TEXT: ROTH 10/15 ON 'ENSURING GROWTH AND STABILITY IN EAST ASIA'
(Asia's economic, political development important to U.S.)

Washington -- Further economic and political development of the East Asia region is critical to America's future, according to Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

In remarks made at an October 15 plenary session of the World Economic Forum in Hong Kong, Roth said that lasting economic growth and political evolution are dependent upon each other, but stressed that "neither can be enjoyed without protecting our security, a fundamental duty of every state and every community of nations."

Roth said U.S. security goals in East Asia -- maintaining and expanding peace and stability in the region -- "remain the objectives of our friends and neighbors in the region." Roth also mentioned the need to control nuclear arms.

According to Roth, the U.S. has been consistently committed to backing proposals for multilateral cooperation on emerging security concerns such as terrorism, crime and illegal narcotics, migration, overpopulation, and environmental degradation.

The United States has also supported security dialogues, including the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue, and has "reaffirmed and solidified" security alliances with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand, Roth said.

"Our defensive security relationship with Japan remains a central pillar of our policy. We have worked with the Japanese to keep the alliance relevant to the post-Cold War world," he said.

Roth also mentioned the United States has engaged North Korea in negotiations on missile issues and is waiting on North Korea's response to the proposed dates for the next round of talks.

With respect to China, Roth said the United States seeks the emergence of China as "a constructive participant of the world community."

"The emergence of China as a rapidly developing, open, and nonaggressive state that embraces the international rules of the road would be profoundly important for Asia and the world," he said.

Roth stressed that such a development would benefit China as well as the international community.

"If China is to take its rightful place in the modern world, it must choose constructive engagement with that world," Roth said. "Those systems that opened to the world evolved and thrived, adding their unique qualities to the global perspective. Those that did not have fallen behind in every sphere."

Following is the text of Roth's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE STANLEY ROTH

REMARKS AT PLENARY SESSION, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, HONG KONG

"SCENARIOS FOR ENSURING GROWTH AND STABILITY IN EAST ASIA"

OCTOBER 15, 1997

It is an honor to be here today with such distinguished colleagues. I can think of no location more relevant to this theme. When I look around me, I am amazed to recall the Hong Kong, and the Asia, of the relatively recent past. You will remember the era of the "Confrontation" in Southeast Asia, the long crisis of Indochina, the wars and rumors of war. It was a time when this region was marginalized, and to some degree even written-off, by outside observers.

The spectacular rates of economic development in Asia have been increasingly associated with a growing regional cooperation, a development in which the United States has played its part. After all, we are not strangers here. The United States is an integral part of the Asia-Pacific region. We are becoming increasingly integrated into the region, just as other member states are becoming more interconnected with the United States and with each other. We are all bound together, not just by geography, but by economic, ethnic, and historical links that grow stronger every day. This gives us great opportunities today and equally great responsibilities for tomorrow.

The further economic and political development of the region is critical to America's future. We believe that lasting economic growth and political evolution are dependent upon each other. Both are progressing rapidly in the region, albeit at unequal paces in different places. However, neither can be enjoyed without protecting our security, a fundamental duty of every state and every community of nations.

Our own commitment is clear. The United States has consistently backed proposals for multilateral cooperation on emerging security concerns such as terrorism, crime and illegal narcotics, migration, overpopulation, and environmental degradation. We have supported security dialogues, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue, involving the members of the Asia-Pacific community.

Bilaterally, we reaffirmed and solidified security alliances with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand. As much a Pacific nation as an Atlantic one, we maintain a forward presence of 100,000 troops here as we keep an equal and complementary number in Europe.

In this context, our defensive security relationship with Japan remains a central pillar of our policy. We have worked with the Japanese to keep the alliance relevant to the post-Cold War world. The new "Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation" build upon the basic alliance structure. They do not change the 1960 Mutual Security Treaty. They do provide a general framework and policy direction to clarify the roles and mission of the two countries. The guidelines respect the present Japanese constitution and do not contemplate Japanese involvement in combat operations outside of Japan. I want to stress that our security relationship with Japan, like our relationships with all of our regional allies, is not aimed at any other country. It is defensive and designed to bolster the security of the partners and the stability of the area as a whole.

