-Caveat Lector-
China Reassesses U.S. Relations
By CHARLES HUTZLER
.c The Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) -- Amid the public furor over NATO bombs and U.S. allegations of
aggressive Chinese spying, China is lurching toward a more confrontational
stance to the United States.
Conservatives in the ruling Communist Party and senior military commanders --
all traditionally suspicious of American intentions -- have seized on the
anger to pressure centrist leaders to reassess China's U.S. policy,
government sources and scholars taking part in the review said.
The political infighting and genuine outrage over NATO's bombing of the
Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia three weeks ago have brought hard-line voices
to the fore and limited the leadership's freedom to maneuver with Washington.
In the worst anti-American din in 25 years, an air of inevitable conflict has
seeped into the debate over Chinese-U.S. ties.
``China is being pushed into being the enemy. That's the U.S. strategy,''
said Gao Heng, a conservative scholar. ``China does not want to be the second
Soviet Union.''
At risk in those deteriorating perceptions are many important issues for both
sides -- from the promise of broad cooperation that presidents Jiang Zemin
and Bill Clinton made last year to expanded trade and coaxing North Korea out
of its belligerent isolation.
After a U.S. congressional committee blamed lax security for allegedly
allowing China to steal secrets to seven major U.S. nuclear weapons, Clinton
said he remained committed to working with Beijing. In contrast, Jiang, in a
speech broadcast nationwide, called the United States a global tyrant seeking
to dominate the world.
For now, Jiang and his reform-minded premier, Zhu Rongji, are waiting for
Washington to meet demands over the embassy bombing in Belgrade that killed
three Chinese reporters May 7. China wants an investigation and punishment of
those responsible. It also wants NATO's airstrikes on Yugoslavia to stop.
Short of that, China ``will have to seriously study'' its options, said Gao,
an international strategy specialist at the government's Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences.
A variety of opinions, not all anti-American, are being voiced by the
scholars and the policy-makers they advise in the review of U.S. policy, said
Xin Bo, an international affairs expert at the Communist Party's leading
training school.
But the debate has latched onto a welter of complaints about recent U.S.
behavior that many Chinese believe proves the United States wants to
frustrate China's ambitions as an emerging power.
Among the grievances are the embassy bombing, which is seen as an attempt to
silence Beijing's opposition to the war; the renewed U.S. military alliance
with Japan; talk of putting rival Taiwan under an anti-missile defense
shield; and the refusal to let China into the World Trade Organization,
despite the broad concessions Zhu offered in Washington.
Then came the accusations in the report led by U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox that
China bolstered its nuclear arsenal by stealing U.S. secrets over 20 years.
``The Cox report is even more important. It reflects what Americans feel
about the Chinese people,'' said Xin. ``This is a type of insult. Americans
regard the Chinese with a low opinion.''
Beijing has dismissed the report as a fabrication and a device to paint China
as an enemy while Washington relentlessly pursues global dominance.
``The most important goal in U.S. global strategy is how to maintain its
unmatched overlord status in the 21st century,'' the party newspaper People's
Daily said Thursday. ``The United States is using political, economic,
military, cultural and other means to expand globally and intensify plans to
build a unipolar world.''
Next to the front-page commentary was a report about Chinese artillery forces
using high technology to improve their capabilities. Reports about military
strength have been prominently played in the entirely state-controlled media
-- an indication of the armed forces stronger hand in policy-making.
Given the atmosphere, Chinese government agencies have been reluctant to meet
with U.S. diplomats. One leading think tank called off a long-planned
academic symposium on East Asian security co-sponsored by the U.S.
government.
The tense atmosphere aside, Jiang and his colleagues say they remain
committed to following the free-market reforms that have raised standards of
living and made China a regional force. They know smooth relations with the
United States, and the greater access to capital and technology it brings,
aid that process.
``The two countries share too many important interests and the relationship
must continue. Now the question is how to get over these current
difficulties,'' said Jia Qingguo, an America expert at Peking University.
``Both sides should make efforts. But the burden is on the United States.''
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