U.S.China Relations Enter the 21st Century
James Sasser *
New York, March 31, 1998
Speeches and Transcripts: 1998
During my two years as ambassador to China, I have often been reminded of Disraelis observation that there is no education like adversity. And boy have I received an education. Even before I set out on assignment to China in early 1996, our bilateral relationship was at low tide. Taiwan President Lee Teng Hui had visited Cornell the previous fall and Beijing was still alarmed about what it believed was Lees attempt to elicit American support for a two China policy. By the time I finally arrived at postafter getting a different kind of education in adversity in Washington, known as the confirmation processthe Chinese military was conducting exercises and firing missiles in the straits off the coast of Taiwan.
I wish I could lay claim that Jim Sasser rescued both sides from folly, but, in fact, our leaders had already made a clear-headed assessment of the straits we were in. And recognized there were better alternatives. If we learned anything from the adversity of that period, it was the need to break the cycle of confrontation followed by grudging civility that defined our relationship in the early 1990s. Our relationship has come far in two years.
Today we can work cooperatively with the Chinese on a number of important issuesand press them candidly on our differences when we cannot. And they have learned, in turn, that ours is a policy of engagement, not containment. But as Secretary Albright has emphasized, engagement is not endorsement. No one should think that our concerns about such vital matters as human rights or proliferation have been either satisfied or swept under the rug. We continue to press the Chinese on these matters. And while problems clearly remain, the recent track record shows our approach is working.
For America, the strategic benefits of our official dialogue are tangible, clear and growing. We are not yet where we want to be, nor has China evolved as rapidly or thoroughly as some had hoped. But the direction we are going is clear: greater interaction, based on Chinas acceptance ofand adherence tointernational norms. As a result, in the past two years, China and America have entered into serious discussions about how we can build toward a constructive strategic partnership for the 21st century. And about how we can cooperate as responsible members of a rules-based international community.
At the summit meeting in Washington in October, our two presidents had frank public and private exchanges and our leaders were able to make some very important commitments:
In the months since the summit, we have accelerated our efforts to addressas Presidents Clinton and Jiang said in their summit statementthe challenges confronting uscooperatively where possible, with candor and a determination to achieve progress.
In recent weeks, the Embassy in Beijing has hosted a number of delegations dedicated to furthering bilateral dialogue. They signal a return to normalcy in the way we engage one another. A checklist of visitors would include, among others:
Secretary Cohens visit and his signing of a military maritime agreementwhich will reduce the risk of incidents at seawas an important outgrowth of the summit, it was also a further illustration that Americas securityin Asia and elsewheredepends, in part, on our respective militaries having a better understanding of one anothers strategic doctrines and concerns.
A host of Chinese visitors have also been traveling to America, including the minister of justice who was recently appointed Chinas chief judge. We would like to see even more visits by Chinese at all levels. Invariably, direct exposure to our society impresses visitors. They come away understanding that America works. Not just in the sense of producing goods and services but also as a society dedicated to educating people to take responsibility for their own lives and giving them the tools and opportunities to do so.
What was so noteworthy about the private visit of the religious leaders was that they were able to convey directly to their Chinese hosts the importance we attach to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The administrations strong support for the religious leaders visit showed that we remain steadfast in our conviction that human rights encompass more than the freedom from want.
A major area of disagreement between the United States and China has been human rights. We recognize that the Chinese people today possess many more options in their daily lives than did their parents. Progress has also been made in revising civil and criminal law and permitting a degree of choice in village elections. China is changing; but the governments repression of political dissent has not been changed. Chinas release of Wei Jinsheng was a major step in the right direction, cheered throughout the world. Another encouraging sign is Beijings recent pledge to sign the U.N. covenant on political and civil rights. Of course, what it does in practice is more important than what it does on parchment. But such declarations have their own value in setting standards that the international community has reason to hope will someday be met. Consider how, for instance, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act has helped transform another part of the world that today is hardly recognizable.
