TNAG-2468-FCO40-3592-Most-favoured-nation-status-for-China-Hong-Kong-interests-1992 — Page 108

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be my running mate.

of glo proces.

We want to put American back in the forefront l efforts to achieve sustainable development, and in the

to leave our children a better world. And we believe

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CLINTON-08/13/92

FOREIGN POLICY

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and this is one decision you have to make, you and all other Americans. We believe that sound environmental policies are a precondition of economic growth, not a brake on it. And that is one of the major decisions facing the American people in this election. (Applause.)

Imagine where we would be today in California if before the big defense cuts started in 1988 we had a plan to reinvest every dollar of those defense cuts in retraining the workforce, in giving companies times to retool, in reinvesting in new technologies, like high speed rail, recycling, waste reduction, new systems of transportation and communication, all of which are consistent with a new approach to energy and the environment. It would have made a big difference in California and you wouldn't be in the fix you're in today if we'd had that plan then. It is not too late, but we must begin to pursue that course. (Applause.)

The second imperative of presidential leadership in this new era is to reinforce the powerful global movement toward democracy and market economies. Our strategic interests and our moral values are both rooted in this goal. As we help democracy expand we make ourselves and our allies safer. Democracies rarely go to war with each other or traffic in terrorism. They make more reliable partners in trade and diplomacy. Growing market economies expand individual opportunity and social tolerance. Yet Mr. Bush has been oddly reluctant to commit America's prestige to the side of the people inspired by America's own example.

When democratic reformers sought to break up the Soviet empire, this administration at first snubbed Boris Yeltsin, sided with the crumbling Soviet center and failed to lead the call for aid to Russia until the President was pushed into it by Richard Nixon and others. When 50 million Ukrainians sought emancipation from the dying communist empire this administration withheld moral support and instead in Kiev itself the President publicly chided Ukraine's voices of independence for seeking I quote, a suicidal nationalism."

When China cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, exported advanced weapons to radical regimes and suppressed Tibet, this administration and this President failed to stand up for our values. Instead, he sent secret emissaries to China signaling that we would do business as usual with those who murdered freedom in Tienneman Square. And when it was clear to all that Yugoslavja was inexorably breaking apart, Mr. Bush and his Secretary of State gave short shrift to the yearnings of those seeking freedom in Slovinia, Croatia and Bosnia and ignored the warning signs that Milosevic was emerging as one of Europe's bloodiest tyrants.