Chinese Vice Premier and Foreign
Minister Qian Qichen holds a press 45-minute news
conference announcing key results of the summit. He
focuses on Taiwan, calling it the most critical issue
between Washington and Beijing. Qian says what is
important is the strict observation and good-faith
implementation of the existing communiqués.
"China has never engaged in
transfer of nuclear weapons and China has never
engaged in the transfer of missiles . . . certainly
this is applicable to . . . Iran," Qian tells the
Los Angeles Times. He also denies that
Beijing "interferes in U.S. internal
affairs" and asserts there is "no evidence
of PRC espionage." As proof, he says, "No
Chinese spy has ever stood trial in the United
States." [Editor's note: Last month, Senate
Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby labeled
China "the number one intelligence challenge to
the United States."]
In a Washington Post
op-ed, Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.),
and Christopher Cox (R-Cal.) oppose certification of
China as an eligible recipient of U.S. nuclear
technology on the grounds that it has been
"identified by the CIA as a 'key supplier of most
destructive arms technology' to rogue regimes such as
Iran's. We believe that providing access to American
technologies that could end up assisting Iran's
nuclear weapons programs would constitute an
intolerable risk to U.S. national security."
Saying China's "nuclear,
chemical, biological and missile proliferation has
made it the Wal-Mart of international nuclear
commerce," the congressmen observe,
"President Clinton has . . . an obligation to
require that the People's Republic of China
demonstrate its compliance with global
nonproliferation norms (as opposed to mere promises)
by resisting pressure from the Chinese government (and
the American nuclear industry)." If he certifies
China, they argue, "he will have eviscerated U.S.
non-proliferation policy and compromised U. S.
national security."
At the White House state dinner for
Jiang, according to the Associated Press, "the
main dish was business." Guests include
"CEOs from America's biggest corporations"
who "perhaps not coincidentally, had donated $4.6
million to the Democratic Party over the last two
years." Time-Warner's chief Gerald Levin says,
"Just by being here it's a symbolic way of saying
we care about the opportunities and the cooperation we
have with the government."
"Prominent on the [state dinner
guest] list, as well, were former top foreign policy
officials who know how to open doors for businessmen
hoping to gain entree with Beijing," according to
AP, including "former secretaries of State Henry
Kissinger, George Shultz, and James A. Baker III,
former national Security adviser Brent Scowcroft, and
former White House Chief of Staff [and Secretary of
State] Alexander Haig."
Of the $4 billion in deals signed by
the Chinese trade delegation, it appears that over 86%
went to three companies: Boeing, Ford and General
Motors at $3 billion, $250 million and $200 million,
respectively. The remaining 14% went to some of the
companies represented at the state dinner, including
Atlantic Richfield and Lucent Technologies.
