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CNN Saturday Morning News

What is Next for U.S.-China Relations?

Aired July 28, 2001 - 08:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Now for some expert insight into the current state of U.S.-China relations and the numerous challenges that lie ahead, let's turn to Derek Mitchell, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington who specializes in Asian issues. Thank you for being with us this morning, Mr. Mitchell.

DEREK MITCHELL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Good morning.

NELSON: What do you think Secretary of State Colin Powell is going to get out of his one day meeting in Beijing?

MITCHELL: Well, at the top of his agenda, from what I understand, he wants to talk about proliferation of missiles. There have been reports recently of Chinese missile proliferation to states such as Pakistan. I think at the top of the agenda he will try to get a resolution of that. There have been a number of agreements in the past and the Chinese seem to be violating those.

He'll also have an opportunity to talk about human rights and Taiwan and other contentious issues between the two sides.

NELSON: What do you think, what makes you think that the Chinese would respect these agreements after this visit than, that they haven't already respected before?

MITCHELL: Well, I don't think he expects to be assured without any doubt after this visit that they will respect the agreements. But he does want to make clear that this administration is serious, that if these activities continue that there will be consequences, and he wants to do it face to face. This is the first senior Bush administration official to go to Beijing and there's no substitute for a face to face dialogue on an issue as important as this.

NELSON: Before he arrived in Beijing, Colin Powell said that relations with China are on the upswing. They've managed to take, put the irritants of these two Chinese scholars who were imprisoned and have now been released behind them. Is he being over optimistic?

MITCHELL: I think it's the kind of tone that he ought to set. I think the region wants to be reassured. They don't want to see bad U.S.-China relations. I think it's good to at least be optimistic. We do want to get the EP-3 behind us. Neither side really wanted that kind of a tone set early on in the new administration. So, yes, I think it's a good tone. We'll see what happens. The relationship has enough difficulties that it will be difficult to manage in the months and years ahead, but I think it's the right thing to say.

NELSON: It's the right thing to say, but the Chinese show no inclination, for example, of letting up on Falun Gong, no letting up on dissent in the country. So this is going to happen again. Is this just a face saving measure for Mr. Powell to walk into Beijing and then, and leave town without there being a lot of questions asked?

MITCHELL: Well, he will ask a lot of questions, I suspect, and he will make it very clear how the United States feels on things like Falun Gong, about human rights in general, again, about proliferation. At the end of the day there's not a whole lot we can do about these things except to keep pressing them and try and get an ongoing human rights dialogue.

So he's hopeful, I'm sure, but overall we'll just have to keep pressing, keep focusing on it and keep their feet to the fire. And other than that, there's not a whole lot more that we can do.

NELSON: What about Taiwan? Is that issue at play in this current visit?

MITCHELL: Oh, yes, absolutely. Taiwan is always at the top of the agenda whenever we get together with the Chinese. They bring it up and we'll bring it up. They will, I'm sure, raise questions about arms sales, etc. So Taiwan is at the center of our relationship. A lot of, basically everything in our international dialogue with China is seen through the prism of Taiwan. So there's no question that the issue will come up.

NELSON: All right, what about Japan? There have been some frictions lately between China and Japan over Japan's willingness to disregard some of the atrocities committed during the war in some of the school books. China is very upset. Is Mr. Powell carrying a torch on that side, on that issue, for either side?

MITCHELL: Well, I don't know that he is. It's very difficult for the United States to be in the middle of that difficult problem between the two sides. There's also a problem with Korea and Japan, as well. There are questions in the United States, should we be more involved in this to try and sort of mediate in some way? It's not good for Japan and China, Japan and Korea, to have bad relations.

I'm not sure that's going to be raised, though. The Chinese may raise some concerns on other fronts, the Japan relationship with the United States, which we would answer accordingly that we have a strong alliance and we continue to develop that alliance. But as far as the history question, I don't know that we have a whole lot to say.

NELSON: All right, Derek Mitchell from the Center for Strategic International Studies, thanks for being with us.

MITCHELL: Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com