DATE=4/7/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-43044 TITLE=U-S / CHINA / CHANGING RELATIONS BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S POLICY TOWARD CHINA HAS CHANGED CONSIDERABLY SINCE PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON'S HISTORIC TRIP TO BEIJING IN 1972. AS V-O-A'S STEPHANIE MANN REPORTS, THE ISSUES ON THE AGENDA FOR TOMORROW'S (THURSDAY'S) TALKS BETWEEN PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VISITING CHINESE PRIME MINISTER ZHU RONGJI WERE NOT EVEN PART OF THE PICTURE IN THE 1970'S. TEXT: FORMER U-S CONGRESSMAN LEE HAMILTON HAS CLOSELY OBSERVED U-S POLICY TOWARD CHINA FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES. AS THE FORMER CHAIRMAN AND RANKING MEMBER OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CHAIRMAN OF ECONOMIC AND INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEES, THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY MANY ASPECTS OF U-S / CHINESE RELATIONS. WHEN MR. HAMILTON WAS FIRST ELECTED AND JOINED THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN 1965, THE UNITED STATES STILL RECOGNIZED THE NATIONALIST GOVERNMENT ON TAIWAN AS THE LEGITIMATE CHINESE GOVERNMENT. CONGRESSMAN HAMILTON DESCRIBES THE ATMOSPHERE AT THAT TIME. // HAMILTON ACT ONE // WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH (MAINLAND) CHINA BACK THEN. THAT WAS BEFORE (PRESIDENT) NIXON WENT TO CHINA. THE VIETNAM WAR SET THE WHOLE TONE. BUT EVEN MORE THAN THE WAR, THE SOVIET AMERICAN RELATIONSHIP, WHICH OF COURSE WAS MARKED BY GREAT HOSTILITY AND ANTAGONISM, WAS THE OVERRIDING CONCERN OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AT THE TIME. SO, WHEN I WENT TO CONGRESS, WE HAD NO RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA. TODAY, OF COURSE, WE DO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP OF ENGAGEMENT. SO, IT'S TURNED AROUND COMPLETELY. // END ACT // MR. HAMILTON SAYS IN THE 1970'S -- THE EARLY DAYS OF TIES BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND BEIJING -- THE UNITED STATES VIEWED EVERY INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM THROUGH WHAT HE CALLS THE PRISM OF THE COLD WAR. THE POLICY OF CONTAINMENT (I.E. CONTAINING COMMUNISM) WAS THE RATIONALE FOR AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, HE SAYS, AND THAT SHAPED U-S ATTITUDES TOWARD CHINA. THE FORMER CONGRESSMAN SAYS WASHINGTON DID NOT DEAL WITH CHINA AS CHINA, BUT ONLY AS A TOOL -- THE SO-CALLED "CHINA CARD" -- IN THE COLD WAR STRUGGLE WITH THE SOVIET UNION. MR. HAMILTON, WHO RETIRED FROM CONGRESS THIS YEAR, IS NOW DIRECTOR OF THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS -- A WASHINGTON ORGANIZATION THAT BRINGS TOGETHER SCHOLARS AND POLICY MAKERS. OVER THE YEARS, HE HAS MADE A FEW VISITS TO CHINA, AND REMARKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY'S CHANGES -- SAYING CHINA HAS UNDERGONE ENORMOUS AND DYNAMIC GROWTH. /// OPT /// CONGRESSMAN HAMILTON HAS MET SEVERAL CHINESE LEADERS, BEGINNING WITH THE LATE PREMIER ZHOU ENLAI. // HAMILTON ACT TWO // // OPT ACT // VERY URBANE, VERY SOPHISTICATED, VERY WITTY, VERY CONFIDENT MAN, VERY SURE OF HIMSELF. THEN I REMEMBER DENG XIAOPING, NOT SO MUCH FROM VISITS TO CHINA, BUT WHEN HE CAME OVER TO THIS COUNTRY TO VISIT. YOU HAD TO LOOK TWICE IN A ROOM TO FIND HIM -- HE WAS SO SHORT. // END ACT // HE HAS ALSO MET PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN AND PRIME MINISTER ZHU RONGJI. // HAMILTON ACT THREE // // OPT ACT // OVERALL A FASCINATING GROUP OF LEADERS, ENORMOUSLY CAPABLE, VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON THE CHINESE NATIONAL INTEREST. AND YOU GOT A REAL SENSE OF THAT COUNTRY FROM THEIR LEADERS. // END ACT // // END