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There are times when silence supplies at least as eloquent a commentary as any number of public statements. And the reluctance of either Washington or Beijing in recent days to address the many questions relating to a Chinese dissident who escaped from house arrest to the sanctuary of the US embassy has spoken volumes: about the edginess of relations between the two countries, about cultural conflicts, and about the true gravity of the situation. The communications that have doubtless been flying between the two capitals can only be imagined. For this is the stand-off neither country wanted.