““Interesting theater,’’ Clinton observed to an aide as the meeting broke up. But his staffers, gathered around TV sets in their offices, rendered a less restrained verdict with whoops of delight and high-fives. Their take: that Clinton’s performance masterfully undercut those who argue that his China policy is ““all carrots’’ and papers over Beijing’s human-rights abuses. With the clamor of anti-Jiang demonstrations audible even on the South Lawn, his aides say that Clinton demonstrated perfect political pitch.
Jiang’s own spin doctors had just as much reason to rejoice. At the White House–and throughout his weeklong visit–the Chinese president proved he could take on the American press, politicians and protesters and smile all the way. This certainly played well back in Beijing. China Central Television ran 20 minutes of uncut coverage from the White House, but the upbeat commentary gave no indication that the two leaders had debated human rights. The anchor merely noted that China had ““all along followed’’ international human-rights norms. No mention was made of the protests–nor of the dispiriting effect Jiang’s rhetoric had on many of the American Friends of China who had lobbied hardest for the visit. At a Washington luncheon for foreign-policy specialists on Thursday, Jiang suggested that China’s 1959 invasion of Tibet was ““similar to the liberation of black slaves in American history.’’ ““Jiang has alienated the American people,’’ said one of the hosts.
Still, Jiang won the trappings of respect that he long has demanded from Washington–the red carpet, the 21-gun salute, the U.S. military band playing China’s national anthem. The summit also produced some solid, if less than epochal, accomplishments. Clinton lifted one of the last, longstanding sanctions on China’s keeping American energy firms from selling nuclear power plants there. (China pledged to stop nuclear assistance to such countries as Iran and Pakistan.) Boeing won a deal for 50 aircraft worth $3 billion. The two leaders agreed to cooperate on environmental protection, participate in legal exchanges and strengthen military contacts. Clinton administration officials said China also promised to stop selling anti-ship missiles to Iran.
But these agreements were overshadowed by the human-rights debate, as if the real agenda were being set across Pennsylvania Avenue in Lafayette Park, where the telegenic Richard Gere told more than a thousand protesters that ““6 million Tibetans live in slavery.’’ In fact, the seemingly impromptu White House exchange came as no surprise to the two leaders. It simply continued a dialogue that had dominated their private meetings. Clinton put Jiang on notice as soon as he arrived in Washington. In a private meeting at Blair House on Tuesday afternoon, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Jiang that the demonstrators who dogged him at every stop in his seven-city tour were motivated by strong feelings about human rights, and that Americans would judge him from his performance at the press conference. She said President Clinton wondered if he was ready for tough questions, and explained how U.S. officials prep for such encounters by submitting to so-called ““murder boards’’–aides playing the part of journalists. ““Can you suggest some questions?’’ Jiang asked. Albright ran down the list of sensitive issues: human rights, Tibet, the Hong Kong stock market’s fluctuations, allegations that China plotted to influence the 1996 elections. She urged him to resume dialogue with Tibet’s exiled Dalai Lama and told him she’d name a special coordinator for Tibet three days later, a move Beijing has opposed. She also made it clear that Clinton would make a ““tough pitch’’ on human rights. Jiang defended his own position. ““We could talk all night, and in the morning we’d be no closer to agreement,’’ he concluded.
In the White House that night, Clinton first gave Jiang a 15-minute tour, with ““some pointed stops along the way,’’ an official said. He showed Jiang where the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and pointed out a copy of the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln’s handwriting. Jiang recited the opening, in English–and his host was off on what became a long, circular talk about the Chinese and American systems. ““Our discussion of human rights is not an effort to make China weak,’’ Clinton told Jiang at one point. Jiang stressed China’s ““preoccupation with stability.’’ The discussion took up most of the two-hour session. And the two presidents touched on the same disagreements the next day, when they met to go over a joint statement.
The dialogue generated little warmth. Although some White House aides at first insisted that the two heads of state had ““developed a bond’’ during their meetings, that line changed by the time Jiang left for Philadelphia on Thursday. ““I just don’t think Clinton likes the guy that much,’’ said one official. Clinton normally revels in his role as a host at joint news conferences, bantering and joking with his visitors. But with Jiang he was solemn and formal. And in the end he turned diplomatic practice on its head by using harsher language in public than he chose in private. ““It’s in your own interest to be on the right side of history,’’ he had told Jiang privately. In his blunter rejoinder before the cameras, Clinton wanted to signal that ““there’s not a lot more we can make out of this relationship right now because of the fundamental disagreement over human rights,’’ an aide says. ““We can’t move forward publicly or privately.''
THE CLIMATE WAS A GOOD BIT warmer outside Washington. Jiang, 71, availed himself of some choice photo ops: donning a three-cornered hat in Williamsburg, swimming in Hawaii and visiting Independence Hall. He often broke into English. He delightedly rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange; when he visited an IBM office in midtown Manhattan, CEO Louis Gerstner Jr. greeted him in Mandarin. On his way to a speech at Harvard Saturday, Jiang made no effort to skirt the biggest and liveliest demonstrations of the entire visit. And although two or three protesters shouted at him inside the hall, he received two standing ovations. He acknowledged that he had heard the protests. ““The only approach for me is to speak even louder,’’ he said. And he said the demonstrations had taught him ““a more specific understanding of American democracy.’’ All that can only enhance his standing among Chinese elites. ““He’s going to go home and say, “I can handle the American media’,’’ said Boston College professor Robert Ross. ““No one else can say that.''
However strong Jiang’s propagandists make him look at home, his obduracy on human rights complicates prospects for the next summit. Clinton agreed to visit Beijing next year, but he can’t afford to settle for pageantry. China may release a political prisoner or two in order to sweeten relations. China critics are urging Clinton to apply all the leverage the invitation gives him. ““He spoke more forcefully on human rights than he’s ever done before,’’ said William Schulz, president of Amnesty International. ““Now he should make his return visit to China contingent on progress on human rights.’’ That won’t be easy. Behind last week’s modest accomplishments were two years of negotiation. And yet this summit showed how far apart the United States and China remain on fundamental issues, not how much they have come together.
