May 26, 2001
Posted: 12:56 AM HKT (1656 GMT)
By Willy Lam
CNN Senior China Analyst
HONG KONG, China (CNN)
-- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has made a stinging critique of his
U.S. counterpart George W. Bush during a meeting of senior party officials,
a senior source told CNN.
Jiang is said to have
called Bush "logically unsound; confused and unprincipled; unwise
to the extreme," at a high level internal Communist Party meeting.
The source said that despite
Jiang's relatively low assessment of the U.S. leader, he reiterated
that Beijing should continue to adopt a "watch and assess"
posture in its relations with the United States at least until the
scheduled mini-summit between him and Bush in Beijing this October.
"Let's
find out more about what Bush wants to do with Taiwan, the Dalai Lama
and the missile-defense system," Jiang said, according to the
source.
"Let him put more
cards on the table -- and we shall respond accordingly."
The president, who also
heads the communist party's Leading Group on Foreign Affairs, was
speaking at a special meeting of senior Politburo members and foreign
policy experts earlier this month to discuss Beijing's reaction to
Bush's "anti-Chinese" policies, the source said.
The source said Jiang
counseled a low-key response to Bush's apparent efforts to use Taipei
and the exiled Tibetan government as pawns in an "anti-China
containment policy."
The source told CNN that
Jiang urged caution and suggested desisting from rash actions particularly
in view of China's application to join the World Trade Organization
and to host the Olympics.
More
investment opportunities
The president reportedly
said Beijing should concentrate on promoting the attractions of the
Chinese market -- 1.3 billion consumers -- once China becomes part
of the WTO.
Individual Chinese trade
officials and diplomats have already hinted Beijing would open more
investment and other business opportunities to America's competitors
such as the European Union.
Beijing is hoping the
U.S. corporate community will then put pressure on the White House
to improve ties with China.
Jiang has also indicated
he is ready to revise his so-called great power diplomacy.
In his discussions with
former president Bill Clinton, Jiang strongly hinted that in return
for Washington's "help" with Taiwan and other issues important
to Beijing, the Chinese would agree to a U.S.- dominated world order.
Multi-polar
world order
But during a special meeting
earlier this month, a source told CNN Jiang and his aides talked of
Beijing aiming to build a multi-polar world order by boosting ties
with countries and blocs including Russia, the European Union, Pakistan,
Iran, Japan and developing countries.
Some of Jiang's assessments
on the Bush administration were reflected in statements on the United
States by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, who also attended the meeting,
according to the source.
Zhu expressed frustrations
with the U.S. president and his men during his tour of Thailand last
week.
"We hear different
voices from the U.S.," Zhu told reporters traveling with him.
"Even
the same person can give forth different voices. That's why we are
still hearing and watching, and we are still engaged in contacts."
Diplomatic analysts in
Beijing said leaders such as Jiang and Zhu had come under heavy criticism
from army and conservative groupings for being "soft and weak"
in dealing with Bush.
If Jiang fails to get
anything substantial from his summit with Bush this October, he might
have no choice but to significantly harden his policy toward the United
States and Taiwan, the analysts said.
