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U.S.-China relations have been troubled since the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, but have grown markedly worse since last spring when China's most- favored-nation trading status came up for review in Washington. Though the Clinton Administration pushed through renewal of MFN status for a year, the decision was conditioned on significant improvements on the human-rights front. While Chinese citizens enjoy considerably more personal freedom today than they did three or four years ago, on-and-off repression of dissidence keeps the human-rights issue alive. Another major irritant was introduced last August when the U.S. imposed a ban on the sale of sensitive technology to China, claiming Beijing had violated an international agreement by selling M- 11 missiles to Pakistan. China denied the charge, but experts believe it did deliver weapons components, honoring a previous commitment to its longtime ally.
Chinese sensibilities were hurt again by two recent events: the U.S. accusation last August that a Chinese freighter, the Yinhe, was carrying prohibited chemical-weapons components to Iran; and the International Olympics Committee's selection of Sydney rather than Beijing as the site of the 2000 Olympic Games. An independent inspection of the Yinhe by Saudi Arabian officials in the presence of American "consultants" showed the U.S. accusations to be without substance, prompting Beijing to demand a formal U.S. apology and compensation for the freighter's interrupted voyage. Afterward, the Chinese press went on a name-calling binge, deriding the U.S. as a self- styled globocop trampling on others' sovereignty. The IOC's decision was seen as a further example of Western anti-China bias.
The Christopher initiative, however belated, indicates that Washington is eager to mend fences. After Shattuck, Agriculture Secretary Michael Espy will visit Beijing to discuss trade issues, and there is talk of a subsequent foray by Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. Finally, Clinton will meet with Jiang in Seattle around Nov. 20 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Can the pattern of friction be broken? Clinton expressed "deep regret" over China's decision to explode a nuclear weapon, and then announced that the U.S. Department of Energy would prepare for the resumption of U.S. atomic testing. As for Hong Kong, Governor Patten's implied threat to go ahead with reform that Beijing has said it will ignore can only set the stage for more confrontation. Even before the Governor's speech, China had issued a statement that reiterated Deng's 11-year-old threat to retake Hong Kong before 1997 should Britain create "serious disturbances," such as going ahead with "unilateral democratization."