Rohrabacher Wants to Send China a Message : Diplomacy: Decrying U.S. policy as indecisive, congressman proposes dispatching naval force to South China Sea to discourage Chinese territorial claims.

The United States should dispatch a naval carrier battle group “on a leisurely cruise” to the Philippines as a warning to the Chinese that they “will not be permitted to reign supreme over their neighbors,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) said Wednesday.

Convinced that China is “becoming an aggressive and threatening force in South Asia,” the Orange County congressman met this week with Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos and suggested a strong U.S. presence in the South China Sea “to make sure China will not be a problem.”

Rohrabacher, a member of the House International Relations Committee who just completed a two-week tour of Southeast Asia, also said he is preparing legislation to do away with government subsidies of American businesses that invest in China.

“At the very least, there will be no taxpayer dollars used to subsidize business in any dictatorship, especially China,” Rohrabacher said. “We are basically subsidizing the interest on loans to people who want to invest in China.”

Rohrabacher’s criticism of China comes at a time when U.S. military and intelligence officers are growing uneasy about that country. The United States has tried to bring China into international groups such as the World Trading Organization, yet has warily watched China increase spending on its armed forces while making bold territorial claims.

In February, China began building structures on a reef in the Spratly Islands and increasing territorial claims.

In addition to “bullying their neighbors to grab the oil-rich Spratly Islands,” Rohrabacher said, China is “in a slow-motion takeover of Burma.”

Rohrabacher also criticized U.S. foreign policy strategy toward China as indecisive.

The Clinton Administration does not “know whether to try to kiss the dragon on the cheek or put it in a cage,” Rohrabacher said. “Our State Department has been hoping that if we kiss the dragon on the cheek, it’s going to turn into a democratic princess, and now they are surprised to learn that it’s still a dragon trying to devour its neighbors.

“We don’t need to have bases there, but we do need to have the capability to demonstrate our power and influence in the area,” Rohrabacher added, suggesting that the Navy cruise the Spratly Islands “and pay a courtesy call to the Philippines.”

Philippine President Ramos issued a statement after his meeting with Rohrabacher saying he is glad that several countries see the problem in the South China Sea as “a common threat to all,” according to an Associated Press report.

While on his Asian tour, Rohrabacher told a news conference in Cambodia that he had introduced a bill granting Cambodia “most favored nation” status because of its progress in the areas of democracy and human rights.

“That is a very positive thing that we need to do to demonstrate to those countries that those former dictatorships that want to go to Democracy, like Cambodia, will receive positive treatment,” he said.

Rohrabacher said he also visited in Rome with the exiled Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah, and later on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with leaders of warring Muslim moujahedeen factions as part of an ongoing effort to restore the king to power as a transitional leader.

“Let’s just say I was surprised by the positive reaction I got,” Rohrabacher said, adding that the talks were sanctioned by the U.S. State Department.

Rohrabacher, who took the trip as part of his International Relations Committee assignments, also visited Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Thailand, Rohrabacher said, he met with war refugees from Burma, now called Myanmar.

“Unlike other congressmen who stay in luxury hotels, I was on a mat in a thatched hut in the middle of a jungle with a group of refugees and ate their food,” he said.