June 10, 1999	atimes.com

China COMMENT: A secure China advances U.S. security By Monte Bullard MONTEREY, Calif. - The United States' policy of promoting a strong, stable and confident China was correct in the 1980s and remains correct today. This is especially true when it comes to issues of arms control and nuclear-weapons proliferation. This policy, as articulated by the Reagan administration, was clear: A strong, stable and confident China is in the best interest of the United States as a counterweight to the Soviet Union and a force for regional stability in Asia. Although not everyone agreed, the U.S. developed programs to make this policy a reality. We established military-to-military relationships to help professionalize and modernize the People's Liberation Army. The goal was to help make the PLA stronger, more secure and more confident and draw it into constructive relationships with the rest of the world. A new atmosphere was created. We invited senior PLA officers to the United States to discuss military modernization. You can imagine the reaction of America's civilian, military and scientific community when the first PLA delegation, in full uniform, came to visit such previously sensitive sites as the Naval Weapons Lab in Pensacola, Florida, NORAD headquarters deep underground in Colorado Springs, Colorado, or IBM's headquarters in New York. While we discussed sharing basic computer and military technologies, the idea of providing the Chinese with nuclear and missile technology, or anything that could help them launch an attack against the United States, was not considered. There is no excuse for deliberately passing classified information to China or any other country and it is vital that we determine how these apparent breeches of security may have occurred. But the furor following the publication of the Cox Commission report points to the critical need for the United States to better define its relationship with China. For years, the world has sent mixed messages to China and this has made the Chinese feel less secure. For fifty years China was told that the strategies of nuclear deterrence and ''mutual assured destruction'' were directly responsible for maintaining peace and stability in Europe. But now, China is told that the United States acting as the world's sole superpower can best maintain peace. China doesn't trust the United States to be the world's policeman. It worries that U.S. values will be forced on the rest of the world, even in areas where they are incompatible. Today, the Chinese equate NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia to the gunboat diplomacy of the 19th century, by which the ''imperialist powers humiliated China for 100 years.'' Western powers not only carved out extraterritorial concessions within China, they controlled China's customs service. That infamous sign in a Shanghai park - ''No dogs or Chinese allowed'' - continues to burn in China's collective memory. Given the U.S. history of launching preemptive strikes against nations with which it disagrees (Libya, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia), China fears it may become the next target of air-power diplomacy over such questions as Tibet or human rights. Its strategy is to modernize its military so as to prevent American hegemony from ''blackmailing'' China into adopting policies it does not consider in its interest - policies it considers internal matters. While we cannot condone Chinese espionage, we must understand the motivation behind modernization of the PLA. We cannot expect the PLA to limit its modernization process. We can tighten our security and, through research, development and deployment, maintain our current huge military advantage. But it is vital that we continue to engage China and work with its leaders to build a more peaceful world through cooperation rather than confrontation. U.S. policy should be to work through the United Nations and other multi-lateral organizations to convince China to be an active force in solving such problems as Kosovo and South Asia. We should not just assume that they would veto any action in the UN. The development of a strong, stable and confident China is still in the best security interests of the United States and the world. (Col. Monte Bullard [Ret.] was the first U.S. Army attache to Beijing and is currently interim director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA. This article was distributed by The Global Beat Syndicate, a service of New York University's Center for War, Peace, and the News Media. (c) 1999 New York University. All Rights Reserved.)

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