A good doctor has a few basic characteristics: He or she never picks and chooses which patients to treat, never ignores those who need help and never tells a patient that everything is fine when it's not. If the doctor can't handle those requirements, then he or she is in the wrong profession.

The Clinton administration needs to decide what profession to be in.

In failing to take definitive action on China's human rights abuses, the administration is ignoring those who need help. Also, when President Clinton agreed to unconditionally extend favorable trade status to China eight months ago, the United States basically told all victims of the abuses that it didn't care.

When China's trade status came up for review, Clinton abandoned the annual practice of linking trade benefits to improvements in human rights. Instead, the administration privately hoped that by giving China an inch of support, Beijing would counter with a yard of change.

Since the time of that decision, China's human rights abuses have not improved at all. In fact, the situation has worsened a considerable degree.

There is still no accurate record of many Chinese students who were detained after the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, and a new State Department report calls China an authoritarian state. The report also accuses China of being a Communist country that "monopolizes all decision-making authority." Although China's failure to make progress on abuses is discouraging, it is also predictable.

The Clinton administration must not turn its back simply because China's human rights abuses do not directly affect the United States' oil supply or population. The United States can no longer pick and choose its battles and still maintain a true humanitarian position.

The United States must help those in need, regardless of domestic effects. Clinton should never have rewarded China with trade, for abuses in human rights.

The role of a doctor is often difficult, and the United States needs a shot in the arm.