Clinton Completes China Visit
President Clinton, his wife Hillary and his daughter Chelsea left China Friday after a nine-day trip the president said had brought him closer to "understanding the Chinese perspective."
The president wrapped up his journey with a press conference in Hong Kong where he said he hoped the nation's future as a democratic country would begin.
The president said that ties between U.S. and China had been strengthened and that he had made strides toward human rights issues and toward agreements on detargeting nuclear missiles.
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| CBS.com reports on President Clinton's trip to China |
"The hard work we've accomplished here has put that relationship on much better footing that is good for America, good for China, good for Asia, good for the world," Mr. Clinton said.
When asked by CBS News Correspondent Scott Pelley how he would address Chinese human rights violations in the future, President Clinton said he had "continued to raise individual causes and will continue to do so with the Chinese government and with the president."
Mr. Clinton said that there were about 150 people still incarcerated for nonviolent offenses at Tiananmen Square, and suggested that China reconsider how they evaluate different levels of offenses.
Countering U.S. critics who said Mr. Clinton should not have made the trip, the president said that democracy advocates for Hong Kong had felt that his meeting with them may have had a bigger impact on the human rights issues than anything else that had been done. Acknowledging that "there remain forces resistant to change" Mr. Clinton was optimistic that democracy was a "universal aspiration."
To those dissidents he was unable to meet during his stay, Mr. Clinton voiced his support.
"My message is that the United States is on your side and we did our best. We're on the side of free speech. We're on the side of not putting people who dissent in jail," the president said.
The president noted that it was remarkable that he could disagree publicly with President Jiang Zemin during a television debate broadcast throughout China, which many observers has said was the highlight of the trip.
President Clinton was optimistic about democracy in China, saying, "I believe there can be and I believe there will be," CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante reports.
As Mr. Clinton left mainland China for Hong Kong Thursday night, police freed the last of seven dissidents rounded up in connection with his visit. A human rights group said police in eastern Hangzhou released Zhu Yufu after holding him for 48 hours.
Earlier Friday, Mr. Clinton spoke up for freedom and human rights to Hong Kong communit and business leaders on the theme of "building stability in Asia for the 21st century." He spoke in the Hong Kong convention center, the sight of last year's handover ceremony where the Union Jack was lowered one last time and the red flag of China was raised.
The White House billed it as the second most important speech of his trip, after his Beijing University speech on human rights and the steps China should take in the 21st century.
In a show of support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians, the president also met with opposition leader Martin Lee and others among the 20 legislators who won recent elections. The president, though, had no plans to meet an additional 40 legislators who were not selected by a direct vote of the people.
Lee expressed gratitude to Mr. Clinton for coming to China and speaking directly about human rights and democracy particularly here. He said the first year of the transition to China's control had gone well but that the pace of democratic reforms should be accelerated, Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger said.
"Political freedom, respect for human rights and support for representative government are both morally right and ultimately the best guarantor of the stability in the world of the 21st century," Mr. Clinton said.
Mr. Clinton's address carried a political and economic message of cooperation and trust. "Americans can remember three wars we have fought in Asia," he said. "We must make it our mission to avoid another." Scolding India and Pakistan for their nuclear tests, he said the two South Asian nations "bucked the tide of history."
With Asia's economy in a tailspin, Mr. Clinton said that Hong Kong, grappling with its own economic woes, "can help Asia out of turbulent times as it contributes to China's astonishing transformation by providing investment capital and expertise and privatizing state enterprises and sharing legal and regulatory experiences."
President Clinton met over dinner Thursday night with Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's chief executive who was installed by the Beijing regime. In a dinner toast, Clinton looked back over his trip and said he was "profoundly appreciative" to Jiang for helping make his trip to China "a remarkably successful attempt to continue to build our partnership for the future."
Tung, in turn, assured Mr. Clinton that Jiang had reaffirmed his commitment to maintain autonomy for Hong Kong, one year after the former British colony returned to Chinese rule after 156 years.
Fears that Beijing would crack down on demonstrators and push political opponents to the margin after the July 1, 1997, transition have so far proved unfounded. Instead, Asia's sagging economy has eclipsed political concerns.
The White House remarked that Mr. Clinton's entire trip went without a hitch - except that is for ten tense miutes Friday, when the president was stuck in an elevator at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.
Apparently a lightning bolt in a thunderstorm triggered a power surge that knocked out the building's computer that operates the elevator. The power loss stopped Mr. Clinton's elevator after he spoke to a group of business leaders.