Clinton’s China Visit Objectives, Achievements & Failures

18 Jul, 1998    ·   126

D. Suba Chandran says the real gainer of Mr. Clinton’s China visit is not the US but China


Mr. Clinton’s visit to China marks a great shift in American foreign policy towards China , particularly after that tensed period, in which there were serious allegations and counter charges over the Taiwan Straits missile issue hardly two years ago. Why did Clinton go in the face of severe criticism in the Congress and the Senate? What were the Chinese calculations behind extending the invitation when there was a predominantly anti-Chinese feeling in the US legislature and common public? Growing economic interests between the two countries, South East Asian Currency crisis and the tensed security scenario in the South Asian subcontinent and the Korean peninsula seem to have been some of the reasons for the Sino-US rapprochement.

 

 

Even before Mr. Clinton landed on Chinese soil, there were great expectations on both the sides. Both China and US had their own agenda, to be discussed during Mr. Clinton’s visit. The US interests were mainly based on the issues of trade, non-proliferation, human rights, Taiwan and Tibet , and the emerging security scenario both at the regional level and at the global level.

 

 

The primary objective of the US is to boost trade between China and US. The US trade with China has tripled in the last decade and China is willing to receive more Boeing aircrafts and American technology. Further the US has plans to exploit sectors such as banking, insurance etc once China starts opening its market. For China , increased trade with the US will give an additional leverage in its effort to enter into WTO, besides receiving the much-wanted American technology.

 

 

Secondly, the US wants to arrive at an agreement with China on the issue of ‘de-targeting’ nuclear missiles at each other’s major cities, besides making progress on the alleged transfer of technology and weapons, both nuclear and conventional.

 

 

Thirdly, the US expects China to advance its political and human rights as Mr. Clinton openly told " I will press ahead on human rights in China , with one goal in mind, making a difference."

 

 

With Mr. Clinton’s visit now over let us see how much Mr. Clinton was able to achieve. On the first issue the US signed seven contracts with China worth $2 billions, which include the sale of 27 Boeing air crafts, turbine power generators and two million tons of chemical fertilizers, thus making a major progress.

 

 

On the issue of non-proliferation, Clinton was able to achieve only an agreement that " they would no longer target nuclear weapons at each others country". Besides both the leaders issued a joint statement calling upon India and Pakistan to stop any further nuclear tests and to sign the CTBT "immediately and unconditionally". China is the major gainer over this issue as it was able to put away the American pressure over MTCR and also was able to get away with its assistance to Pakistan and Iran in terms of nuclear and conventional weapons and technology. On the other hand, Mr. Clinton, by not achieving anything significant over this issue, will have to face severe criticism both within and outside his country.

 

 

On the issue of Tibet, Clinton was able to convey only the message that Dalai Lama is a "honest man" and if the President of China had a conversation with Dalai Lama " they would like each other", besides agreeing to the Chinese point that Tibet is a Chinese territory. President Zemin scored a point over the issue of Tibet , that there would be talks with Dalai Lama only "if he acknowledges that Tibet is a part of China and at the same time acknowledge that Taiwan is a province of China ".

 

 

In the equally sensitive issue of Taiwan , China expects the US to recognize only one legitimate Chinese government. Mr. Clinton reaffirmed the ‘One-China’ policy of the US while encouraging more direct talks with Taipei and Beijing . Thus on Taiwan and Tibet , Mr. Clinton did not achieve anything spectacular.

 

 

Finally even on the question of human rights, Mr. Clinton was able to achieve very little. All he could say over the issue of human rights is that "this is not China at its best" and the Tiananmen crackdown as "wrong". China replied firmly over the question of human rights and Tiananmen. President Zemin defended Tiananmen in terms of "political disturbances", whereas a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing categorically replied that China is "opposed to any foreign country’s interference in China ’s internal affairs by the excuse of human rights".

 

 

The US thus could achieve only its economic objective in the just concluded American President’s visit to China . Failing any positive assurance from the US over the issue of its entry into WTO, China did not lose anything. On the other hand the US has sent confused signals to Japan , Korea and APEC, through its sudden discovery of China as a strategic partner with special responsibility to the future of the world. Also the much-cherished ideals of the US such as democracy, human rights, non-proliferation etc. received a setback at the end of Clinton ’s visit to China . The real gainer of Mr. Clinton’s China visit is not the US but China .

 

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