China, North Korean missiles spur U.S. defense plans

By Edward Neilan
Special to World Tribune.com

WASHINGTON--Warnings of potential Asian missile firing capability against the United States are filling the rarefied air Inside The Beltway this summer.

Claims that Chinese missiles could hit Los Angeles and that North Korean missiles might reach Alaska are not keeping most Americans from indulging in their late-summer recreational pursuits nor detracting from back-to-school preparations.

But a significant number of congressmen, scholars, researchers, journalists and politicians feel the U.S. government is not paying enough attention--there are some charges of government puposely misleading the debate--to a valid threat to national security.

There seems to be bipartisan agreement that "something should be done" about North Korea's brandishment of missile threats.

But Republicans and Democrats seemed to part company on China. "Be Wary of China's Missile Build-up" and "Support Taiwan" used to be near exclusive slogans of Republicans. Democrats generally favored--as the President Bill Clinton administration has done--looking the other way on the missile buildup and threats to Taiwan while stressing multii-billion dollar trade and commercial ties.

But lately more Democrat voices are heard wishing to broaden the foreign policy aspects of the debate. With a U.S.Presidential election looming, there is more attention paid to national security and to such themes as "Is China replacing Russia as America's enemy No.1?".

Republicans had been toughest on the China missile question but since so many CEOs of big corporations are Republicans who both do business with China and donate heavily to Republican candidates, there is tendency by some of these Republicans to accommodate China.

Negotiations on China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) provide a case in point.

The symbolism of U.S.-China rapprochement after a series of strains will be at stake when President Clinton meets China President Jiang Zemin In Auckland, New Zealand, Sept. 11 prior to the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

A former resident of Washington returning as a visitor is struck by the intensity of hyperbole on the missile question:

--An "urgent" fund-raising letter from Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, asked for contributions of $25 or more to help the Senate protect the United States from a looming nuclear attack by North Korea. McConnell, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, urged help in "protecting our country from a potentially devastating nuclear attack."

--News reports described a U.S. Space Command simulation last weekend of a Chinese missile attack on the United States, showing five nuclear-armed Chinese missiles heading for "hits" near Colorado Springs, Seattle, Chicago, New York and Washington. The Space Command which dramatized the attack, says China has 24 CSS-4 long range missiles capable of hitting all of the United States except parts of Southern Florida. "Basically, Americans are defenseless," a Space Command spokesman said.

--Discussion in major news outlets centered on how the North Korean missile buildup and threats are causing more attention to development of such concepts as Theater Missile Defense (TMD) which some applaud as a deterrent and others describe as a threat to the stabiliy of Asia if it is to include Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

--Continued popularity and sales were noted of the book "Betrayal: How The Clinton Administration Undermined American Security," by Bill Gertz ( Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1999, 284 pages, US$27.95). A Washington-based journalist makes the case that Clinton's kowtowing to China and Russia on missiles and trade has damaged U.S. security much more than the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

U.S. relations with China grew tense since NATO's accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade last spring. The atmosphere worsened over Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's shrewd demand for state vs. state relations and against the backdrop of U.S. allegations of Chinese spying.

Now China wants to be "friends" as the WTO showdown and China's 50th anniversary of Communist rule October 1 approach.

The U.S., with a myriad of voices being heard, in effect is properly aiming for a balance between engagement and vigilance when it comes to dealing with China.

Edward Neilan (eneilan@crisscross.com) is a veteran journalist, based in Tokyo, who covers East Asia and writes weekly for World Tribune.com.