Christopher Urges High-Level Contacts Between Washington, Beijing

Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Friday called for regular visits by U.S. and Chinese cabinet officers to each other’s capitals, restoring the sort of high-level contacts that Washington suspended after Chinese troops crushed the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Christopher’s suggestion was intended as a goodwill gesture toward the Chinese leadership, which views such full-dress exchanges as a demonstration of China’s international standing. He said the cabinet-level meetings should be followed by regular summits between the two presidents.

“I believe the time has come to develop a more regular dialogue between our two countries,” Christopher said. “Holding periodic cabinet-level consultations in our capitals would facilitate a candid exchange of views, provide a more effective means for managing specific problems and allow us to approach individual issues within a broader strategic framework.”

In a New York speech sponsored by the Asia Society, the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Christopher mounted a defense of the Clinton administration’s China policy, which has come under attack by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.

Christopher acknowledged that the United States has sharp differences with China on subjects ranging from copyright violations to repression of human rights. But he said Washington’s best hope of dealing with the problems is “through engagement, not confrontation.”

“Demonizing China is as dangerously misleading as romanticizing it,” Christopher said. “American policy toward China has been most successful when we have acknowledged that country’s great complexity, recognized that change requires patience as well as persistence and respected China’s sovereignty while standing up for our own values and interests.”

In an implied response to Dole’s call for closer U.S. relations with Taiwan, Christopher said Washington’s 24-year-old “one China” policy, which holds that Taiwan is part of China but warns Beijing against using force to extend its control over the island, has helped keep the peace across the Taiwan Strait.

“As Taiwan seeks an international role, it should pursue that objective in a way that is consistent with a ‘one China’ policy,” Christopher said, without suggesting how that could be done.

Dole responded immediately with a written statement: “There was little new in today’s speech--the same ambiguity toward Taiwan, the same silence on Chinese nuclear cooperation with the outlaw regime in Tehran. Some of the administration’s most fundamental policy flaws in Asia were not addressed.”

Christopher acknowledged that China is guilty of “grave human rights abuses.” But he said it would be a mistake for the U.S. to curtail its relationship with China to punish the regime for its human rights violations.

“Revoking or conditioning [China’s favorable trade status] would not advance human rights in China,” he said. “The most repressive periods in recent Chinese history have occurred when China was isolated from the world.”

Nevertheless, Washington’s relationship with China has been at arm’s length throughout the Clinton administration. Christopher has visited China just once in his extensive global travels. And earlier this week, U.S. officials said they would impose massive tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing did not take measures by June 17 to stop piracy of copyrighted American products. China responded with a vague threat to impose duties on American-made goods.

In response to a question after his speech, Christopher said that, even if both governments take up his suggestion for regular cabinet-level visits, it is unlikely the visits will start until after the November election.