How does the George W. Bush approach to Asia differ from that of former President Bill Clinton?
We want to have more reliance on our allies. We put a lot of stock in alliance management. A lot more attention will be paid to Asia than was the case in the previous Administration. Indeed, if you look around the [Bush] Administration, many of the people are referred to as [being] Asia hands. Q: Is China becoming increasingly provocative by asserting itself more forcefully in the region? A: Right now, there’s clearly a big spotlight on China, and there appears to be a bit of an internal debate going on in China. We’ve got World Trade Organization membership hanging out there. We’ve had our recent difficulties with China. Taiwan still looms as a large question in our [U.S.-China] relationship, and then there’s the whole question of stability in East Asia. So there’s a lot of spotlight on it. I wouldn’t characterize it as [being] more or less provocative, however. Q: If it’s not “containment,” how would you describe U.S. policy viz-a-vis China? A: I don’t think containment is a proper t
