THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 1, 1995 TAG: 9508010006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
China is too big to ignore, yet U.S.-China relations are presently described as being in free fall.
The Chinese are miffed because we've treated Taiwan as if it exists. We're angry because they have jailed a U.S. citizen and continue to trade arms with unsavory characters.
Last week, the House voted 416-10 to require closer monitoring of China's behavior. But when it came to inflicting real pain, the House flinched. It voted 321-107 to leave China's most-favored nation trade status intact.
So even those huffing and puffing the loudest about China's human rights abuses know we are going to have to negotiate patiently with the Chinese. They can neither be bullied nor ignored.
Once China was regarded as little more than a gigantic chess piece to play off against the Soviet Union. The end of the Cold War has changed all that. China is assuming its logical position as the center of an emerging Asian economic sphere. Half of Chinese economic activity is now in private hands. Foreign investment is pouring in. Trade is burgeoning. There are conflicting fears - that the United States could miss out on huge new markets, that China could become too dominant.
The old order is aging, but the new is not yet in place. Confusion is inevitable. At the same time, we're rethinking relations with Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam as a result of the end of the Cold War. But we haven't communicated our thinking very well.
Brent Scowcroft, National Security adviser under George Bush, says, ``The administration thinks their strategy is engagement; the Chinese think it's containment.''
We can't be responsible for the bogymen that China's geriatric leaders conjure. But we can't let the relationship deteriorate over misunderstandings either. It ought to be possible to be plain without ceasing to speak to one another. It's called diplomacy.
The Chinese need to know that we value good relations and mutually advantageous trade. At the same time, we cannot tolerate official abuse of American citizens, we reserve the right to criticize some Chinese practices and we find their arms sales to dangerous regimes counterproductive.
The trick is to keep talking with China as China changes. The dying generation will soon be gone. The development of a market economy is harder to reverse with each passing day. Time is on our side if we stay engaged, allay the fears of the leadership, yet press our points. We'd also be wise to tone down the rhetoric, much of which is for domestic consumption. As a new China come into being, it is in the interest of the United States to be present at the creation. by CNB