San Diego Union Tribune November 22, 2005 ANALYSIS Bush sees a different China from his '75 visit Asian giant much more confident on world stage By George E. Condon Jr. COPLEY NEWS SERVICE BEIJING – Before boarding Air Force One for his latest trip to China, President Bush could not help but reminisce about his first journey here. Back then, his father was the first U.S. envoy to Beijing and the son saw a country wary of Westerners, filled with bicy- cles and plagued by a dull conformity of dress dictated by an aged Mao Zedong. "I think of how different China is today than it was in 1975," he told reporters, calling it "mind-boggling" to see so many changes as he returned to a now-booming country with multiple McDonald's, teeming traffic tie-ups and an abundant array of colors, fashions and opinions. Coming back this week as president of the United States should have erased any lingering doubts – truly, this is not his father's China. The changes are much more than are suggested by the construction cranes that fill the horizon, the bright lights at every corner, and the frenetic rush to give the capital city a new personality before the world arrives for the 2008 Olympic games. If the Olympics are the coming-out party for a new, dynamic Beijing, then this past year has been the debut on the world's diplomatic stage of a more confident China. In fact, the largest challenge to Bush in dealing with today's China is that the country and its global reach are so dramatically different from anything seen by any of the other American leaders who journeyed here following the path blazed by President Nixon in his historic February 1972 trip. Nixon's trip made possible later visits by President Ford in 1975, President Reagan in 1984, President George H.W. Bush in 1989 and President Clinton in 1998. For all of them, the daunting task was to persuade hesitant, inward-looking Chinese leaders to gaze beyond their borders, join international institutions and take their proper place in the world order. It is now clear that they succeeded beyond anything Nixon could have anticipated. So it is up to Bush to deal with a newly assertive China, flushed with newfound economic clout, ready to flex its military muscle and poised to challenge U.S. primacy in Asia and, perhaps, beyond. It is a task Bush seems to grasp and to have embraced. Already, he has taken three trips to China, racking up nine days in the country, while his predecessors made only one trip each. His approach has reflected the fundamental shift from what faced the prior presidents. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick described the transformation and outlined the Bush policy in an important recent address. "Seven U.S. presidents of both parties . . . worked to integrate China as a full member of the international system," Zoellick said. Now, the United States has to recognize that "our policy has succeeded remarkably well – the dragon emerged and joined the world. . . . China is a player at the table," Zoellick said. Zoellick said the question remaining to be answered is whether China will be a "responsible stakeholder" in the system it joined. »Next Story»