On July 15, the US-China Security Review Report written by the US-China Security Evaluation Committee was published.
The report, making evaluation on a series of questions including US-China relations, economy and trade, came to the conclusion: Since China has always been regarded as a country supporting terrorism and continuing to export products including missile technology, China is endangering America's national security. The department concerned should urge US Congress to strengthen management of related technology transfer, otherwise, China would constitute an ever-greater threat to America's interests in various parts of the world.
On July 12, the annual Defense White Paper submitted by US Defense Department to the Congress claimed that China's ability of military intimidation and military occupation of Taiwan is being continuously enhanced, it could even take military actions against Taiwan under the circumstance without giving warning. The hundreds of short-range missiles China deployed in south China threaten not only Taiwan, but also US armed forces in Japan, as well as Japan and the Philippines.
The successive emergence of these two reports is not accidental. It appears that US right-wing forces tend to whip up the "China threat theory" again.
The report of the US-China Security Review Committee composed of members of both the Democratic and Republican Parties of US Congress runs as long as more than 200 pages. The report said: China is currently a WTO member and the Chinese economy is developing and expanding. China is also a huge market for the United States. However, China is also a country with very uncertain political prospect and motive of its foreign policy. China is becoming increasingly important in economy, at the same time it is also expanding its military strength.
The report states US-China relationship is gradually becoming a foreign relation which is most important to the United States but is also most disturbing. The report even alleges: China's huge surplus of trade with the United States has provided a source of capital for this policy that directly harms US interests.
The report puts forward a 21-point proposal, which includes the proposition that US Congress adopt a series of legislative actions, tighten up US policy toward China and apply economic and financial sanctions against the Chinese government.
The Commission also holds that US companies' increasing investments in China impair US industrial production capacity and the US employment market, therefore, it demands that the Congress enact relevant laws, stipulating that those US companies which invest in China and engage in trade with Chinese firms make public the contents of their investment in China as well as their contract ties with Chinese trading companies, and that US Congress formulate a set of special "codes of ethics" for American companies operating in China.
The US-China Security Review Commission was founded with the Congress authorization in 2000, its main tasks include assessing the impacts exerted by US economic and trade ties with China on American national security. The Commission consists of 12 members, with the Republican and the Democratic Parties each comprising half of the memberships. There are different voices even within the Committee.
Director of the Export Control Bureau under the Commerce Department, who once served in the Clinton administration, takes an opposite stand. The director says that it is unreasonable for the Congress to make laws used specially to control the business activities of American companies in China. The Director said: The Commission's proposal which lacks most serious consideration but has the most far-reaching influence is that it demands American companies to make public their business reports.
Under this proposal, American companies doing business in China must make detailed reports, including each item of their investments. I think the demand fails to clearly define the standard, and yet the scope it covers is very extensive, furthermore, it is a discriminatory action against China, so there is simply no need to do so. I think it is incorrect for the Congress to set the moral standard for company business operations.
Some analysts in Washington reveal that the US Congress is now terribly busy for it has to handle a host of problems such as counter-terrorism, America's own security, company scandals as well as the November election and other issues of legislation, for this reason, the report of the US-China Security Review Commission will possibly receive not enough attention.
Far-sighted personages in and out of the US government all have a correct understanding of US-China relations. State Secretary Colin Powell refuses to call China a "strategic competitor". At a recent joint press conference, he and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer unanimously indicated that the United States and Australia are not worried about the building of China's military modernization.
Powell said the United States had noticed that China used part of its funds for the modernization of its armed forces. As long as it does not constitute any threat to the region, military modernization itself has nothing to be afraid of. He said there existed good bilateral relations between the United States and China. America expects to conduct more military exchanges with China, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is making efforts in this regard.
US officials advocating contacts with China emphasize since there exist major economic relations of interest between America and China, therefore, divided opinions between the two counties can definitely be diffused.
( July 18, 2002)
