WASHINGTON - As President Clinton prepares to send major China-trade legislation to Capitol Hill today, former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer - the leading opponent of normalized trade status with China - issued the following statement this afternoon.
"The current policy toward China -- all carrot and no stick -- is leading the United States inexorably into a dangerous military confrontation with that Communist regime.
"Despite Beijing's growing belligerence -- which comes, it must be noted, after 10 years of liberalized trade with the U.S. -- President Clinton and the China Lobby in this country are determined to push through permanent Most Favored Nation trade status for China and membership in the World Trade Organization.
"President Clinton even expects Congress to approve the secret deal brokered with China on WTO membership, the details of which have been kept from the American people at the demand of Beijing. All this comes despite the fact that China has systematically violated every existing trade agreement with the U.S.
"To extend China permanent most favored nation status and WTO membership in the face of Beijing's repeated threats to use force against the 22 million free Chinese on Taiwan and to unleash nuclear weapons against the U.S. Navy in the Pacific and America itself, is nothing less than abject appeasement. Congress must not succumb to the blandishments of the big business interests in this country that are willing to gamble with our national security for a policy of trade-at-any-price.
"In recent weeks it has become obvious that China is preparing for a military confrontation with the U.S. On Feb. 21, just days after Assistant Secretary of State Strobe Talbott met with top Chinese leaders in Beijing, the Communist government issued an 11,000-word 'White Paper' threatening Taiwan with "all drastic means, including the use of force" to reunite that island democracy with the mainland.
"The White Paper also changed the conditions under which it is prepared to use military force against Taiwan, significantly lowering the threshold of war. In recent weeks China has massed 800 short- and intermediate-range missiles opposite Taiwan.
"Since the publication of the White Paper, a succession of bellicose editorials have appeared in the "Liberation Army Daily," the official newspaper of the People's Liberation Army, threatening the United States with nuclear attacks if were we to come to the defense of Taiwan. PLA generals and official military publications speak openly of the inevitability of war with the United States. On Feb. 28, the PLA's official newspaper said China would use nuclear weapons against the U.S. in the event of a military confrontation in the Taiwan Strait.
"Such bellicose statements are reinforced by China's rapid arms build-up. Beijing is determined not to be embarrassed again as it was in 1996 when President Clinton sent two aircraft carrier groups to the Taiwan Strait in response to China's test firing of missiles in the direction of our ally. China is proceeding at a breakneck pace to acquire the military capability of countering U.S. naval power in the Western Pacific.
"To reward China's nuclear threats with permanent MFN status and WTO membership would send a wrong and incredibly dangerous signal to China's leaders. The lesson of history is clear: appeasement only emboldens tyrants and makes conflict more likely. We cannot permit Bill Clinton and the China Lobby to lead us to another Munich." |
