Collision: mixed signals from U.S. Congress

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, APRIL 16. Even as American and Chinese officials are due to meet in Beijing this week to sort out the ``fate'' of the EP-3E surveillance plane now sitting on a military base in the Hainan Island, the Bush Administration is getting mixed signals from Congress on what the future of the bilateral relations should be, or, for that matter, ought to be.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Joseph Biden, has said that the Chinese have ``already paid a price'' and will find ``harder going in Congress''. Another Democratic law-maker was more explicit. ``... this will cause a fundamental change in our relations with China. There will be retribution,'' remarked Mr. Robert Torricelli, Senator of New Jersey.

Aside from saying that he opposed the granting of the Permanent Normal Trade Relations, Mr. Torricelli has urged the President, Mr. George W. Bush, to cancel his visit to China this October. Mr. Bush is scheduled to go to Shanghai for a meeting of the Asia Pacific leaders as part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum Meeting and later Beijing for an official visit. Now he is under pressure to call off the China trip altogether, if not the official part of the programme in Beijing.

Law-makers took to the Sunday talk shows to put out their perceptions of the 11-day standoff and the remaining challenges on hand. The crew is back in its base in Whidbey Island in the State of Washington, but this does not seem to have diminished the determination of some law-makers to pressure the administration into a tougher line on China. For the most part, officials who were dominating the talk shows in the last two weeks stayed away this week.

The Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Mr. Henry Hyde, argued that Washington should demand the prompt return of the EP-3E. ``That is our property and must be returned. It is not a trophy for them to confiscate,'' he said. The two sides are expected to work out details on the return of the plane - a $80 million value that symbolically Washington wants returned for fear of setting precedents.

In many ways, how China sets the tone of this week's talks on the return of the spy plane is going to set the parameters on Capitol Hill. Already many are outraged that the 24 crew members came close to dying over the South China Sea after the Pentagon says that the EP-3E was clipped from underneath by the Chinese F-8 fighter. This version is disputed by Beijing which insists that the collision occurred when the American plane veered sharply contrary to accepted practices.

There is an initial two part focus by law-makers and the first of this is on the trade front, apart from some noises that Washington should oppose China's bid to host the Olympics of 2008. Last year, Congress approved the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status for China. But this was contingent upon China becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation. As this has not taken place, Mr. Bush must go to Congress in June for a one-year extension of special trading privileges. And law-makers - Republicans and Democrats - are gearing up for a big fight.

The second area of focus is on the arms package deal to Taiwan which is now under consideration of the Bush White House. Among other things Taiwan has asked for a sophisticated package that includes four destroyers of the Aegis class which China sees as the first step towards giving its ``renegade province'' a missile defence shield. By all accounts, Mr. Bush was expected to stay away from the temptation of upping the ante by giving Taiwan the Aegis class destroyers. But that was before the 11 day standoff in the Hainan Island.

When it comes to the Taiwan arms package, the Bush Administration is being counselled by senior law-makers that the U.S. should focus on its own interests and not be swayed by the short term. ``We should only sell that system if we think that is needed by Taiwan and in our interest. We shouldn't sell that system to teach mainland China a lesson,'' argued Mr. Biden. And his colleague, Ms. Barbara Boxer of California, has maintained that the U.S. must be strong and very clear with China, without threatening on the trade or the arms supplies to Taiwan.

Many conservative Republicans like Mr. Jon Kyl, Senator of Arizona, are arguing for the need to look at the long term goals. ``The first priority should be to send a very strong signal to China that it cannot continue to engage in belligerent activity...and expect to have the kind of relationship with us that we thought they wanted to have,'' Mr. Kyl remarked. The Chinese, in the view of Mr. Kyl, ``...need to begin to play by the rules of other nations, if they want to really be a part of this family of nations''.

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