator Mikhail Leontiev wrote in Thursday 's issue of the Moscow newspap

er Sevodnya . `` It turns out that , irrespective of anyone 's likes or dislikes

 , Russia needs Solzhenitsyn. .. . It needs a national hero , rather than a poli

tical leader . Whether he lives up to this calling or not , time will tell . But

 there 's no one else in Russia at the moment . '' Leontiev and many others see 

Solzhenitsyn as an uncorrupted truth-teller who can fill the moral vacuum that h

as existed in Russia since the death of human rights activist Andrei Sakharov in

 1989 . But others especially the newly ascendent nationalists who lament the lo

ss of the Soviet empire dismiss Solzhenitsyn as an irrelevant figure from a bygo

ne era . `` Solzhenitsyn is returning to a country which he no longer knows .. .

 and which no longer knows him , '' said Shamil Sultanov , deputy editor of Zavt

ra , a stridently ultranationalist newspaper that has become a rallying point fo

r opponents of the current government . `` Solzhenitsyn was a fetish of Western 

intellectuals and certain political circles. .. . If you go to Ryazan or Smolens

k and ask people on the street who Solzhenitsyn is , 80 out of 100 willn't know 

. '' ( Begin optional trim ) The writer 's impending return has even touched off

 an outbreak of what might be called Gulag denial syndrome an attempt by some po

liticians and intellectuals to assert that the machinery of repression chronicle

d by Solzhenitsyn either never existed or was far less severe than he portrayed 

it . `` When he wrote ` Gulag ' he didn't have a single archival document in his

 hands , but now they teach Russian history according to Solzhenitsyn , '' said 

Alexander Nevzorov , a TV journalist turned ultranationalist politician . `` No 

one would take it into their heads to teach French history according to Dumas , 

'' he said . `` He is nothing more than a common writer , a storyteller . To me 

, Solzhenitsyn is no one . '' ( End optional trim ) In Vladivostok Thursday , pr

eparations for the exile 's return were decidedly low-key , and an informal samp

ling of public opinion in of the city revealed no great interest in Solzhenitsyn

 and some confusion about his identity . One man had the writer mixed up with Sa

kharov , while another was under the impression he was the director of a popular

 but trivial Soviet-era movie .

 WASHINGTON Resisting pressure from World Cup organizers , District of Columbia 

Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly decided Thursday to heed the advice of her police comma

nders and install a security fence around the field of Robert F. Kennedy Memoria

l Stadium for soccer matches there this summer . Kelly and D.C. . Police Chief F

red Thomas informed World Cup officials during an hourlong meeting Thursday that

 they saw no better alternative than the six-foot-high metal fence to prevent po

tentially rowdy soccer fans from charging the field . In recent weeks , the fenc

e has become a sharp point of contention between the city and soccer promoters ,

 who have worried that it could tarnish the sport 's image as it is showcased in

 the United States for the first time . World Cup organizers have tried to convi

nce the District that a barrier was unnecessary and could cause more safety prob

lems than it solved . The national director of the World Cup organizing committe

e , Alan Rothenberg , who only days ago said he was confident there would not be

 a fence at RFK , attended Thursday 's meeting with Kelly . But the mayor was un

swayed . She was not available for comment , but said in a statement that she su

pported the fence because `` the safety and security of fans , participants and 

the public has always been our overriding concern . '' Soccer officials were dis

appointed with Kelly 's decision , but said they did not believe it would advers

ely affect other World Cup preparations . `` I do disagree on this , '' Rothenbe

rg said . `` I think they city ( officials ) are being unduly swayed by looking 

at the worst examples of soccer violence. . . . There has never been those kind 

of ugly incidents at World Cup matches . '' The District will be one of only thr

ee cities in the country to use a fence for security during World Cup matches , 

which begin here June 19 . Soccer officials have dissuaded the six other cities 

that are sites for matches from using a fence . They are still in talks with Dal

las about a fence at the Cotton Bowl . The stadium at Stanford University has a 

permanent fence in place . Security has emerged as one of the leading elements o

f the city 's preparation for the World Cup , which is the most watched sporting

 event on the planet . Thousands of fans from overseas are expected to travel to

 Washington for the five matches at RFK , and law enforcement officials fear tha

t some of them could be troublemakers . District police are planning to deploy m

ore than 1,000 officers in various roles for World Cup events . District police 

, who have traveled overseas to study security measures at soccer matches , say 

the fence will be the easiest way to contain an unruly crowd . It also will be m

uch cheaper than putting scores of extra officers , at overtime pay , on the fie

ld during the matches . The fence costs $ 25,000 and will be paid for by a grant

 from the Department of Defense , police officials said .

 WASHINGTON President Clinton 's abandonment of the idea of linking trade with C

hina on human rights improvements represents a stunning reversal of the policies

 he espoused both during his 1992 presidential campaign and during his first yea

r in office . As recently as the past few weeks , in fact , Clinton administrati

on officials were insisting that without some further and meaningful steps in hu

man rights by the Beijing regime , there was no way the president could renew Ch

ina 's most-favored-nation , or MFN , trade privileges . In the end , Clinton si

mply caved in . And , in the process , his MFN debacle gave China a chance to de

monstrate the limits of American power and the hollowness of American fantasies 

of omnipotence . The United States found that it couldn't force China to change 

its human rights policies , at least not without imposing costs that American bu

sinesses were unwilling to bear . `` A great society , so large and with such bu

ilt-in habits does not change overnight , '' Clinton acknowledged Thursday , usi