Embassy Bombing Fallout

Henry C.K. Liu hliu at mindspring.com
Wed May 12 21:11:00 PDT 1999


Thursday May 13 1999 SCMP

Beijing vows to beat back Nato

WILLY WO-LAP LAM

Beijing is to abandon Deng Xiaoping's

low-profile foreign policy to beat back the

challenges of a fast-expanding

Washington-led Nato.

The rethink came about since the bombing of

the Belgrade Embassy, when leading

Politburo members and their advisers

discussed how to counter what they regarded

as a deliberate trampling of Chinese

sovereignty.

"The Politburo Standing Committee has

decided that if the Washington-led Nato has

its way in Europe, it will next target China," a

diplomatic source in Beijing said.

"The elite body has endorsed a number of

measures to seize the initiative through

asserting itself in foreign policy."

Among the recommendations given

preliminary approval are:

Playing a more aggressive role in the United

Nations. Sensing that President Bill Clinton is

considering using a UN-backed peace plan as

a face-saving measure to retreat partially from

Yugoslavia, Beijing has insisted Nato ends air

strikes before endorsing the scheme.

But should a UN peace-keeping force that

meets Beijing's approval be formed, the Jiang

leadership has signalled its willingness to

dispatch PLA officers.

Analysts said this was a rare gesture of

commitment given Beijing's traditional

reluctance to join international peace-keeping

efforts.

Developing a world-class arsenal, particularly

missiles, to counter the "Nato military

machine". Beijing has served notice on the

US that unless Nato reins in its aggressive

tendencies, it will delay ratification of the

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Diplomats

said Chinese strategists had engaged in vague

talk about the resumption of an active nuclear

development programme.

Forming a potential anti-Nato alliance. Beijing

is working with Moscow to ensure the

"multi-polar nature" of the new world order.

Further "anti-hegemonistic" plans are to be

worked out in a November summit between

President Jiang Zemin and President Boris

Yeltsin.

A Western diplomat said Beijing had made

veiled threats about resuming or upgrading

"nuclear co-operation" with Iran and

Pakistan.

Serving warning on America's Asian allies not

to abet a Nato-initiated anti-China

containment policy. It is understood Beijing

recently warned Japan not to provide a

launch pad for US or Nato weaponry should

the alliance target China.

A Chinese source said Mr Jiang, who is de

facto diplomat-in-chief, had, in effect,

jettisoned Deng's well-known dictum.

In the wake of the post-Tiananmen Square

embargoes, the late patriarch said that in

foreign policy: "China will keep a low profile,

maintain a cool head, and never take the

lead."

The source said the outburst of anti-Nato

feelings since the embassy bombing had put

pressure on Beijing.

"National People's Congress deputies and

students have written to the leadership asking

why China always abstains in the UN

Security Council," the source said.

"In internal talks, Politburo members

expressed the fear that the students would

next stage protests against a 'weak central

Government' unless Beijing counters threats

to national security."



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