Christopher Urges Chinese Cooperation

Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Thursday urged China to look beyond the many differences that have complicated Sino-American relations and work constructively with the United States on a broad range of issues affecting the two countries.

In a Shanghai speech whose planned reference to a Sino-American “partnership” was downgraded to a call for “cooperation,” Christopher gave what was billed as the public unveiling of a new approach to relations between the U.S. and China.

“History has given our two countries a remarkable opportunity, an opportunity to build a new era of cooperation for a new century,” Christopher said. “It is one we must seize.”

Christopher made his comments on the final day of a three-day visit to China. Although he spoke to a small audience of students and faculty at China’s prestigious Fudan University, his message was aimed at the Chinese government and other nations in the region.

As such, it was in many ways the official “roll out” of the Clinton administration’s latest attempt to establish an effective, workable relationship with China, a nation that has long been a political adversary but that is now also a fast-emerging economic giant.

Christopher picked as the backdrop for his speech Shanghai, China’s largest city, a booming urban sprawl that has drawn about 2,000 U.S. companies and almost $4 billion in direct investment. It stands as a symbol of China’s new economic power.

The administration’s new approach appears to be aimed at engaging the Chinese leadership in a dialogue on the full range of economic and political differences--including U.S. concerns about China’s human rights record and China’s unhappiness over U.S. support for Taiwan--yet not let these disputes block the considerable potential for cooperation.

“Containment and confrontation will hurt both our nations,” Christopher told his audience. “Cooperation and dialogue will best advance our mutual interests.”

He spoke of “profound differences” that divide the United States and China, but he added: “We have a responsibility to ourselves and the world to manage these differences constructively, to approach them in ways that do not undermine our ability to achieve common goals.”

U.S. officials clearly hope that strengthening Sino-American cooperation in areas where interests can converge--such as finding a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, halting the spread of nuclear weapons and improving economic ties--can build a larger atmosphere of trust and, with it, possible movement on issues over which the two nations clash.

While the new administration approach emphasized working together, there were differences about exactly how to describe a new relationship.

Christopher’s speech initially carried the word “partnership” in the title: “Building a New Partnership for a New Century.” A U.S. official then underscored the significance of the word, calling it a sign that Sino-American ties were entering a new and more positive realm. At the university, a large blue banner carrying the speech’s title was also erected above the podium where Christopher was to speak.

At some point, however, the word “partnership” disappeared from Christopher’s remarks, replaced instead by “cooperation” in the speech’s title, its text and the large banner behind the podium.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to say we’re partners,” explained John Sasser, the U.S. ambassador to China, when asked about the change. “But there is increasing understanding and cooperation between the two countries.”

To complete the uncertainty, at a Wednesday news conference in Canberra, Australia, President Clinton talked about making China “a genuine partner with ourselves and others.”

Whether the goal is cooperation or partnership, it will not be an easy reach, as student views here of Americans demonstrated.

“Americans are simple and unsophisticated,” mused 19-year-old Fang Jing, an international finance student, shortly after Christopher’s entourage departed the campus. “They know a lot about computers, but not much about themselves.”