'Congagement' With China?

Even in its own right, the recent US clash with China over the fate of the Navy's EP-3E electronic spy plane and its twenty-four crew members can be viewed as a significant event. Like similar occurrences during the cold war era--the shooting down of Francis Gary Powers's U-2 spy plane in 1960 and the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in 1983--it will leave a legacy of suspicion. But the crisis is also important because it is feeding into a critical debate in Washington over the direction of US policy toward China. At the center of this debate is the unresolved issue of whether to treat China as an enemy to be battled or a market to be exploited. And while those outside the Republican right have little voice in this debate, all Americans will be affected by its outcome.

That there are divisions among President Bush's senior advisers is hardly surprising. Much has been made, for instance, of the differences in outlook between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. But the divide over China runs much deeper. More than a difference of outlook, it reflects longstanding schisms within the Republican Party over the ultimate objectives of US foreign policy. This divide was already evident during the Clinton Administration, when many Republicans in Congress voted with the President's party to approve most favored nation (MFN) trading status for China, while others attacked Clinton for his conspicuous overtures to Beijing. But now, with the Republicans firmly in the White House, the divide has become a purely internal--and bitter--affair.

The sharp edges of this debate were not readily apparent in the EP-3E affair, as the White House strove to present a united front. But they are plainly evident in the next most important issues facing the President's team: the decision on whether to supply Taiwan with advanced weapons systems, including the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer, and that over the scope of the proposed national missile defense (NMD) system.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
• Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.