Word: china
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Sino-American relations are in the worst condition since before I went to China 17 years ago. One of the major reasons is that Americans and Chinese see the tragic events of June from totally different perspectives. The gap between us is totally unbridgeable. Every Chinese leader I talked to insisted that the suppression of the demonstrations was necessary and justified. They believe the American reaction was an unacceptable intrusion in their internal affairs...
...Chinese word for tragedy implies that there must be a villain. As one close Chinese friend pointed out to me, no proud Chinese leader -- indeed, no national leader anywhere -- can ever admit that he is a villain. One top Chinese leader told me that any colleague who humiliated China in the world community by acting contrite did not deserve to be in office. Contrition may be an attractive characteristic in soap-opera stars, but not in leaders of great nations such as China...
...head with Gorbachev in the Mediterranean on Dec. 2. Gorbachev is not a closet democrat, a philanthropist or a fool. His handshake will be warm, but based on his past record we can assume that he will have a card or two up his sleeve. We should never treat China as a card. But it would not serve our interests if Gorbachev were able to do so. Today the Chinese are talking to the Russians, and we are talking to the Russians. But we don't talk to each other. The suspension of high-level contacts has served its purpose...
...China is a nuclear power. Without Chinese cooperation, we cannot have an effective policy of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and will have no leverage at all in trying to prevent the sale of missiles and other destructive weapons to countries in trouble spots like the Middle East...
...With Japan already an economic superpower with the capability of becoming a military and political superpower, a strong, stable China with close ties to the U.S. is essential to balance the power of Japan and the Soviet Union in East Asia...