OPT // WHEN PRIME MINISTER ZHU RONGJI MEETS WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON AT THE WHITE HOUSE, THEY ARE EXPECTED TO DISCUSS SOME IMPORTANT PROBLEMS IN THE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP. THESE INCLUDE TRADE DIFFERENCES, WORRIES ABOUT CHINESE WEAPONS PROLIFERATION, ALLEGATIONS OF CHINESE SPYING IN THE UNITED STATES, AND AMERICAN CONCERNS OVER CHINA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD. CONGRESSMAN HAMILTON SAYS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF SINO-AMERICAN RELATIONS, THOSE ISSUES WERE NOT EVEN -- IN HIS WORDS -- ON THE RADAR SCREEN. TWO-WAY TRADE WAS NOT LARGE ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT, AND HE SAYS HE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AT THAT TIME IN THE CONTEXT OF CHINA. // OPT // TODAY, WHEN U-S AND CHINESE LEADERS MEET, THE U-S SIDE OFTEN PRESENTS LISTS OF NAMES OF POLITICAL DISSIDENTS ASKING THEY BE FREED FROM PRISON. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF SINO-U-S TIES, THE TURMOIL OF CHINA'S CULTURAL REVOLUTION WAS UNDERWAY AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS WERE EVEN MORE CURTAILED THAN TODAY. U-S CHINA EXPERTS POINT OUT THAT DENG XIAOPING HIMSELF WAS BEING PUNISHED AT THAT TIME FOR HIS POLITICAL VIEWS, AND U-S LEADERS NEVER RAISED HIS NAME IN MEETINGS WITH CHAIRMAN MAO ZEDONG OR PREMIER ZHOU ENLAI. // END OPT // AFTER THE CHINESE CRACKDOWN ON THE 1989 DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT, U-S / CHINESE RELATIONS SUNK TO A LOW POINT. WASHINGTON IMPOSED ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST BEIJING, AND CHINA WAS ANGERED AT U-S CRITICISM OF ITS HANDLING OF THE PROTESTS, ACCUSING THE UNITED STATES OF MEDDLING IN ITS INTERNAL AFFAIRS. OVER THE PAST DECADE, RELATIONS GRADUALLY IMPROVED, BUT TENSIONS FLARED PERIODICALLY OVER TAIWAN, TRADE AND HUMAN RIGHTS. IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN AND PRESIDENT CLINTON MADE RECIPROCAL VISITS TO WASHINGTON AND BEIJING. CONGRESSMAN HAMILTON SAYS THAT HELPED RESTORE MOMENTUM IN THE RELATIONSHIP, BUT HE SAYS THERE HAVE BEEN SETBACKS IN RECENT MONTHS AND THE MOMENTUM HAS BEEN LOST. MR. HAMILTON SAYS PRIME MINISTER ZHU'S CURRENT U-S VISIT IS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR THE TWO COUNTRIES TO TRY TO PUT THE RELATIONSHIP BACK ON A MORE CONSTRUCTIVE COURSE. // REST OPTIONAL // IN A SPEECH A DAY BEFORE HIS MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER ZHU, PRESIDENT CLINTON ALSO NOTES THE CHANGING NATURE OF AMERICAN ATTITUDES TOWARD CHINA. SINCE THE START OF THIS CENTURY, SAYS MR. CLINTON, AMERICANS HAVE SEEN CHINA AS A PLACE FOR CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES, AS A SOURCE OF WEALTH FOR AMERICAN TRADERS, AS AN ALLY IN WORLD WAR TWO, AND AS AN ADVERSARY IN THE KOREAN WAR. // CLINTON ACT // MORE RECENTLY, MANY AMERICAN HAVE LOOKED TO CHINA TO SEE EITHER THE WORLD'S NEXT GREAT CAPITALIST TIGER AND AN ENORMOUS MOTHERLOAD OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR AMERICAN COMPANIES AND AMERICAN WORKERS, OR THE WORLD'S LAST GREAT COMMUNIST DRAGON AND NEXT GREAT THREAT TO FREEDOM AND SECURITY. FOR A LONG TIME, IT SEEMS TO ME, WE HAVE ARGURED ABOUT CHINA WITH COMPETING CARICATURES. IS THIS A COUNTRY TO BE ENGAGED OR ISOLATED? IS THIS A COUNTRY BEYOND OUR POWER TO INFLUENCE, OR A COUNTRY THAT IS OURS TO GAIN AND OURS TO LOSE? // END ACT // PRESIDENT CLINTON SAYS THE UNITED STATES CANNOT AFFORD USING CARICATURES TO UNDERSTAND CHINA. AND HE SAYS THE TWO COUNTRIES MUST WORK TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE. (SIGNED) NEB/SMN/GE 07-Apr-99 12:09 PM EDT (1609 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .