U.S. Dept. of State - IIP: The United States and China

Excerpts: Colin Powell Press Conference En Route to Australia
(Secretary of State discusses encouraging aspects of China visit)

En route to Canberra July 29 after concluding a visit to China, Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed optimism that the U.S.-China relationship was headed in a positive direction for the near future.

"I think [the Chinese] are very anxious to have a constantly improving relationship with the United States. And we are similarly inclined, because it is in our interest to have such a relationship," Powell said.

Powell answered reporters' questions about various U.S.-China issues, among them: President Bush's upcoming visit to China; human rights; the EP-3 incident; Taiwan; nonproliferation; and missile defense.

Following are excerpts of the State Department transcript of Powell's press conference:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
Canberra, Australia)
July 29, 2001

Press Conference by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
Briefing en Route to Canberra Australia
July 29, 2001

From there, of course, into China and I was very pleased to be received at all the senior levels and, to use diplomatic phraseology, it was a good exchange of views. But it was more than that, it got us past the EP-3 incident, even though the payment issue is still out there, but that should be resolved in the near future. I think it got us past that, and allowed them to make sure that I had a clear understanding, which I did, of the one-China policy as they see it and allowed me to reinforce our one-China policy understanding as well based on the TRN and the three communiqu¡¦. I made it clear to them that President Bush wanted to engage, that there was a lot we could do in the economic field, the field of trade, in the field of trying to reduce the potential for regional conflicts by conversation and discussion and forums, such as the ARF Forum, where we get together and talk about things. I also gave the message at every level that we still have concerns. Our systems are different, but there are some universal features that should apply to both systems -- human rights and also proliferation, non-proliferation, and counter-proliferation interests and activities. They are very much looking forward to President Bush's visit and I was particularly impressed that they reinforced their view that America does belong in the Pacific, in the Asia-Pacific, region, and they welcome American presence in the Asia-Pacific region as a stabilizing factor which I felt it has been for all these many, many years. It was also an opportunity to introduce two of our new ambassadors, Howard Baker, have a chance to see Howard and Nancy Kassenbaum Baker for a bit and also Ambassador Sandy Randt, two stars in my judgment who will do a great job of representing us to those two particular countries.

QUESTION: Thanks, sir. A China question, if I may. It's been such a difficult relationship. There have been things that pop up all the time. They're still Americans. There are people with links to the United States, who are being held there. How confident are you that it's going to be smooth sailing, at least through October? Or are you concerned that something could pop up again?

SECRETARY POWELL: I've never been good at fortune telling, so I don't know what might pop up. I didn't think the EP-3 would pop up. I didn't think the Hansen case would pop up with the Russians, but it's the nature of this business. Things happen. In terms of what I can see in the next several months, I see nothing on the horizon that would cause there to be anything but a good atmosphere for the President's visit. We will continue to talk about human rights, and as I said several times we will worry about individual cases - we are not ignoring individual cases, and we will communicate individual cases of concern to them. But I don't want to just leave it there. I want to talk about human rights. Otherwise, you are just always grinding out individual cases. They're important to do. We will do it.

It'll take a little bit, but I don't see anything that would derail right now. They've got everything out of their system they wanted to talk to: Taiwan arms sales -- is it our One-China policy -- they got all their markers down. Got that all out of the way. Interestingly they did not make -- now that I think of it on reflection - they did not press, except perhaps passing at one point all of the transit problems. They didn't focus on that at all. [inaudible] Taiwan. They didn't really press that one. Taiwan, One-China policy and arms sales were of concern to them. And the strong message was 'Let's not let Taiwan -- let's not let this situation get out of control because it is not in anyone's interest. So, let's be careful of what we do. Let's talk to each other. Let's consult and let's make sure that everybody understands the volatility of the Taiwan issue.

QUESTION: On the non proliferation issues, on the non-proliferation talks with China, did you come away with the idea that they are looking for you to actually begin processing these satellite licenses, until they are going to move forward with some of their missile export control regimes? And can you talk about, is it turning into a quid pro quo at this point?

SECRETARY POWELL: The agreement we made with them last November was that, if they would do the things we thought were necessary, we would return to normal processing of these licenses. But one of the cases we brought to their attention is of such a nature that the waiver, some of the waivers that the President would have to issue in order to go forward in all the processing, would be difficult for him to do. It's not so much a quid pro quo, it's part of the process that's in place for the approval of these licenses.

QUESTION: Can you give us perspective on the input you had in terms of the American scholars, American [inaudible] scholars, in the run-up to whatever happened in China over the last week?

SECRETARY POWELL: They were aware of our interest in the cases. They also were aware of a great deal of Congressional and family interest in the cases. And of course the media had covered the cases quite extensively. So they came to the conclusion that it was wise to resolve these cases in a timely manner. But I don't want to speak for them or try to judge for you the judgments they made. They found it in their interests to resolve these quickly.

QUESTION: President Bush, largely to distinguish this administration's China policy from the previous one, often has used this expression "strategic competitor". I'm just curious if you can describe what that really means? What is the difference between this administration's policy and the previous one's [policy]?

