China will push Clinton line

By Willy Lam
CNN Senior China Analyst

(CNN) -- Beijing will use former president Bill Clinton's conciliatory speech at Hong Kong's Fortune Global Forum to put pressure on the George W. Bush administration.

A member of a Chinese diplomatic think-tank said: "[Chinese President] Jiang Zemin will be arguing that Clinton's approach on China will work better than Bush's and that it meshes with the interests of the Chinese and American people."

The think-tank intellectual said Jiang had already started preparations for hosting Bush in Shanghai and Beijing this October.

Jiang had also tried to discourage hawkish military officers and scholars from venting their anti-U.S. sentiments in public.

At the closure of the Fortune Global Forum, Clinton urged a return to the concept of a constructive partnership that he and Jiang had been working together.

"The important thing . . . is not to assume that the [bilateral] relationship is inherently adversarial but instead to take what we know is the truth -- that the world will be a better place over the next 50 years if we are partners, if we are working together," Clinton said.

The former president said the key to American efforts in promoting stability in Asia was improving links with China, adding that "shared opportunties" would outweigh differences between the two.

And while Bush expressed reluctance in apologizing to Beijing over the spy plane incident last month, Clinton yesterday reiterated his condolences over NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in 1999.

Diplomatic analysts said Bush had abandoned the partnership idea and that his Asian policy focussed more on traditional U.S. allies such as Japan.

However, Jiang had given indications that he hoped Bush's visit to China in the Autumn would provide the momentum for better ties.

The Chinese media on Thursday took note of comments by Bush on the importance of trade with China.

"China is a great emerging nation," Bush said while addressing members of the U.S. Electronic Industries Alliance on Wednesday. "I strongly support trade with China."

The President said trade with China would benefit US farmers and industrialists and at the same time help promote democratic values.

Analysts in Beijing said passage of normal trading relations for China in early June by the U.S. Congress might at least temporarily stop the vicious cycle in Sino-U.S. relations.

However, Chinese television on Wednesday showed footage of maneuvers by an elite Chinese Air Force squadron in south China.

Official media on Thursday reported that the training involved "low altitude intercepting." Western observers said top-of-the-line jetfighters, including Su-27s imported from Russia, were involved.

The maneuvers were considered to be psychological warfare targeted at Taiwan as well as U.S. spying planes.

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