| The debate is sure to be sharp, now that President Clinton has called for continuing China's most-favored-nation trading privileges. But it's a mistake to argue about MFN in isolation. The real question to ask is whether the U.S. is working on all fronts, not just trade, to make China freer.
Put it this way: What if the U.S. set out to promote democracy in China much as Ronald Reagan did in the Soviet Bloc? Such a policy would have to tap the forces of freedom latent in China itself. These are popular forces, forces of idealism, just as they were in Russia. As the U.S. learned from South Africa to Nicaragua to the Philippines in the 1980s, thew can be powerful forces indeed. Such a "populist" foreign policy, as Jeffrey Bell has called it, would aim not at the privileges and opinions of Chinese elites, but at more than a billion people of China yearning to breathe free. We can aid those forces in China just as we did in the Soviet bloc by building our policy around four basic pillars.
Much American "trade" with China takes place through the Norinco cartel, a network of trading firms and producers operated largely at the discretion of. and for the benefit of, the Chinese military and the Communist Party Another big slice goes through a handful of mammoth state enterprises. The economic weakness of these enterprises is one of the major reasons for economic and political reform in China. Trading with them under liberal terms contributes directly to the forces of oppression and removes pressure on the government, Thus, even amid a policy of some trade, America should not extend MFN indiscriminately to the billions of dollars that help retard, not extend, capitalism and freedom. (This policy was proposed by a number of leading Chinese democracy advocates during the MEN debate in 1993.)
If China is not the most subsidized country in the world, it is close to it. It was one of the largest World Bank borrowers in each of the last five years. Also, deals that will not pass muster on their own with private insurers or banks are often backed by the Export Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corp. and a host of other U.S. and European subsidies. The president should instruct officials at the IMF, World Bank, and similar institutions to oppose aid for China.
After too long, America's new radio service for China and other unfree Asian countries is set to go on line. We should give high priority to insuring that these broadcasts remain on the cutting edge and can penetrate any jamming mechanisms the communist government might institute. America's message in these and other public diplomacy matters is vital, The closer to home the subject matter, the better. That is, rather than praising American capitalism, or the theory of the Founding Fathers, our broadcasts should be informational and focus on how real people not so different from the Chinese - in Mongolia and Taiwan, for instance - are making democracy work. Above all, it is important that America's human rights policy not merely be a search for particular violations. As scholar Joshua Muravchik notes, only the presence of systemic commitments, and the treatment of human rights as rights, brings significant gains for freedom.
President Clinton and Congress should review security concerns with our democratic allies in the Pacific and reorient American policy accordingly. Above all, these countries must feel secure. The U.S. must make it clear it won't abandon them to Chinese hegemony overt he next 20 to 25 years. This means continuing and expanding America's construction of attack submarines. At present rates of downsizing, there will be only 12 attack subs operating in the Pacific and Indian Oceans at any given lime early in the next decade. I his may not be sufficient to defend American interests and allies. We must also upgrade our long-range deep strike capabilities such as the B-2 bomber and reactivate strategic and tactical defense programs that have withered in recent years. |
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