REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER VOICES CHINA POLICY
Washington, Dec. 5 (CNA) US Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a Republican presidential contender, stressed Sunday that Washington has to make it very clear to Communist China that any aggression committed against Taiwan is "a violation of the `one China' policy, which calls for peaceful reunification," adding a warning to Beijing that the consequences of aggression against Taiwan "would be very significant."
During an interview on NBC's "Meet The Press" program, McCain pointed out that he does not believe that Communist China is America's strategic partner as President Bill Clinton stated in 1998 when he went to Beijing. "Our strategic partner is Japan," said the senator.
The Arizona Republican, however, added he is very optimistic that, with the advent of the Internet and the increasing flow of information, "if we can keep the pressure on the Chinese to improve their human rights, to stop the terrible things that they are doing in Tibet, that we will see democracy and freedom eventually come to China."
Earlier this year, when tension ran high across the Taiwan Straits following President Lee Teng-hui's "special state-to-state relations" remarks, McCain said that "if the US is to abide by the `one China' policy, we must be no less committed to the other basic principle that is supposed to govern our relations with China and Taiwan -- that the reunification of China must only occur peacefully, in other words, voluntarily."
"Strategic ambiguity will not serve US interests or values in this current crisis. We must be very clear with Beijing. The United States will do what it must to help defend freedom and stability in Asia," he emphasized.
McCain agreed that America must engage Communist China "if we are to maximize our influence over how that immense nation emerges as a world power." Therefore, he has opposed efforts to revoke normal trade relations status for mainland China or freeze US diplomacy toward Communist China.
But he said "while we should hope for and work toward the best end -- that our relationship will influence China to become an internationally responsible and politically enlightened country, we must also prepare for the other contingency, that China emerges as the primary threat to American interests and values." (By Nelson Chung)
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