Bill Clinton: “I believe our policy toward China does. Our relationship is not perfect, but I think it is the correct course. First of…”

“I believe our policy toward China does. Our relationship is not perfect, but I think it is the correct course. First of all, I believe that the principal problem, human rights problem in China is the absence of political rights and the civil rights associated with them. There are some examples of religious--denial of religious freedom. There's also a lot of religious expression there. You remember, I went to church in China, to a church that has regular services every week, whether we're there or not. And there is the special problem of Tibet, which I engaged President Jiang about in our press conference and on which we continue to work. So to me, it's very important, and we have to continue to press ahead on that. I think the question is, what is the best way for the United States to maximize the chances that China will become more open in terms of political and civil rights, that any vestiges of religious oppression will be dropped, that Tibet will have a chance as soon as possible to preserve its unique culture and identity? I think--and all these questions like that. And it seems to me that the best way to do it is to work with the Chinese where it's in our interest to do so and to frankly and forthrightly state our differences where they exist. If we were to reach a point where we were convinced that no agreement we made ever would be kept, where no progress could ever be made, then I would ask the American people to reassess that. But I believe that the evidence is-- and I cited some specific examples earlier in this press conference--the evidence is that the Chinese would like a constructive relationship with us. Keep in mind, the same sort of debate that's going on in this country, there is a mirror image of that debate going on in China today. And there are people in China that are not at a press conference, but they're saying, ``You know, the Americans cannot exist without an enemy; you know they've got to have an enemy; they've got to have somebody to dominate the world against. And what they really want to do is to contain us; they don't want us to flower economically; they don't want us to have influence, even if it's nonaggressive influence. And therefore, we need to build up our military. Therefore, we need to fight them at every turn; we need to oppose them at every turn.'' These sorts of debates are going on in their country. And what I have said to President Jiang, to Premier Zhu, to everyone who is involved on the trip--and I look forward to the Premier's trip to the United States--is that we still have to define what kind of future we're going to have, how we're going to share it, what is the proper arena for competition, what is the proper arena for cooperation. And we have to judge China as we would judge anyone else, and as we would expect to be judged, by our actions. What you have here is a relationship that is profoundly important, very large and inherently frustrating because it has many different elements, some of which we like, some of which we don't. And it requires a constant evaluation to see whether we're on the right track, whether we're doing the right things, whether we're going in the right direction. And because it doesn't fit within neat or calming categories, it can be a source of difficulty. But I believe that I've done the right thing for America over the long run by trying to establish a positive but wide-open--I mean eyes wide open, with no illusions--relationship with China where we explicitly put our differences on the table; where we pursue them to a point of resolution if possible; where we don't give up on what we believe if we can't resolve them; and where we do work on the things that we have in common. I believe this is the right thing to do. But it is inherently frustrating at the points of difference. Wendell, go ahead. Press Secretary Joe Lockhart. This is the last question warning. Chinese Nuclear Espionage”