2nd Secret Trip to China : Scowcroft’s July Journey Is Admitted

National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, whose surprise mission to China earlier this month created a storm of criticism in Congress, made a secret visit to Beijing in July, the White House said today.

A month after the bloody government crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrators in Tian An Men Square, Bush sent Scowcroft to China “to personally underscore the United States’ shock and concern about the violence,” said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater.

Fitzwater also said that Scowcroft’s trip was intended “to impress upon the Chinese government the seriousness with which this incident was viewed in the United States.”

Prodded by a Cable News Network report, he acknowledged that Scowcroft has made not one but at least two trips to China since June, when Bush suspended all high-level contacts with Beijing.

Fitzwater left open the possibility that Scowcroft or other top U.S. officials had made other secret trips to China.

“I can’t rule out other encounters,” he said.

He added that he, personally, had been unaware of earlier trips.

The spokesman declined to say when in July Scowcroft had gone to Beijing, but said it was at least a month after government troops killed hundreds of democracy protesters when the troops moved into the square on June 3.

Fitzwater’s comments were the first Administration acknowledgement that Scowcroft has made more than one trip to China after the crackdown.

“The President felt this face-to-face mission, like the one recently completed by General Scowcroft, was necessary to show the sense of purpose and direction of the United States government,” Fitzwater added in a statement.

Bush has been on the political defensive for a week over his gamble earlier this month to reopen a formal dialogue with the Chinese government even in the face of continued repression in the aftermath of the bloody crushing of dissent in June.

Scowcroft and Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger made the most recent trip on Dec. 8-9.

Democrats have accused Bush of “kowtowing” to the Chinese leadership, while conservatives have assailed the move as premature in the absence of conciliatory gestures from Beijing. Bush, however, has insisted he acted to prevent the total isolation of China.

Earlier today, Bush, without noting Scowcroft’s July trip, told reporters that critics of this month’s visit have been “dealing with emotion and not facts” and that “once they deal with a full deck, I expect people will understand it.” (Story, P2)