In a changing China, the people today enjoy more, higher incomes, more economic freedoms, increased access to outside sources of information, and greater individual choice. According to an October Gallup Poll survey of 3,700 Chinese households nationwide, the Chinese people expect even more of policies which have produced a veritable explosion of activitywhich if not full-fledged capitalism is clearly market-based. They expect dramatic improvement in the quality of their lives over the next five years.
The survey found that many people want better products and services. Better educational opportunities for their children. And they want better government and less corruption. Key issues addressed at the recent Peoples Congress. Within the limits imposed by state censorship, Chinas 2,200 newspapers keep these themes in the forefront. While they rarely dissent from the political orthodoxy, the Chinese media today are as apt to print an article or broadcast a report about the need for good governance as on the importance of observing political discipline. These are remaining clear signals of the governments need to deliver on more than just its economic agenda to remain in power.
The recently concluded National Peoples Congress put its stamp of approval to personnel changes and institutional reorganization to streamline government and strengthen accountability and responsibility. Reducing the number of governmental ministriesprimarily economic onesby one-quarter, and eliminating one-third to one-half of central government bureaucratsare steps that would warm the heart of anyone who believes in downsizing, especially in our nations capital.
In this instance, at least in principle, China is trying to develop what some, like Brookings scholar Harry Harding, have called small government in a big societythat is, reducing administrative fiat in economic decision-making and removing government institutions from direct management of enterprises. The key, of course, will be whether changes in ministerial names and responsibilities signal real changes in the way government does business. The question is easy to pose. The answer is less easy. Given the challenges this new leadershipcompetent but cautiousfaces, I suspect that progress in the political realm over the next few years will be carefully orchestrated to ensure that the foundations of one party rule remain unshaken. Clearly, the economic successes of the past two decades provide a good case for Chinas loosening central control and restraints of all kinds.
It is too early to predict what effect the financial crisis in Asia will have on China, but Chinas leaders have expressed concern that the growth of exports and contracted investment, the most dynamic sectors of the economy in recent years, will decline. Chinas plan to pump a trillion dollars into much needed infrastructure projects in the next few years likely signals a recognition that domestic investment may help fuel the next round of economic prosperity. The key questions arecan growth be maintained while moving forward on the state-owned enterprise and banking reforms necessary to restructure the economy? And can displacedand disaffectedworkers be provided for in the process? It is a difficult balancing act, to be surebetween maintaining stability and sustaining reformbut it is one that we hope the leadership will tackle now.
The domestic challenges confronting China are compounded externallyby changing world trade patterns and the financial tension gripping much of Asia today. One sign that China understands its responsibilities is its decision not to devalue its currency. Every single one of Chinas leaders has made this commitment. The peoples Congress again reaffirmed the countrys determination not to devalue. Such an action, Chinas leaders recognize, would not have been in Chinas interest. It would have created problems for the Hong Kong dollar, fueled a round of inflation in China, and weakened investor confidence in Chinas economy. Chinas leaders are inflation fighters first and fiscal reformers second. Such an action also would have fueled a round of competitive devaluations in the region, undermining the recovery of fragile economies committed to austerity programs. These are economies to which China would like to increase its exports and from which China wants to attract investment.
In addition, as part of its growing responsibility in the regionand recognition that its own economic development cannot proceed in a vacuumChina has contributed to International Monetary Fund efforts to bail out Thailand. It has also participatedor will participatein meetings in Washington to help strengthen the international financial system and to find ways to reduce the risks posed by the globalization of financial services.
We welcome Chinas responsive actions on regional financial issues. Chinas leaders have some experience with economic crises. In 1992, when high inflation threatened to short-circuit Chinas growth, they acted to sustain economic growth, attract new capital flows, and enhance financial stability. As successful as they were then, they were still unable to address well three key issues.
