From: Steven1997@aol.com
Subject: SNET: A Frightening View of Clinton
Date: 17 Apr 1999 18:34:41 -0400
To: Steven1997@aol.com


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>  > A Frightening View of Clinton
> >  By MICHAEL KELLY
> >  MANCHESTER (New Hampshire) UNION-LEADER
> >
> >
> >   The most interesting - not to say the most repellent and most
> >  frightening - aspect of the press conference held on April 8 by
> >  President Bill Clinton and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji was not
> >  instantly obvious.
> >
> >  It was not the moment when Zhu was asked to respond to a
> >  question about the "reunification" of Taiwan with the People's
> >  Republic of China. The premier pointedly noted that Beijing had
> >  "never undertaken to renounce the use of force in this regard."
> >  And he noted that "Abraham Lincoln, in order to maintain the
> >  unity of the United States . . . resorted to the use of force . . . so,
I
> >  think Abraham Lincoln, President, is a model, is an example."
> >
> >  Nor was it the moment when Zhu was asked to respond to
> >  "charges that China stole nuclear warhead designs and perhaps
> >  neutron bomb technology from the United States and also
> >  funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Clinton's
> >  reelection campaign."
> >
> >  To the charge of nuclear espionage, elaborately detailed in The
> >  New York Times, Zhu joked that he was considering a suggestion
> >  that he should order his government's missiles to be imprinted with
> >  a sign "that they are made in China, not from the United States."
> >
> >  To reports that Johnny Chung, a Clinton 1996 campaign fund-
> >  raiser, had testified before a federal grand jury that Chinese
> >  military intelligence chief Gen. Ji Shengde had given him
> >  $300,000 for Clinton's reelection ("We like your President," Ji
> >  reportedly said), Zhu got off another excellent crack: "I have $146
> >  billion U.S. dollars of foreign exchange reserve, so I should have
> >  put out at least 10 billion U.S. dollars for that purpose, why just
> >  $300,000? That would be too foolish!"
> >
> >  Nor was the nadir reached when Zhu was asked to respond to
> >  U.S. State Department criticisms of his government for human
> >  rights abuses. He answered with a naked threat, calling a U.S.-
> >  supported draft resolution by the United Nations Human Rights
> >  Commission censuring China, "interference in China's internal
> >  affairs." That diplomatic term of art is recognized as fighting talk.
> >  Zhu then tossed in another insult. He noted that friends had urged
> >  him to deliver to Clinton "a lot of information about the problems
> >  of human rights in the United States" - but that he had not done
> >  so, because he trusted that Clinton and America "are able to
> >  resolve your own problems."
> >
> >  No, the really gross and scary aspect was how the man standing
> >  next to Zhu responded to these remarks. Bill Clinton laughed with
> >  his guest. That was polite, but it was also awful.
> >
> >  It was awful to see the President respond to a profound insult to a
> >  predecessor in office by joking, "I think I have to just say one
> >  thing, if I might, since I got zapped by Abraham Lincoln" - and
> >  then blandly answering Zhu's direct threat of war by reassuring
> >  him that "the United States has a one-China policy."
> >
> >  It was awful as well to see how the President responded to Zhu's
> >  sneering dismissals of charges that his government had stolen
> >  America's nuclear secrets and had attempted to corrupt the
> >  American political system. "You know," said Clinton, in his
> >  cracker-barrel thoughtful voice, "China is a big country with a big
> >  government, and occasionally things happen in this government
> >  that I don't know about."
> >
> >  Roll that answer around in your mind. Does Bill Clinton think that
> >  the No. 2 boss in the People's Republic of China might not know
> >  if his government had engaged in nuclear espionage that allowed
> >  China to build multiple-warhead missiles and an effective neutron
> >  bomb? Does he believe that Zhu might not know if the director of
> >  his government's military intelligence had ordered that $300,000
> >  be contributed to Clinton's reelection campaign? Or does Clinton
> >  believe that his own government's investigators are leveling false
> >  charges?
> >
> >  Clinton said he had asked Zhu for "his cooperation" in pursuing
> >  these matters. Zhu said he would cooperate as long as the United
> >  States "can provide some clues." Does Clinton believe that the
> >  ongoing investigation by his own Justice Department into the
> >  campaign finance illegalities has not yet provided any clues? Does
> >  he believe the investigation by his own Energy Department into
> >  China's spying has likewise failed to provide any clues? Given that
> >  Zhu's government has blocked Justice and congressional
> >  investigators from obtaining financial records from China, has
> >  refused to grant visas to investigators and is refusing to extradite
> >  subpoenaed witnesses, does he believe that Zhu is serious about
> >  cooperation?
> >
> >  Or does he believe that these questions should never really be
> >  answered? We wouldn't, after all, want to embarrass our good
> >  friend Zhu - or his good friend Bill.
> >
> >
> >
> >  [Forwarded For Information Purposes Only - Not Necessarily Endorsed 

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->  Posted by: Steven1997@aol.com