Thursday May 13 1999 SCMP
Beijing vows to beat back Nato
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
Beijing is to abandon Deng Xiaoping's
low-profile foreign policy to beat back the
challenges of a fast-expanding
Washington-led Nato.
The rethink came about since the bombing of
the Belgrade Embassy, when leading
Politburo members and their advisers
discussed how to counter what they regarded
as a deliberate trampling of Chinese
sovereignty.
"The Politburo Standing Committee has
decided that if the Washington-led Nato has
its way in Europe, it will next target China," a
diplomatic source in Beijing said.
"The elite body has endorsed a number of
measures to seize the initiative through
asserting itself in foreign policy."
Among the recommendations given
preliminary approval are:
Playing a more aggressive role in the United
Nations. Sensing that President Bill Clinton is
considering using a UN-backed peace plan as
a face-saving measure to retreat partially from
Yugoslavia, Beijing has insisted Nato ends air
strikes before endorsing the scheme.
But should a UN peace-keeping force that
meets Beijing's approval be formed, the Jiang
leadership has signalled its willingness to
dispatch PLA officers.
Analysts said this was a rare gesture of
commitment given Beijing's traditional
reluctance to join international peace-keeping
efforts.
Developing a world-class arsenal, particularly
missiles, to counter the "Nato military
machine". Beijing has served notice on the
US that unless Nato reins in its aggressive
tendencies, it will delay ratification of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Diplomats
said Chinese strategists had engaged in vague
talk about the resumption of an active nuclear
development programme.
Forming a potential anti-Nato alliance. Beijing
is working with Moscow to ensure the
"multi-polar nature" of the new world order.
Further "anti-hegemonistic" plans are to be
worked out in a November summit between
President Jiang Zemin and President Boris
Yeltsin.
A Western diplomat said Beijing had made
veiled threats about resuming or upgrading
"nuclear co-operation" with Iran and
Pakistan.
Serving warning on America's Asian allies not
to abet a Nato-initiated anti-China
containment policy. It is understood Beijing
recently warned Japan not to provide a
launch pad for US or Nato weaponry should
the alliance target China.
A Chinese source said Mr Jiang, who is de
facto diplomat-in-chief, had, in effect,
jettisoned Deng's well-known dictum.
In the wake of the post-Tiananmen Square
embargoes, the late patriarch said that in
foreign policy: "China will keep a low profile,
maintain a cool head, and never take the
lead."
The source said the outburst of anti-Nato
feelings since the embassy bombing had put
pressure on Beijing.
"National People's Congress deputies and
students have written to the leadership asking
why China always abstains in the UN
Security Council," the source said.
"In internal talks, Politburo members
expressed the fear that the students would
next stage protests against a 'weak central
Government' unless Beijing counters threats
to national security."
