Why I'm Going to China

The White House View: America's future will not be secure if Asia's is in doubt.

By Bill Clinton

This week, I will become the first American president to visit China in a decade. I am going for one reason: to advance America's interests. America's future will not be secure if Asia's is in doubt. On the Korean Peninsula--where nearly 40,000 Americans patrol a militarized fault line--the prospects for reconciliation are matched by the danger of miscalculation. Indonesia's ongoing political and economic transformation is hopeful but uncertain. When markets tremble in Hong Kong or Tokyo, we feel the tremors on Wall Street--and Main Street. And just when the world is making real progress in reducing the nuclear danger, India and Pakistan's tests threaten to spark a dangerous arms race.

President Clinton talks about U.S. relations with China in a 1997 speech. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Our ability to resolve these challenges will be deeply affected by the policies pursued by China--home to one fourth of the earth's population. Beyond Asia, the role China chooses to play in preventing or abetting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, combating or ignoring international crime, protecting or degrading the environment, tearing down or building up trade barriers and respecting or abusing human rights will help shape the next century.

In short, America has an interest in a stable, secure and open China that embraces political pluralism, free markets and the rule of law and joins us in working to build a secure international order. The question: what is the best way to encourage the emergence of that kind of China?

Some Americans believe China's interests and our own inexorably are in conflict and that we should work to contain China before it becomes stronger. But in isolating China, we would only encourage China to turn inward and to act in opposition to our interests and values.

We have chosen a pragmatic and principled course: expanding our areas of cooperation with China while dealing directly with our differences, especially over human rights.

Working with China serves our interest in a stable Asia. China has joined us in condemning India and Pakistan for their nuclear tests and urging peaceful solutions to their differences. It has supported the Four Party Peace Talks on the Korean Peninsula and our successful efforts to freeze North Korea's dangerous nuclear program. It has been a firebreak in the Asian financial crisis. And China is once again pursuing cross-strait discussions with Taiwan, contributing to a significant reduction in tensions.

Working with China serves our interest in stopping the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. China once was a major exporter of sophisticated technologies. Over the past decade, it has joined almost all of the major arms-control regimes. And China has agreed to stop assistance to Iran for its nuclear program, terminate its assistance to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities such as those in Pakistan, tighten its export-control system and sell no more anti-ship cruise missiles to Iran. Each of these steps was the product of our engagement.

Working with China serves our interest in combating international crime and drug trafficking. Bordering more than a dozen countries, China has become a transshipment point for drugs and money laundering. At the Washington Summit, President Jiang and I established a high-level group of American and Chinese law-enforcement officials to increase our cooperation against organized crime, alien smuggling and counterfeiting. This month, the Drug Enforcement Administration will open an office in Beijing.

Working with China serves our interest in preserving the environment. Poisoned air or polluted water within China's borders can do grievous harm beyond them. Last year, Vice President Gore launched talks with the Chinese aimed at protecting their environment while pursuing development. We will keep working to bring American clean-energy technology to China.

Working with China serves our interest in open trade. Access to its markets remains far too restricted. We could retaliate and spark a self-defeating cycle of protectionism. Or we can keep pressing China to open its markets and to join the World Trade Organization on commercially meaningful terms. And we can renew normal trade treatment for China, as every president has done since 1980.

Our engagement with China is also the best way to advance our ideals. The more we bring China into the world, the more the world will bring freedom to China. The number of Internet accounts in China is projected to jump from about 400,000 this year to 20 million early in the next decade. One in five residents of Beijing has access to satellite TV.

But China's leaders must understand that China will only reach its full potential if its people are allowed to reach theirs. The true wealth of a nation lies in its people's ability to create, communicate and innovate. To develop that capacity, people must have the freedom to speak, publish, associate and worship without fear.

America will continue to urge China's leaders to move to the right side of history when it comes to human rights and freedom of religion. Over the past year, we have seen some real progress--though far from enough. China has released several prominent dissidents. It announced its intention to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. And President Jiang received a delegation of prominent American religious leaders.

In my meetings with Chinese leaders, I will press ahead on human rights, with one goal in mind: making a difference. Dealing directly with and speaking forthrightly to the Chinese is the best way to do just that. And when it comes to advancing America's interests in China, Asia and around the world, we are better off working with China than without it.