Bush signals new realism in China policy
Paul
Don Feder)
February 20, 2001
Bush signals new realism in China policy
On Jan. 20, the Chinese Politburo went into deep mourning. For the People's
Republic, the Clinton presidency was a dream come true. But developments
last week would indicate that for China, 2001 could be the Year of the Rude
Awakening. Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized religious oppression
in China. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Beijing's opposition to
missile defense wasn't a consideration and hinted that Taiwan might benefit
from such a system.
The White House says it will soon decide on whether to sell sophisticated
weaponry to the Taipei. Constructive engagement hasn't quite been buried,
but it seems to be assuming room temperature.
In eight years, Clinton's pendulum swung from trashing his predecessor for
"coddling" the "Butchers of Beijing" to hailing the butchers as our
"strategic partners." He stood in Tiananmen Square (site of the 1989
butchery) and criticized not the PRC's bloodbath, but Taiwan's desire to
avoid the chopping block.
If Clinton's policy had come stamped "Made in the China," it could hardly
have been more pro-PRC. Bill succeeded in decoupling China's trade status
from human-rights considerations.
Export controls were relaxed. On dual-use technology, authority to grant
export licenses was transferred from the security-conscious Defense
Department to business-as-usual Commerce. Beijing went shopping in our
technology market and took home 603 high-speed computers, so useful in
designing and testing nuclear weapons.
Officers of the Peoples Liberation Army visited U.S. military bases and were
exposed to our strategic thinking, on the bizarre theory this sharing would
lead to mutual trust.
State-owned Chinese firms were allowed to penetrate our capital markets. Due
in part to Clinton's insouciance, a Hong Kong firm with close ties to
Beijing now operates port facilities on both ends of the Panama Canal.
While passionately pursuing China's totalitarian rulers, Clinton
cold-shouldered one of the most democratic governments in Asia.
He threatened to veto the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act (passed by the
House of Representatives by a margin of 370-41 last year), which would
mandate the sale of certain advanced weapons to Taipei.
Nothing could be allowed to upset the touchy tyrants of the Middle Kingdom.
And nothing could interfere with the one-sided China trade -- by which
Beijing finances its military expansion.
Between 1992 and 1999, the United States ran a cumulative trade deficit with
the Peoples Republic of $391 billion -- more by a third than the entire U.S.
defense budget for the coming fiscal year.
The PRC has used this wealth transfer to buy advanced weapons systems from
Europe, including airborne early warning radar, air-to-surface missiles, new
jet fighters and submarines. It has deployed more than 200 missiles capable
of carrying nuclear warheads opposite Taiwan -- a number scheduled to grow
to 5,000 within four years.
Even the establishment media, which normally finds criticism of China
alarmist, is voicing concern.
Last November, The Washington Post ran a story that noted, "In government
pronouncements, stories in the state-run press, books and interviews,"
Beijing increasingly refers to America as "Enemy No. 1."
Digging out from under the rubble of Clinton's China policy is a very
long-term project. How far George W. Bush will take us down the road to
realism remains to be seen. The president has a pronounced corporate
orientation, seen in his support last year of so-called Permanent Normal
Trade Relations with the abnormally aggressive Peoples Republic.
The man rumored to be Bush's pick for ambassador to Beijing is Hong
Kong-based trade lawyer Clark Randt Jr. To rescue a China policy hopelessly
enthralled to business interests, Randt's background does not bode well.
Still, compared to others under consideration (like ex-Sen. Rod Grams, a
cheerleader for technology transfers to the Middle Kingdom), Rant may be the
best we can hope for.
This administration is guaranteed to be an improvement over the last. But
after almost a decade of a pandereing to our greatest security threat, a
whole new direction is needed.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
chud...@ix.netcom.com
It sure as hell wasn't from policies of Deadbeat Traitor Dutch!
It was due to FREE TRADE, AKA constructive engagement!
The Washington Post, "Pravda on the Potomac" is a CIA organ!
Paul
stirred up trouble in Eastern Europe! They were not able to feed and beat
their sheep at the same time! The Gipper bluffed them with Star Wars. You
can't change History! You are either a dupe or a prevaricator!
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