Bill Clinton: “China first. I think China has to be a big priority for all of us. If I ask everyone in this room to go by yourselves…”

“China first. I think China has to be a big priority for all of us. If I ask everyone in this room to go by yourselves and take out a pad and write the five big questions down that will determine the shape of the world 50 years from now, one of those questions would surely be, how will the Chinese define their greatness in the 21st century? Will they define their greatness in terms of the incredible potential of their people to learn, to produce, to succeed economically and culturally and politically? Or will they define their greatness in terms of their ability to dominate their neighbors and others perhaps against their will or to take other actions which could destabilize the march toward democracy and prosperity of other people? The United States has no interest in containing China. That is a negative strategy. What the United States wants is to sustain an engagement with China, along with our friends like the Australians, in a way that will increase the chances that there will be more liberty and more prosperity and more genuine cooperation in the future. So I intend to spend a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of effort on that, but not with a view of containing the Chinese but with a view of making them a genuine partner with ourselves and others as we move forward. What can we and the Australians do? Number one, we can continue to push open trading systems that work to the benefit of all involved. Number two, we can continue to work together as we did with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to continue to reduce the dangers of serious weapons. And number three, we can lead other freedom-loving nations in standing up against the new threats of the 21st century, terrorism and the proliferation of other weapons--biological and chemical weapons. There are a lot of things we can do together that will make a big difference. But I see this in the context of building a partnership with China, not isolating it. Who's next? Lori [Lori Santos, United Press International]. Zaire”