China Trade Status Strategically Important to U.S., Asia
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2000 -- A congressional rejection of
permanent normal trading relations with China would have
serious strategic repercussions on the United States and
Asia, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said.
Cohen, speaking to the Asia Society here May 10, said when
the United States has positive relations with China "that
sends a powerful message to all the Asia Pacific
countries."
Congress is due to vote on permanent trade status for China
during the week of May 22. Receiving permanent trade status
is a marker on the path for the Chinese joining the World
Trade Organization.
Cohen told the Asia Society that all in the region can take
comfort that the United States is "constructively engaged"
with China. "How we treat China, how we relate to them,
will be critically important in terms of the path they will
take in the future," he said.
Cohen quoted former Secretary of State Jim Baker as saying
"If you go looking for an enemy, you'll find one." He said
the United States must convey to the Chinese that America
is not looking for enemies, but friends.
"There are bound to be areas of disagreement," Cohen said.
"We have areas of disagreement with our closest friends.
But it is incumbent on us as a world power to make sure
that we are always prepared to constructively engage China
and other countries with diplomacy, backed up certainly by
a strong military, which I support."
Cohen said as China grows more important to the region and
world, "it will grow more open." He called it "sheer folly"
to believe the world can "contain" China. "And the notion
that China is somehow immune from change is also folly," he
added. He illustrated his point by comparing the conditions
he saw on his first visit to Beijing, China, in 1978 and
those today.
In 1978, he said, there were few private cars, people wore
the ubiquitous Mao suits and men and women couldn't hold
hands in public.
"Today you will find a thriving metropolis," he said. "You
will find a country that has been dramatically changed.
It's not where we would like to see it in terms of its
human rights yet. It is not yet there in terms of their
trading practices. But we have the opportunity to work and
engage China in a way that is beneficial to all concerned."
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