The commitment of American honor, or our own sons and daughters, and of our treasure through our security alliances has helped make Asia more stable today than it has been at any time in this century. As a result, Asia has had room to grow economically and expand the freedoms enjoyed by its peoples. In this period of peace and prosperity, younger citizens have not known war; certainly not on the scale that some of us in this room have. We owe it to them to make sure they never do. We can only guarantee their future and our present by squarely facing the dangers that face us. They are serious and cannot be ignored.

The modern age has brought modern horrors. Weapons of mass destruction have become cheaper, easier to construct, and more threatening to us all. Chemical weapons have long been a concern and we need to increase our efforts to control trade in precursor chemicals. The illicit spread and proliferation of delivery systems, including missiles, must be stopped. We are concerned by reports of possible Chinese cooperation with Iran on missile-related issues. Nevertheless, the Chinese have taken some positive steps. Beijing has already indicated its adherence to some of the guidelines and parameters of the Missile Technology Control Regime, and voluntarily limited other sales. We are encouraging China's full adherence to the MTCR. Unfortunately, the DPRK has not agreed to any controls. The U.S. has engaged the North in negotiations on missile issues, and we are awaiting the North's response to our proposed dates for the next round of talks.

However, perhaps the most pressing need is to control nuclear arms, weapons unique to our age. We support, in principle, the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. We, along with other nuclear weapons states, continue to work with the ASEAN countries to find solutions to our concerns which will allow us to sign the protocol to the Zone. In concert with other Asian and non-Asian nations, we have taken measures against the most immediate nuclear threat, the North Korean nuclear program. As a result of the Agreed Framework and the establishment of KEDO (the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization), that program is frozen in its tracks. The benefits have flowed to all; the responsibilities are being borne by too few. The Agreed Framework and KEDO need the material support of us all if it is to succeed.

Unfortunately, Korea remains a potentially dangerous place. We have roughly 37,000 troops there, ready to fight and win with our ROK allies should that become necessary. However, we and the ROK seek a permanent peace and lasting stability on the peninsula. The Four Party talks proposed by Presidents Kim and Clinton are the only practical way to replace the armistice and achieve a durable peace. They also offer the North its best chance to move away from fruitless confrontation. We hope that the official election as General Secretary of Kim Jong-il, who has wielded the real authority in the DPRK since his father's death, will encourage North Korea to fully engage in the peace process.

I cannot conclude without mentioning perhaps the single, most important factor affecting peace and stability in Asia. It may also be one of the most hopeful developments of our time. I refer, of course, to the rise of China. The emergence of China as a rapidly developing, open, and nonaggressive state that embraces the international rules of the road would be profoundly important for Asia and the world. Most of all, of course, this development is in China's interest. It is in America's interests as it is in the interest of other countries.

As Deng Xiaoping pointed out, the most brilliant of China's golden ages, the Sung and the T'ang, occurred when the Middle Kingdom was most open to the outside world. When China isolated itself, it began to decline. As in Deng's time and as in ancient eras, there is tension today between the vision of an open China and that of a closed China. Some voices seem to suggest that China should "protect" its people by restricting their access to information, the life-blood of today's economy, and operate by its own rules when interacting with other nations. Neither is possible for long and either would do great harm to China's modernization. This sort of policy would not be "self-strengthening," but self-weakening.

If China is to take its rightful place in the modern world, it must choose constructive engagement with that world. Those systems that opened to the world evolved and thrived, adding their unique qualities to the global perspective. Those that did not have fallen behind in every sphere.

Whether China becomes isolated or not is in its own hands. We have neither the desire nor the ability to "contain" China. We have every desire to see a stable, prosperous, peaceful China. This can only happen, as the Chinese people know, if China is integrated into the emerging world system and helps shape that system. For this reason, we seek opportunities for strategic dialogue with Chinese officials on policy issues of common concern, such as Korea, Cambodia, South Asia and the Persian Gulf. As the upcoming visit of President Jiang will demonstrate, we are committed to a regular and high-level dialogue with China. Our long-range goal is to see a China which is never again the object of others' manipulation and its own fears, but is a constructive participant of the world community.

In short, our security goals in Asia remain the objectives of our friends and neighbors in the region, maintaining and expanding peace and stability in the region. This is what has allowed the area to develop so rapidly. It is essential that we never forget this basic fact.

(end text)

Return to The United States and China.

Return to IIP Home Page.