Jiang gets fair marks on U.S. trip 'performance'<\/p>\n
By Edward Neilan<\/p>\n
Debriefing sessions back in Beijing might ask the question:
\n'Who is this guy Richard Gere?'<\/p>\n
TOKYO (JP): China's President Jiang Zemin is back in Beijing,
\nfacing the music from his colleagues, in a series of critiques on
\nhis recent visit to the United States.<\/p>\n
Although outsiders cannot get inside the councils that are
\ndebriefing Jiang, it is safe to say that he will get fairly high
\nmarks for his performance on a tough assignment.<\/p>\n
His biggest achievement may have been in keeping his cool in
\nthe face of taunts from protesters. But Jiang won few points for
\nhis stiff repeating in English of Confucian and Lincolnesque
\nplatitudes.<\/p>\n
His major shortcoming may have been an absence of the
\nspontaneity which his predecessor Deng Xiaoping showed during a
\nground-breaking visit 20 years ago. Deng's donning of a cowboy
\nhat in Houston was impromptu; Jiang's wearing of the three-
\ncornered Jeffersonian hat at Williamsburg appeared contrived and
\neven hypocritical.<\/p>\n
Deng's visit heralded the promise a new era of U.S.-China
\ncooperation in strategic positioning against the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
But Jiang's visit seemed to expose and sharpen differences,
\nwhile establishing a more solid dialog.<\/p>\n
\"Don't forget that China demanded that Jiang get a red
\ncarpet treatment, like the old U.S-Soviet summits,\" said a
\nWestern diplomat. \"They want to be seen as a great power so
\nrespect is the issue. Some disagreements with the U.S. are
\nallowable, short of demonization.\"<\/p>\n
China has four big areas, the visited exposed, on which it has
\nto show some moderation and movement if it is to truly expect
\nimprovement of across-the-board relations with Washington.<\/p>\n
They are Taiwan, Tibet, Tiananmen Square and human rights
\ngenerally.<\/p>\n
The best-prepared Americans for the Jiang visit turned out to
\nbe the U.S. business community which got a reward in the form of
\nsales orders for 30 Boeing jetliners, members of Congress who
\nhave strong feelings regarding a fair shake for Taiwan,
\nprotesters championing the causes of Taiwan and Tibet, President
\nClinton and the U.S. Stare Department, in that order.<\/p>\n
For all the criticism about a lack of interest in China by the
\naverage American, did you notice how intelligent were the
\nquestions asked at news conferences after luncheon and dinner
\nspeeches, particularly at the Harvard session?<\/p>\n
A major problem, of course, is that the Chinese folks back
\nhome got only a sanitized version of the Jiang visit on their
\nradio and television and in newspapers. The dissent was not
\nreported.<\/p>\n
All the evidence suggests that Beijing will try to come up
\nwith a move on Taiwan after Jiang's visit. Some measure will have
\nto be undertaken to get the cross-strait talks going. This is one
\narea where China can show that for the moment it is really
\ninterested in engagement, not confrontation.<\/p>\n
U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen's upcoming visit to
\nBeijing should help in settling some rules of naval engagement
\nthat will prevent miscalculations in the Taiwan Strait. We'll see
\nabout that. The written strategies of the Chinese navy are aimed
\nat the conquest of Taiwan, period.<\/p>\n
On Tibet, Jiang was probably asked by Communist Party Central
\nCommittee members on his return the equivalent of \"Who is this
\nguy Richard Gere?\"<\/p>\n
Movie actor Gere showed some finesse in leading protests on
\nChina's record Tibet. He drew sour comment from Henry Kissinger,
\nwho seems increasingly out of touch with Americans' feelings on
\nChina unless they are tied to business deals. The U.S. movie
\nindustry has a series of films coming out on Tibet and has
\ndecided to fight Beijing's censorship every step of the way.<\/p>\n
Gere stars in the upcoming Red Corne with a Tibet story line
\nthat is critical of Beijing. China has already expressed
\ndispleasure at Sony's Sixteen Years in Tibet and Kandu made by
\nWalt Disney\"s Touchstone Films unit. Harrison Ford and Steven
\nSeagal are other stars who have been championing Tibetan causes.<\/p>\n
Beijing may get the soft soap treatment from the State
\nDepartment but making Hollywood kowtow is a different matter.
\nChina's paranoia is seen in the fact that it allows only 10
\nAmerican movies into the country each year.<\/p>\n
China has a chance to put the Tiananmen issue further behind
\nit when Premier Li Peng retires next spring, to be succeeded by
\neconomics czar Zhu Rongji. If Li assumes one of Jiang's post,
\nlike the Presidency, it will mean the factional power struggle
\ncontinues. If Li, identified with the order to crack down at
\nTiananmen, is given the head chair at the National People's
\nCongress or a lesser post, it will mean the Tiananmen debate is
\nsubsiding.<\/p>\n
But someday China is going to have to say Tiananmen was a
\nmistake. Whether the Chinese Communist Party can survive such an
\nadmission without inviting challenge to its control is another
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
Edward Neilan has been invited as a visiting scholar to Fudan
\nUniversity, Shanghai, for one month starting this week. In 1996
\nhe was visiting professor of journalism, National Chengchi
\nUniversity, Taiwan.<\/p>",
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