Pseudo-realism in Peking .sx THE Prime Minister's rating is up in the polls .sx This may owe much to the alertness with which John Major has seized his opportunity to visit Washington and Moscow and portray himself on television and in the Press as a world statesman , hobnobbing on equal terms with the mighty of the earth , though it is not clear exactly what these lightning visits , which cannot have been carefully prepared , will have achieved .sx Mr Major cannot be accused of opportunism in making his third superpower visit to Peking .sx That was arranged long before the hardline Communists in Moscow made their despairing bid to turn back the tide of history .sx No doubt the Prime Minister would privately be happier if he were not today shaking hands with the Chinese leaders .sx These are the men who repressed the movement for democracy in Tiananmen Square two years ago with just that ruthlessness which the Soviet Communists , in their moment of trial , could not summon .sx What will Mr Major feel as he inspects an honour guard in that square , the symbol of the Chinese government's indifference to the principles of human rights that he upholds in the Soviet Union ?sx The official justification is couched in terms of realpolitik .sx Like it or not , the briefers murmur , China is there , and so are its rulers , and we must deal with them .sx And then there is Hong Kong .sx In 1997 China takes over , and the transfer of power will be even harder if Peking is not kept sweet .sx Douglas Hurd , the Foreign Secretary , argued in The Independent on Sunday that " a visit by the Prime Minister does not confer our seal of approval " , and he was back at the old stand on radio yesterday :sx Tiananmen Square was ghastly , but we must not isolate China .sx Mr Worldly Wiseman's advice should always be closely examined ; there is such a thing as pseudo-realism .sx According to Western human rights organisations , some 1,000 demonstrators were mowed down in Tiananmen Square , and in spite of cosmetic releases it is plain that thousands of members of the democracy movement are still in prison , some of them in abominable conditions .sx Torture , according to reliable reports , is widespread .sx At least 49 dissidents have been executed ; interestingly , it is the workers and the peasants who have paid for protest with their lives , while the students and the intellectuals have been less severely punished .sx Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries , those who have helped run an 'underground railway' to spirit dissidents out to Hong Kong , and Tibetan and Muslim protesters have all suffered .sx In the world's eyes , Mr Major does himself little good by hastening to shake hands with the authors of all this misery .sx Nor will he do himself much good in their eyes .sx China's ageing despots are hard men , hardened by decades of struggle and , yes , isolation .sx They will interpret Mr Major's visit as evidence of Britain's weakness , of British cynicism in denouncing human rights violations but being more concerned about the contracts to build Hong Kong's new airport and the survival of Hong Kong's capital markets .sx Nor is it true that the alternative to endorsing these ruthless Communist tyrannosaurs is to isolate them ; in a world where Communist dictatorship is retreat , it is they who would be isolating themselves if Mr Major did not give them spurious respectability .sx What is the TUC there for ?sx IT IS a quarter of a century since the late Lord Woodcock , then general secretary of the Trades Union Congress , asked his colleagues :sx " What are we here for ?sx " George Woodcock , that rare creature , the genuine working class man who was also an intellectual of the first rank , was rightly worried about how the movement would respond , after a long period of Conservative rule , to the demands of Harold Wilson's government .sx But , implicit in his appeal was the widely held belief that the TUC could play a powerful and constructive role in the nation's affairs .sx This belief is now open to question .sx Twenty-five years on , in Glasgow this week , TUC delegates are once again preparing themselves for a general election that they hope will result in the return of a Labour government .sx The unspoken question facing them is even more fundamental than that posed by Lord Woodcock .sx Does the TUC - can the TUC - serve any further , useful function ?sx Or should the carthorse finally be put out to grass ?sx The question is more urgent because of the failure of the conference called by the TUC in May to seek to define a new purpose for the federal body .sx The meeting had been rendered inevitable by the publicly expressed anxieties of two of the biggest unions , the Transport and General Workers and the General , Municipal and Boilermakers .sx Their criticisms reflected a widespread belief among affiliates that the TUC has not come to terms with the changes of the past decade , or with its own diminished role on the political and industrial stage .sx The most obvious of these changes has been the discrediting of the corporatist approach to the national governance .sx It was not only Margaret Thatcher who had grown disenchanted with incomes policies , national economic plans and the rest .sx So had the electorate .sx John Major shares the views of his predecessor , as does Neil Kinnock , who goes out of his way to signal his distance from the unions .sx Thatcherite reforms , which Mr Kinnock would not abandon , however much the TUC old guard huffs and puffs this week , further reduced the clout of politically motivated union barons .sx They did so by making it easier for moderate , rank-and-file members to have their say in an orderly , individual and secret manner about the attitudes adopted by their leaders .sx In any case , there is little point in the TUC lobbying a government that resolutely refuses to be lobbied - and less point in calling political strikes ( Days of Action , as the TUC called them ) if they are ignored by union members and Cabinet ministers alike .sx Ultimately , however , the TUC's crisis of purpose is a function of the changing nature of its affiliates .sx Mergers mean that the overwhelming majority of trade