CHINA: Satellite Row May Spoil Clinton Visit, Beijing Fears

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, May 29 1998 (IPS) - China is fretting over a ‘satellite-for- cash’ scandal now dogging the Clinton administration, worried that it may spoil the atmosphere for the U.S. president’s long-awaited visit here in June.

Thus, Beijing’s propaganda machine has switched into high gear to deny any China connection to potential breaches of American national security alleged by Clinton’s critics in the U.S. Congress.

The government of Bill Clinton has come under fire for its February approval of the Chinese launching of a U.S. satellite, a move he allegedly allowed because the satellite firm’s head is the largest personal contributor to the Democratic Party.

Officials in China, whose relations with Washington are at their best since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, are painting the satellite row as an effort by some circles in the United States to block the warming of bilateral ties.

“Some people in the United States are always unhappy to see Sino-U.S. ties improving,” the Communist Party’s flagship ‘People’s Daily’ quoted foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao as saying earlier this week.

“They use thousands of kinds of tricks to engage in obstruction and destruction, and don’t bat an eye at the vile methods of pulling something from nothing, fabricating rumours and slander,” he added.

Clinton’s critics, mainly Republicans, are seeking a closer inquiry to claims that the U.S. aerospace firm Loral Space and Communications got a waiver from Clinton because of the influence of Loran chair Bernard Schwartz.

Loral has been under criminal investigation for illegal transfers of sensitive technology to China, at the time when Clinton signed the waiver in February this year.

Such presidential waivers were required because of sanctions that Washington imposed on China after its bloody suppression of the Tiananmen Square democracy movement in 1989.

Wang Haihan, head of American studies at the China Institute for International Studies, says the furore raised by American politicians is the latest in a string of events highlighting “a kind of unfriendly sentiment” in some circles in the U.S.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to outlaw exports of satellites for launching in China amid concerns that such exports violate national security.

Also last week, more than 150 members of the Republican- dominated Congress demanded that Clinton cancel his trip to China until an investigation by the U.S. Senate concludes whether the satellite launch licenses were linked to campaign contributions from Schwartz.

Calling the Senate move “reckless action” driven by ulterior motives, a commentary in the official ‘China Daily’ on Monday defended the Clinton government.

“The accusation against the Clinton administration sounds so serious and reasonable that one can easily be lured to believe that the action of the U.S. House of Representatives is driven by a real concern about America’s national security,” the paper’s Yang Chunya wrote.

“However, to those who are familiar with U.S.-China policy, the motivation of the move is by no means what it appears”, the commentary said, lashing out at people in the U.S. “who are uncomfortable with better Sino-American relations”.

Wang sees no obstacles to Clinton’s visit to China, which is scheduled for June 23 to July 3. It is the first such visit by an American leader since the Tiananmen massacre.

“To the best of my knowledge, the preparations for the visit continue from both sides,” Wang said. “As long as the leaders of the two countries value Sino-U.S. relations, the trend of further development is irreversible. However recent events show it won’t be smooth.”

Other observers of China-U.S. ties agree. “If history is any judge, the chances for smooth U.S.-China relations are not very good,” said David Shambaugh, professor of political science at the Sigur Centre in Washington.

“While things now seem calm compared to only a year ago when there was a raging debate in the United States whether China should be engaged or contained, the strategic partnership the two sides are talking about has been evasive,” he said.

The two countries’ ties have gone through warm and cool phases. Bilateral ties sank to their lowest level right after Tiananmen, but have warmed considerably in the last year.

For instance, Chinese President Jiang Zemin went to the U.S. in October 1997 and Beijing has released two prominent political dissidents in recent months.

Bilateral ties have long been hounded by human rights issues, but tensions have been eased somewhat by Beijing’s signing of the international covenant on economic and cultural rights and a public commitment to sign a similar covenant on political rights.

In fact, the criticism of late from many in the U.S. is that the Clinton government’s relationship with the Chinese leadership has become too cozy.

And now, with only weeks to go before Clinton’s visit, Beijing faces serious accusations that it bought influence in American politics by donating to Clinton’s Democratic Party during the 1996 elections.

But “China has never and will never use money to influence American politics”, foreign ministry spokesman Zhu said.

Such allegations have been made against a Chinese aerospace executive, daughter of a veteran army general, who has denied making donations to the Democratic Party.

Liu Chaoying, a lieutenant colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, said in a written statement that allegations of contributions were “unfounded and unsupported”.

Earlier media reports said a former fundraiser named Johnny Chung had told U.S. investigators that a large part of the 100,000 U.S. dollars he poured into Democratic Party coffers came from Liu — a daughter of Liu Huaqing, then China’s top military commander.

Despite Liu’s denials, the British newspaper the ‘Times’ reported that Clinton had posed for a photograph with her at one fundraiser.

CHINA: Satellite Row May Spoil Clinton Visit, Beijing Fears

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Antoaneta Bezlova

BEIJING, May 29 1998 (IPS) - China is fretting over a ‘satellite-for- cash’ scandal now dogging the Clinton administration, worried that it may spoil the atmosphere for the U.S. president’s long-awaited visit here in June.
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