On the recordDecember 8, 1999
Well, let's talk about the Panama Canal, and then I'll come back to Taiwan. And to be fair, I think I may have misstated this earlier. It's important for the American people to understand that the canal itself will be operated and controlled entirely by the Government of Panama, through the Panama Canal Authority. That is the locks, ingress and egress, access, openness, the canal is completely and totally within the control of the Panamanians. Now, the Hong Kong company which got the concession to operate the ports will be responsible for loading and unloading ships. They also do this in three or four ports in Great Britain. It's one of the biggest companies in the world that does this. The managing director is British. Most of the employees will be Panamanian. So I feel comfortable that our commercial and security interests can be protected under this arrangement. That's the first question. Now, the second question is China is modernizing its military in a lot of ways. But our policy on China is crystal clear: We believe there is one China. We think it has to be resolved through cross-strait dialog, and we oppose and would view with grave concern any kind of violent action. And that hasn't changed. There has been a lot of buildup of tension on both sides that I think is unnecessary and counterproductive. If you look at the amount of Taiwanese investment in China, for example--that goes back to my Irish example--if you look at the Taiwanese investment in China, it's obvious that eventually they're going to get this worked out because they're too interconnected by ties of family and, increasingly, by ties of the economy, and the politics of neither place should lead either side into doing something rash. And I hope that this will not happen. But our policy is clear, and you know what I've done in the past. And I think that's all I should say about it right now. Yes. Hillary Clinton's Senate Campaign
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