America has much to offer China as it tries to reach those objectives. As China integrates its economy more fully with the worlds we look forward to an economic dialogue as vigorous and varied as the one that now defines our strategic engagement. As China searches for new models of economic organization to replace its old state-owned enterprise system, it could do no better than to look at how Americas small and medium-sized enterprises have helped sustain the dynamism of our seven trillion dollar economy.
Already, the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Reserve Board, the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce are engaged in wide-ranging discussions with their Chinese counterparts. And we know that China is working to convert the Peoples Bank of China into a more independent and effective institution, drawing on some of the features of our own Federal Reserve System. One of the best compliments you can pay to Premier Zhu is that he has the fiscal instincts of Alan Greenspanand then to hear the premier reply, with a smile, that he is more conservative than that. He is so intent on ensuring that Chinas leaders get the economic fundamentals right this time around that he has become the chief loan officer of China.
As we pursue our economic dialogue, one question keeps coming upwhen will China accede to the World Trade Organization? I wish I knew the answer. We have stated that we need a commercially meaningful protocol of accession to close out our discussions with China. That means we want to be able to compete in this huge economy. The WTO is about even-handed rules and fair competition; you dont join and then decide that the rules apply to most everyone else but not, until further notice, to you.
The administration is committed to working with Chinas WTO negotiating team anywhere, anytime to come up with strategies to promote our mutual interests. But we must end up with a detailed agreementa contractthat responds to U.S. business interests.
We are traveling in the right direction toward the same destination, but there are bumps along the way. I would hope that we will see real progress prior to the presidents visit. That visit, I am persuaded, will define our relationship during the last few years of the Clinton administration and into the 21st century. It should accomplish a number of things. First, just as President Jiangs visit to the United States in October laid the groundwork for a more formal relationship, I believe President Clintons trip will create the framework needed to build upon in the coming decades. A program of cooperation for and into the 21st century, if you will. A program of cooperation in health care, the environment, and energy. A program of cooperation that will increase the flow of scholars, journalists, professionals, and ordinary citizens. A program that will enrich our relationship.
Second, Presidents Clinton and Jiang will have substantive discussions not only of the economic issues Ive outlined today, but on matters of national security as well. They will work to promote what President Jiang called our joint responsibility to ensure the peace of the world in the 21st century.
Finally, just as the people of China came to appreciate the richness of American life during President Jiangs trip to the United States, so will the people of the United States be able to view the richness of Chinaa great culture and a changing societyduring President Clintons trip.
The media images will help shorten the distance between us. As the president reaches out to the Chinese, we will meet a people who in many respects are like ourselvesproud of their heritage, hard-working, patriotic, and family-oriented, people seeking a better life for themselves and their children, and looking optimistically to the future. I know of no better kind of exchange than on at this high level to dispel the misperceptions that had grown up between us about who we are and what we want.
Let me conclude with a few thoughts about the new country. First new forms of communication, transportation and technology will make it even more imperative that we address problems in non-traditional ways. The forum on energy and the environment which Vice President Gore helped inaugurate in China last year and discussions we have had with China on climate change are new ways of thinking about how we can enhance the quality of life for our people.
Second, despite what has happened in Asia since last July, and despite the storm clouds that currently hang over Asias future, the 21st century will still be a century of great achievement for the AsiaPacific, including China. And the lessons learnedadversity, if you will, the subject I started withwill mean stronger and even more dynamic economies for the nations of the region.
Third, the 21st century will also be the second American century. Our democratic values and democratic vision will continue to attract those who know that the best societies are those in which individuals can choose for themselves who will govern and what kind of lives they will lead.
Finally, what of China and America in the 21st century? Much will dependas I said earlieron how was as an established power engage China as an emerging one. We are both societies in transition, changing to meet the demands of a shrinking world. We likely wont always see eye-to-eye about the implications of those changes and how they will affect us, but the quality of our dialogue over the next few years will have certainly been enhanced by the wisdom of the policy we have pursued in the last few.
*: James R. Sasser is the U.S. Ambassador to the Peoples Republic Of China. Back.