A Soft Agenda for Beijing

China is looking forward to welcoming President Clinton in late June, all the more so because it apparently has had to make no major political concessions to the United States in advance of this first presidential visit since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s diplomatic spadework in China last week found little evidence of moderation in Beijing’s tough stand on issues that Washington is most concerned about. While that doesn’t rule out some conciliatory gestures as the summit meeting draws closer, it also doesn’t offer much hope that the talks will produce any breakthroughs.

Given the obvious importance of the trip to the Chinese, it’s a puzzle why Clinton didn’t insist on nailing down an agenda more to his liking before he announced the date of his visit. Once he was committed to the trip, his leverage to gain concessions shrank considerably. That is not a matter of political gamesmanship, but of serious policy concerns.

Washington, to take one example, has long sought China’s compliance with what is called the Missile Technology Control Regime, a commitment by 29 nations to control the spread of intermediate and longer-range missiles. It’s known that China has continued to sell missile parts and know-how to a number of countries, undercutting arms control efforts. This issue belongs on any high-level agenda.

Similarly, Washington remains concerned about the mistreatment of dissenters in China, a point underscored by Clinton’s public characterization of the Beijing regime as being “on the wrong side of history.” He said that in Washington last October, during President Jiang Zemin’s visit. It would perfectly proper to say it again in China in June. In fact, he should not feel restrained about voicing American concerns on any issue during his trip. A president should not leave his country’s principles behind when he ventures abroad, no matter what the agenda calls for.