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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: Okay, China. You know the Chinese Ambassador held a news conference today here in Washington. Two questions for you - one, he continues to tell reporters that the Chinese do not accept NATO's explanation that the bombing in Belgrade of the Chinese Embassy was accidental. So the question for you is, what kind of problems does this pose for the Clinton Administration if the Chinese continue to refuse to buy the explanation?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I think more broadly it is China that has to come to grips with the fact that we had a tragic accident. I think there's been a lot of public information that's already available on the reasons for that accident. We intend to develop a report to provide to the Chinese that explains the accident. But in the long run, until the United States and China can work closely together, Chinese interests will suffer and American interests will suffer. This is a two-way relationship. We believe engagement serves our national interest in a number of ways. We believe that China is not doing us any favor over the years in working with the United States. They believe it serves their national interest. So, ultimately, we believe that greater interest will win out over the mistaken view of the Chinese ambassador or any other Chinese officials about the reason for the tragic mistake at the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.

QUESTION: And just one other thing. Dr. Henry Kissinger yesterday in an interview was basically saying that the Cox Report and then the anti-Chinese sentiment that is sort of building in the Congress basically can start making out the Chinese into the role played by the old Soviet Union in the Cold War, and he expressed grave concerns about that. What do you - how do you respond to that?

MR. RUBIN: We believe that China is not the Soviet Union. China has a billion people with a thriving market-based economy in many respects. That is very different from the Soviet Union. We believe the information flowing in and out of China is massively different than the Soviet Union. We believe that China has not had expansionist tendencies to the extent the Soviet Union did in supporting secessionist, guerrilla and terrorist organizations around the world. So I think the comparison is misleading. I think there are those who may want to make the comparison for their own political purposes. We disagree with it, and we certainly want every American and every member of Congress and everybody to focus on what is in our national interest; and that is that stopping non-proliferation, stopping the Chinese support for activities that might promote non-proliferation is in our national interest. We believe getting cooperation from China in fighting terrorism is in our national interest; in fighting drugs - it's in our national interest; in fighting international crime - that's in our national interest.

Those who would have us break with China need to answer how we're going to combat the crime; combat the drug smuggling; combat the terrorism and combat the non-proliferation that we are able to combat with Chinese cooperation in the absence of that cooperation. Otherwise, they are doing harm to American national interest.

QUESTION: How much did the Cox Report hurt the US-Chinese relationship?

MR. RUBIN: I think the Cox Report - many of the recommendations we agree with. We'll have to see. The Cox Report came at the time the previous question referred to, which is the tragic accident at the embassy. So I don't know how one can assert one or the other.

What we know is that the Cox Report doesn't change our determination to be vigilant in controlling our technology and to be vigilant in advancing our national interests where we can and where we think it's appropriate by working with China.

QUESTION: One follow up. Just in general, how concerned is the United States about this rift with China, and how deep do you think it goes?

MR. RUBIN: We do believe that we've been through a rough patch, and that patch has not been passed through yet. But we do believe that cooler heads will prevail in China when they realize what's in their national interest; and we certainly will do what we can in the Administration to ensure that the United States does what's in our national interest.

QUESTION: What's the status of the report on the embassy bombing?

MR. RUBIN: I don't have any new timing or data on that.

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(The briefing concluded at 2:05 P.M.)

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