Good ties with China imperative

U.S. Vice President Al Gore's visit to China is a vital piece of diplomacy in a continuing process of rapprochement between the two countries that will shape our world into the next millennium.

That places an great responsibility on both parties -- from minimizing friction over strategic goals, to learning to conduct more open trade, and accepting cultural differences.

No one should pretend that a relationship strained badly in 1995/1996 over Taiwan can be patched up swiftly. But conditions have never been more favorable.

The Chinese probably expect that Mr. Gore will tell his boss that China after Deng is stable and firmly in the hands of President Jiang Zemin. This is important as over the last four years U.S. policy planners have been working through a variety of scenarios when it became known that Mr. Deng Xiaoping had become ill.

On the American side, the hope must be that China realizes that constructive ties are high on Mr. Clinton's second-term policy agenda. The confusion of his first-term China policy, if it can be called one, has been replaced by a new understanding. The administration realizes that it is both futile and silly to provoke an awakened China. It can only make the world a more dangerous place.

Suspicions in the U.S. over Chinese efforts to influence policy by donating money to the Democratic Party's election campaign can, if mishandled, cause a setback to relations. The U.S. authorities are investigating complaints that six congressmen had been targeted by the Chinese to receive contributions. China has said it is "not involved and is entirely free of guilt".

The matter looks more sinister than it is. First, the lobbying of foreign governments is the oldest game in Washington. Israel and Taiwan are past masters at it. The powerful expect to be courted. That this particular row concerns illegal campaign donations amounts to only a cosmetic difference.

American critics foaming at the mouth over foreign money should divest themselves of their hypocrisy. Influence gained through donations of cash or favors, are different faces of the same beast. If one is ethically suspect, so is the other. The issue has been kept alive only by the Republicans and the media for self-serving reasons.

The Clinton administration will not find it easy to get the Republican and media monkeys off its back. That is American jousting at its' least attractive. But it should take care to separate domestic pressure, which is transient from the national interest, which is longer lasting. Good relations with China are integral to America's national interest.

-- The Straits Times, Singapore