APR 01 '92 16:24 AMCONGEN/HK/ADM 852 845 1598
P.8/8
In other cases, we should refrain from engaging our prestige and our resources. We should be particularly cautious when, as in China, history shows that we have often been the victims of momentary passions and skewed perceptions. We as a nation fell in love with China in 1972, when it was at the nadir of one of the great tragedies of modern history, the Cultural Revolution, which much of the press misunderstood and whitewashed. (See the writings of Orville Schell.) We started falling out of love in the early 1980s (note the books by Fox Butterfield and Richard Bernstein, and the conflicts with China in the early Reagan administration) just as Chinese reform was beginning to make life better. We are now on the verge of demonizing China just when the life of the Chinese people is improving faster than it has for centuries. We should be especially cautious when it is now objectively clear that our press, fixated on Tiananmen Square, has been unable to convey the realities of Hong Kong.
A presidential reporting requirement on implementation of the Joint Declaration will exonerate China of accusations that it has contravened the Joint Declaration. It will, however, antagonize the Chinese, who will see it as unwarranted interference in their internal affairs. It is very likely to embarrass people whom the authors of this bill would not want to embarrass. And it will involve the highest levels of the U.S. government in intricate controversies over interpretation of a document that is as complex to interpret as the U.S. Constitution; this will be a political tarbaby of the messiest kind.
A reporting requirement focused on reporting of general developments in Hong Kong, or on implementation of U.S. policy toward Hong Kong, would be less objectionable and could include everything the Congress wishes to know. Better still: When a great success is under way, as it is in Hong Kong, we should simply endorse what we all agree is the basis of that success, namely the Joint Declaration, and write the implementing legislation. Period.
If a clear danger arises to threaten the current success of Hong Kong, or of the implementation of the Joint Declaration, that is the time for Congress to create public and controversial machinery. If Congress is concerned that such a threat will arise unseen, then Congress can request special monitoring by the U.S. Consulate or by consultants to appropriate committees. Otherwise, we should take the sage advice of that great expert on foreign policy, Leo Durocher: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Overview
I can speak for both the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and for the people of Hong Kong in welcoming the concern of Congress for the well-being of Hong Kong. The special immigration provisions and other efforts to support Hong Kong have contributed to the revival of confidence in Hong Kong. The enactment into U.S. law of the provisions for implementing relations with autonomous Hong Kong are probably the single greatest contribution any government other than China's can make to Hong Kong's future. We thank Senator McConnell for that contribution.
6