27 May 1999
BYLINER: ENGAGEMENT WITHOUT ILLUSIONS
(Sen. Max Baucus on U.S.-China relations, Cox Report) (880) (Reprinted from the May 27 edition of the Washington Post.) (begin text) With the release of the Cox report, it is important that we not allow the passions of the moment to overwhelm our objectivity. We must analyze what has happened during the past 20 years, understand the report's conclusions and recommendations and determine what actions we need to take to ensure our national security and maximize our trade and economic interests with China. We can get the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks back on track by getting to the bottom of the embassy bombing and the Cox report. We are at a critical juncture and cannot afford to lose this opportunity. The Cox report catalogues a decades-long effort by the Chinese government to acquire U.S. nuclear technology. This has been a long-term, carefully planned effort to obtain the most sensitive secrets of our country, from the W-88 nuclear warhead in the 1980s to the neutron bomb in the 1990s. At least three American administrations -- Reagan, Bush and Clinton -- have presided over this unprecedented lapse in security at our nuclear laboratories. China's systematic effort to steal our secrets has advanced its nuclear program by decades and potentially put our nation's interests at risk. What are the tasks before us now? First, we must ensure that this spying stops. It is naive to think that China or any adversary of the United States will cease its intelligence activities against us. It is the responsibility and the duty of our intelligence agencies to make sure that the Chinese espionage efforts fail. Second, we need a full and public explanation about how such counterintelligence failures could have happened, why they continued for so long and how we can ensure that they are fully corrected. Third, we must prosecute and punish, as appropriate, any and all individuals who have broken our security laws or failed to enforce them properly. People and institutions must be held accountable. Fourth, we must reassess our security and geopolitical strategy in view of the increased military power that China will have as it turns this technology into weaponry. What does this mean for the U.S.-China relationship? No nation will be of greater concern to the United States during the next 20 years than China, with the world's largest population, the fastest growing economy, a rapidly increasing defense budget and a growing interest in the geopolitics not only of Asia but of other regions as well. How the United States manages this relationship will determine much of the world's future. If we act as if China is the enemy for the next Cold War, it will become so. I believe that we must examine every aspect of the U.S.-China relationship in an objective way, determine what is best for us as a nation and act accordingly. America's national security is paramount. But our trade and economic interests with China also are vital and must be considered. In managing this bilateral relationship, it is critically important to ensure that China is incorporated into the global trade community. Membership in the WTO, which entails permanent normal trade relations status, is the appropriate vehicle to bring China, its industry and its consumers fully into the world economy. Through the WTO, we will see China move in the direction of following internationally accepted trade rules. The WTO will improve market access and open China's markets to American agricultural products, services and manufactured goods. And this increased integration into the world trading community will help anchor and sustain the economic reform process underway in China. The agreements reached during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Washington are solid. We want no backpedaling on those understandings. We want an early resumption of the trade negotiations and a rapid conclusion. This will reap enormous benefits for our exporters, our manufacturers, our farmers, our service providers and our economy. These trade arrangements stand alone and are separable from our security interests. WTO membership is not a favor we are doing for the Chinese. This is a clear gain for the United States: China opens its markets to American goods and services, helping create jobs at home. Some say that we should not let China into the WTO because we cannot trust it, that the espionage outlined in the Cox report demonstrates just how little we can trust China. This is not an issue of trust. It is engagement with no illusions, to borrow a phrase others have used with regard to the situation. China is not our enemy, and China is not our friend. We have important interests that relate to China. We must be involved with China on trade because it is of enormous benefit to us, now and in the future. We must use every tool at our disposal to ensure that our military secrets are protected. Whether we are talking trade or nuclear security, the obligation is on us to enforce the rules and to ensure that there are no abuses. (The writer, a Democratic senator from Montana, is a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence.) (end text)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
