Why risk political, economic warfare with Asias colossus?
By HENRY KISSINGER In a recent visit to Beijing, I found improvement of the battered Sino-American relations to be a key objective — perhaps the key foreign policy objective — of the post-Deng leadership. At the same time in the United States, the debate about granting normal trade status to China becomes more venomous with each passing year. The opponents of normal trade are already gearing up for next year. Some seek to punish China over human rights; others want to clip China’s wings; many are seeking to use the China issue to restructure America’s political parties. If they succeed, they will thrust America into at least political and economic war with the most populous country in the world, and one of the most dynamic. Such a confrontation is not called for by any realistic assessment of the national interest. The Clinton administration has shown statesmanship in resisting these pressures, and it has been supported by every former president, secretary of state and national secur
