Bush Calls China an Economic Ally, Avoids Soviet Issue

Vice President George Bush began a six-day visit to China on Sunday by saying that the United States now considers this country primarily an economic partner rather than a partner in strategic efforts against the Soviet Union.

In a banquet toast at the Great Hall of the People soon after his arrival in Peking, Bush dwelled almost exclusively on the subject of U.S. trade and investment in China and omitted any reference to the Soviet Union or to Asian security issues.

Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, however, citing “obstacles in Sino-U.S. relations,” said the current state of affairs between the two countries “is not satisfactory.” He referred to continuing informal American relations with the Chinese Nationalists on Taiwan.

Still, the Chinese premier said he felt that relations “have been fairly stable and some progress has been made over recent years.”

From the American diplomatic vantage, it was apparently the first time in the series of visits dating back to 1972 that a U.S. president or vice president coming here has avoided a public effort to enlist China’s support against Moscow.

On his last trip here in 1982, Bush told Zhao that China and the United States share “a common interest in the face of hegemonist expansionism”--an allusion in Chinese terminology to the Soviet Union. Similarly, soon after his arrival in Peking last year, President Reagan toasted Zhao with a call to “stand together in opposing expansionism and hegemony.”

Claim of 3rd World Status

The indicated change in the American approach amounts to an implicit recognition of China’s recent efforts to characterize itself as a developing country, with a foreign policy independent of the two superpowers.

In an apparent attempt to demonstrate their desire to pursue an independent course, the Chinese greeted Bush in Peking at a time when they are also hosting the first Soviet parliamentary delegation to visit here in two decades.

At the Diaoyutai state guest house, where foreign dignitaries are lodged, Bush’s visit will overlap with Alessandro Natta, general secretary of the Italian Communist Party, who also arrived here Sunday.

In his response to Zhao’s toast Sunday, Bush praised the stewardship of Deng Xiaoping, saying that China “enjoys steadiness in its policies and continuity and stability in its leadership.”

The vice president said that U.S. direct investment in China has now reached $700 million, and he said that there is still “clearly great potential for expanding our bilateral economic ties.”

Bush departed from a prepared text to acknowledge that there are still “problems between the United States and China,” but apart from this brief remark, he avoided referring to Taiwan or any other foreign policy issues.

Officials traveling with the vice president said they expect his visit to be dominated by economic and trade issues, although they expect Chinese leaders to continue to raise such subjects as Taiwan and the recent U.S. cutback in aid for Peking’s family planning programs.