Bill in a China Shop

July 13, 1998 When Air Force One touched down in China, it was the first state visit by an American President in nine years—the date of the massacre in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The symbolic nature of the visit to Tiananmen Square was not lost on the news media even though the Chinese tried to cover it up.

Apparently the Clinton administration did try to avoid the infamous square. But the Chinese would have no part of it. Either he went to Tiananmen Square, or he didn’t go at all. President Clinton agreed in a pattern that’s become all too familiar.

When the U.S. had proof that China was selling magnet rings (used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons) to Pakistan, the Clinton administration did nothing even though U.S. law required that sanctions be imposed.
When China wanted to upgrade its computer capacity, the White House allowed powerful computers to be exported to China without review even though they could be used to enhance missile testing and accuracy.
When China fired missiles within 100 miles of Taiwan on the eve of the nation’s first democratic elections, the Clinton administration said nothing.
When China had problems with rocket launches for satellites, the Clinton administration moved the review of sensitive exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department. Subsequently valuable missile and rocket information may have passed to the Chinese because the Pentagon could no longer veto such information transfers.

Now that the China trip is over we will have to see if this administration is willing to challenge the Chinese on issues like human rights, technology transfers, and military buildup. If we continue our past history, then I suspect nothing else will be said.

I’m Kerby Anderson of Probe Ministries, and that’s my opinion.