22 May 2000
Transcript: Albright ABC-TV "This Week" Interview on China PNTR
(Also discusses Middle East, Africa, Russian summit) (1850) If Congress approves the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status for China, the economic benefits to the United States will be huge, says Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. During an interview with Sam Donaldson on ABC-TV's "This Week" May 21, the Secretary noted that the Chinese "have access to our markets now; why shouldn't we have access to theirs? And now with every other country being part of the WTO (World Trade Organization), they will have access to the Chinese markets and we will lose the advantages of our trading relationship." Albright said that, from a national security point of view, the Clinton Administration is working "to engage China, a growing power, within a series of international agreements and arrangements...." PNTR will be help in this endeavor, she said. As for China's human rights record, the Secretary said: "We are obviously going to keep a very close eye on China." Following is a transcript of the program as released by the Department of State: (begin transcript) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman May 22, 2000 INTERVIEW OF SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT ON ABC-TV "THIS WEEK" WITH SAM DONALDSON Sunday, May 21, 2000 MR. DONALDSON: Joining us now is Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Good morning. It's always a pleasure to see you. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good to be with you, Sam. MR. DONALDSON: Well, as you know, the House is going to vote this week on permanent normal trade relations for China. Do you have the vote? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we're working very hard and I don't want to say that we do, but we really -- the President's been working, he's been having people in, we've all been making calls. It's a very important vote and I think it's actually the most important national security vote that the House is going to make this year because it will have the opportunity of truly changing our relations with China across the board. MR. DONALDSON: Well, the President was going to speak to the nation on Sunday night then he canceled it. Why? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that he feels that he's been making progress by doing the one-on-one conversations and he's really been out there talking to everybody and we are all working on it, so I think that he felt this was the best way to go. MR. DONALDSON: Harry Wu and Wei Jingsheng, two prominent Chinese dissidents, say this is the wrong thing to do. And John Sweeney, the President of AFL-CIO says the same thing. Here is the way he puts it. He says, China is one of the worst offenders of human rights in the world. It is a country that does not tolerate political dissent or free speech. China uses executions and torture to maintain order. It persecutes religious minorities and violates workers' rights. That's all true, isn't it? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, we don't disagree that their human rights record is not good. I -- some people thought I was crazy. I left the President's side in India, flew to Geneva to give the speech there to the Human Rights Commission saying all the negative things about China, then rejoined him. This agreement is not being done for human rights reasons. But my sense about this, Sam, is that ultimately it will help us in the human rights area because I've spent my life studying communist systems and, I can tell you, that if there are alternative sources of information as will happen as the Internet gets in there more and more, I think this will help the human rights agenda. Martin Lee from Hong Kong, a great human rights advocate, wants this. He thinks it's a good idea. MR. DONALDSON: Of course, the critics say that you're giving up leverage, any leverage we might have over China simply for the commercialization, for American business. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I disagree with that. I think that we are obviously going to keep a very close eye on China. We have our human rights reports. The commission that Sandy Levin and Doug Bereuter are working on is to have some very appealing aspects as far as human rights are concerned. I also think that, with having the light shone on what is going on in China, it will help. But as I said, the main reason, I think, for having this agreement -- there are two-- the economic one is a lay down. They have access to our markets now; why shouldn't we have access to theirs? And now with every other country being part of the WTO, they will have access to the Chinese markets and we will lose the advantages of our trading relationship. From a national security point of view, we are working, have been, to engage China, a growing power, within a series of international agreements and arrangements and this will help also. MR. DONALDSON: Of course, China says if we're intent on building a missile shield, they are going to have to build a greater missile force. How does that improve -- SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that first of all they don't have that many missiles at this moment, the shield is not directed at them but at growing threats in Korea and Iran. I think that the point here is that if this vote goes down, then the hard-liners in China are the ones that will be the happiest. MR. DONALDSON: On another subject, Prime Minister Barak of Israel has postponed the trip he was going to make here to Washington because of new violence. Is this just a little ripple or is this a very serious threat? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, we obviously are concerned and have been following it very closely. I spoke to Chairman Arafat a couple of days ago. I think that violence certainly hurts the overall environment. But I think we are making progress on the Palestinian track. There is work going on. There are still gaps but there is work going on. MR. DONALDSON: The Palestinians are intent on setting up a capital in East Jerusalem and they now have two villages that are to be ceded to them right there. Is that all right? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think that Jerusalem is one of the final status issues and those are the issues that we are all there working on. The Palestinians and the Israelis are talking about the final status issues and this will be one of the aspects of it. Prime Minister Barak has in fact said that he was going to turn over the villages and the Knesset voted that it would be all right. This violence is very unfortunate. MR. DONALDSON: Do we support Arafat's declaration that by this September he will declare a Palestinian state? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We are working to try to get the final status issues resolved, that being one of them, by the middle of September when he has said that. MR. DONALDSON: Lots of trouble in Sierra Leone, if I may skip around to Africa. Olusegun Obasanjo, the President of Nigeria, says he'll send some more troops if the United States will supply logistical support. Will we? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, we are talking with him because the Nigerian forces in ECOMOG and individually have been very helpful. We had a team go over to Nigeria to see about what they needed. President Clinton has said that we would be supportive and in a logistical way he has already given $20 million in defense assistance and we are going to be looking at things. Because the situation in Sierra Leone is really untenable. The United Nations is in there. There are discussions about how to expand the UN operation. I've been talking with my British counterpart, Robin Cook, about what they are doing. We are all concerned about the horrible things that have happened there. MR. DONALDSON: Several years ago -- I know I don't need to remind you -- that in Rwanda genocide took place. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed while the world community, including the United States, stood idly by. The President has, in fact, apologized for that. Can we afford now not to move in with logistical support, air lift support, and maybe even some people on the ground, not as soldiers to fight but to help the Nigerians? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think we really do need to help. We have said no US combat forces. But I do think that we all believe that the United States should help. MR. DONALDSON: With airplanes? I mean, logistical support. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, logistical support, we are already offering some in terms of providing lift and doing a variety of things. We are examining -- MR. DONALDSON: They want more. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, I think this is exactly the discussion that is going on now. And I think Americans need to understand that, again, we can't let this kind of mutilation that's going on there continue. So we are in the business right now really of examining every option and talking to President Obasanjo on a regular basis. MR. DONALDSON: Our time is about up. I know you have a plane to catch. But I want to talk about the summit in Russia. There is word in the papers now that the Administration has given up on any meaningful arms control with the Russians and you've scaled back the expectations for the summit. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We have not given up any meaningful arms control. We have always thought what the summit should be about is a comprehensive summit. President Clinton and President Putin have met a couple of times but they have never had a one-on-one summit like this. And we want to talk about arms control. We certainly will be. But we are also going to be talking about their economy, about Chechnya, about what is happening in the countries around Russia. So we have a lot of items to talk about during the summit. MR. DONALDSON: But Chairman Helms of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says no arms control agreements in this administration. He can do that. He can block you. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: He can. But I don't think we can take a pause in negotiations just because he wants to take a pause in the business of the Foreign Relations Committee. And, you know what's happened before is one administration has turned over a negotiated arms control agreement to another. But Bush Administration had START II. We made sure that it got ratified. So of all the things, I think there is a continuum, a bipartisan effort of getting the right arms control agreements. MR. DONALDSON: Secretary Albright, thanks very much. It's always a pleasure to see you. Please come back. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Thanks, Sam. Good to be with you. (end transcript) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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