unionists are already members of a handful of large super - unions , well able to fight their respective corners .sx This centralising tendency will continue .sx These giant unions define their own political agendas , conduct their own research , undertake their own publicity and lobbying in Brussels as well as Westminster , and offer the services ( cut-price insurance , cheap holidays , bulk-purchased cars and the like ) that the highly competitive new unionism has to provide if it is to survive .sx If the TUC is unable to define a role , necessarily modest , and compatible with the new unionism , it will gradually wither away .sx A Soviet menu for all tastes .sx TWO WEEKS ago the Soviet Union completed the task of breaking with its past , which had occupied it for several painful years .sx Now it is turning its attention to the future , where two extremes lie in wait .sx On the one hand , its enormous human and material resources give it the potential to become a wealthy and successful extension of Europe .sx On the other , its unresolved ethnic tensions and inexperience in democracy could drag it down into conflict and misery .sx The auguries at the moment point tentatively in the more hopeful direction .sx Yesterday's meeting of the Congress of People's Deputies was skilfully handled , to avert the threatened revolt of the old guard .sx The meeting was presented with a plan designed to be all things to all people .sx The republics get their independence but the union is preserved .sx Precise details to be worked out later .sx This is independence a-grave la carte , with each republic invited to select its own arrangements from the menu .sx In essence it is a holding operation , but none the worse for that .sx For the Soviet people the plan offers reassurance that a single economic space will be preserved , to minimise the inevitable disruption and accelerate " radical economic reform " .sx There is also an appeal to the republics to grant equal rights to all their citizens and to protect the rights of minorities .sx The future peace of the region will depend on the extent to which such rights are observed .sx The outside world will be reassured by the plan to keep in being a central authority responsible for defence and international obligations , including treaties .sx The Congress is specifically asked to confirm " strict observations of all international agreements and obligations of the Soviet Union , including the question of arms cuts and control as well as foreign economic obligations .sx " .sx Foreign governments will also be relieved that a role has been preserved for Mikhail Gorbachev for the time being .sx While his powers will be limited under the plan , he may be slightly more secure in that he will probably be spared the need to face direct election .sx The union authority will consist of councils nominated by the republics , which will want to keep the choice of chairman in their own hands .sx They may , of course , decide on someone other than Mr Gorbachev , but presumably he will be given a chance to prove himself in the important role of manager , co-ordinator and conciliator .sx But the plan amounts , for the present , to no more than words .sx It consists of proposals , appeals and principles that have yet to be tested .sx At the moment it does not embrace republics that want full independence , the number of which may yet increase - or even diminish , if the new arrangements come to look attractive .sx There are some apparent contradictions .sx For instance , the republics are encouraged to seek membership of the United Nations , although the union is to remain responsible for foreign relations .sx Uncertainty also surrounds the armed forces , which are to be in some sense under central control while also subject to the authority of the republics in which they are stationed .sx Nevertheless , the plan offers a hopeful framework for the future , and something to hold on to while working out the next steps .sx It brings at least conceptual order to what had begun to look like pure confusion .sx Good news has to be celebrated while it lasts .sx The influence of David Owen .sx DAVID OWEN'S planned departure from party politics has been accompanied by harsh comments from many of his erstwhile colleagues .sx Lord Jenkins wrote in his memoirs of the former's " sheer abrasiveness " , adding :sx " I have never tried to work closely with anyone with whom it was so difficult to talk things out .sx " Sir David Steel commented in The Times yesterday :sx " He [Dr Owen] could not accept that there is more to politics than simply holding office .sx " .sx These judgements are at the same time perceptive , partial and prejudiced .sx Dr Owen remains an attractive personality , both to those who saw him on television or on public platforms - and to many of those who come into casual contact with him on private occasions .sx However , his abrasiveness , his arrogance , his short tempers and his refusal to suffer fools gladly were real .sx They came to serve him ill in his relationships with close colleagues .sx As the crisis of the Seventies and Eighties receded and the two-party system reasserted itself , Dr Owen was pushed to the margins .sx This process was all the more pronounced because he found necessary and honourable compromise distasteful - particularly when dealing with allies .sx Yet , paradoxically , Dr Owen could compromise , in the limited sense that he was always prepared to greet his opponents with outstretched arms if , in his opinion , they got something right .sx To a public sickened by the mindless knockabout of politics a decade ago , when it was unthinkable for the representatives of one major party to do anything but speak ill of their opposite numbers , Dr Owen's attitude seemed more like honesty than opportunism .sx As for the accusation that the Social Democratic Party's leader was preoccupied by his desire to hold high office , it simply does not wash .sx With a little trimming of sails he could have played a dominant role in the Labour Party or commanded a senior post in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher or John Major .sx He chose not to trim .sx Dr Owen may have demonstrated hubris .sx