SECRETARY POWELL: The previous administration sort of honed in on "strategic partner," which seemed to us to be a little bit too strong a statement for an emerging relationship with a country that really does not share our value system entirely, and where we still had some differences. And so I have been -- I used "strategic competitor" when I first became Secretary to say there are areas that we have disagreements in and we may have interests that do not coincide, and we may find ourselves competing in the region. I didn't mean that in a warlike sense, it's just that, to sort of contrast from a "partnership." Subsequently though, in recent discussions, I've tried not to focus on a single label, because what I discovered is something that I really knew before and have now rediscovered, is that the relationship is so complex with so many different elements to it that it's probably wiser not to capture it with a single word or a single term or a single clich¡¦ And then you try to shove everything that happens, everything that comes up, every incident, through the filter of that clich¡¦or that statement. We may find a term in due course that will capture all of that, but I prefer to not use the language of a single term.

QUESTION: You say that you expect the payment issue for the EP-3 to be solved soon. Is that because you've sent them back a bill and the balance is due, or can you give us a bit of detail about that?

SECRETARY POWELL: No. Obviously we're reviewing the bill. Just as you go over your bills, I trust. We're looking over the bill, and in due course we'll respond. We had an agreement to pay certain costs and so the answer is not zero. It's what those costs are that we think we are obligated to pay is the issue. But I don't think this will be an extended problem or something that's going to be a big concern.

QUESTION: Your presentation on missile defense was the first time that the Chinese had heard what the Bush Administration plans --

QUESTION: In any event, their replies, in their answers back, what seemed to be of most concern to them, the undermining of their nuclear deterrent, or the fact that, that Taiwan would get theater missile defense? And with which official did you discuss this most? Which official gave you most of the Chinese concerns?

SECRETARY POWELL: It was the major agenda item at lunch with Foreign Minister Tang, and I went on at some length. They listened and responded with a question or two. It was not an in-depth discussion. They really did not want to belabor the discussion with their side, other than to say, to make it clear to me that they do not think we are moving in the right direction, and they still think the ABM Treaty is at the cornerstone of strategic stability. But they're listening, and I would guess that their major concern is what it means to their strategic deterrent force. Obviously they're also always interested in what Taiwan might do or how it might become a part of this or not become a part of it. But I would say their first concern is their strategic deterrent force.

QUESTION: Do you expect them to go ahead very fast with their program of accelerating --

QUESTION: What can you share with us that would give us a sense as to why you might be optimistic that the relationship with China is back on track, beyond the fact that they've agreed to talk? That could just be a reason to stall, they're going to talk on the expert level, on the MTCR issues and also on the human rights discussion, but what gives you the reason that this is something that's moving in the right direction?

SECRETARY POWELL: Because I think they are very anxious to have a good and constantly improving relationship with the United States as they gain access in the WTO. They understand the importance of economics and trade. And all that you saw up and down that main street comes from being part of the international economic community. And the centerpiece of that trade and that economic world is the United States, the largest economy in the world, the biggest purchaser. Forty percent of their exports go to the United States. This is not a relationship you want to see soured. So they have every incentive, I think, to put it back on the right track with us. They were also anxious to get the EP-3 incident behind us. The way in which they handled these three cases. Here's a little color: in the meeting with Foreign Minister Tang, we had a good discussion of all of the issues. Then at the end of the meeting before we broke for lunch, it was Foreign Minister Tang who said, now here's what I think we agreed to do with respect to future cooperation and meetings. And he listed all of the things that we had covered in the narrative discussion. The experts meeting, the human rights meeting, they were all said in the course of the meeting but it was his desire to sort of list them. And then when he did that I said, well then, I'm going to make a point of announcing all of them this afternoon. And -- I forgot, it wasn't in the joint press announcement, I said we should [inaudible] and then he said, we'll both announce them this afternoon. So they were anxious to show movement. And it's more that just, let's start talking again; it's talking in areas that we haven't been talking in a year or so. In the case of human rights, it was since the embassy incident. So I think this is an effort on their part to do more. I also think you've got to take a look at the Olympics. This 2008 Olympics is going to be a standard for them. A standard that they're going to have to rise to over the next seven years of what the world is expecting to see in Beijing in 2008. So for all these reasons I think they are very anxious to have a constantly improving relationship with the United States. And we are similarly inclined, because it is in our interest to have such a relationship.

QUESTION: You talked about the EP-3 incident being behind us. Are you confident now that incidents like this are behind us? Are there new rules in effect for this sort of - are there new rules in the game now?

SECRETARY POWELL: We continue to need reconnaissance. We continue to fly our missions. We have had discussions with them and said, you know, let's use proper rules when we're up there. And of course another agreement that came out is to have the MMCA meet next month, where they discuss this kind of thing. And so we've gone back to normal procedures where -- stay away, don't put these 20 year olds in a position where something can happen. These are young people and they're good, but let's not press the envelope that way again. And so far, since we resumed reconnaissance flights, we haven't seen anything like the kinds of things we had been seeing before. So we're seeing behavior.

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