Bush promises tough PRC, Russia strategies

Washington, Nov 21 --- Republican candidate George W. Bush promised Sunday to be "very harsh" with mainland China if elected U.S. president next year and hinted he might let Taiwan join the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) anti-missile system.

Bush, in an interview on the NBC program "Meet the Press," said he wold apply strict measures on Beijing should it launch an attack on the island. "If China starts bombing innocent women and children, you bet," he said.

The Texas governor and front-runner for the Republic can presidential nomination, delivered his first foreign policy speech in California on Friday. In it, he signalled a shift from President Bill Clinton's "strategic partnership" with China, contending that Beijing should be "unthreatened, but not unchecked."

The candidate also reiterated that the U.S. would honor its commitment to defend Taiwan in case of a mainland Chinese attack, as have most of the contenders for the Republican nomination. But Bush hinted further on Sunday that he might provide theater missile defenses to Taiwan or other U.S. allies in the region, such as Japan, to protect against mainland Chinese military aggression in Asia.

"Whether we own it or Taiwan owns it, whether we own it or Japan owns it, it is not a matter of ownership, it's a matter of deployment, it's a matter of convincing people not to launch missiles against our friends," he said.

Bush said the mainland Chinese must understand that there would be some areas in which Beijing and Washington could cooperate and "area where we won't."

"We need to be very harsh with China," he said.

At the same time, Bush embraced a broader trading relationship with Beijing as "a great opportunity to help an entrepreneurial class and a freedom-loving class grow and burgeon and become viable." He did not say how this would fit with his policy of redefining the U.S. relationship with mainland China as "a competitor."

Bush also urged the Clinton administration to withhold U.S. support for new International Monetary Fund lending to Russia to increase pressure on Moscow to end its military offensive in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.

He said Russia had "over stepped the bounds of decency" in Chechnya "by bombing innocent women and Children" and that if Moscow did not change its policy, IMF aid ought to be suspended.

"Absolutely," he replied when asked if the United States should hold up a $640 million lending package due Russia in the next few weeks.

U.S. officials on Sunday insisted policy on loans to Russia was unchanged, although they privately refused to rule out linking the IMF loan to concessions by Moscow on Chechnya.

Bush's hour-long interview marked his first appearance this campaign on a Sunday morning talk show --- a frequent stop for most White House hopefuls.

His speech in California last week sought to reassure skeptics and supporters alike that, despite limited experience in foreign affairs and a series of recent gaffes, he is ready for the White House.

Since failing a foreign policy pop quiz in a Boston television interview, which even some of his opponents have called unfair, the Texas governor has been dogged by questions about his expertise in international affairs.

In the Sunday interview, Bush demurred when asked about specific numbers laid out in the START agreements with Russia on reducing nuclear weapons and on the levels he might seek if he wins the White House.

"That's going to depend on the generals helping to make the decision ... that depends upon my advisers and people who know a heck of a lot more about the subject than I do," he said.

"One of the things about a President Bush is that I would be surrounded by good, strong, capable, smart people who understand the mission of the United States is to lead the world to peace," he added.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky rejected charges that Bush lacked a deep understanding of international affairs, saying he had as much foreign policy experience as previous state governors Ronald Reagan and Clinton, who eventually were elected president.

"I don't think you expect the governors to be deeply steeped in foreign policy," McConnell said on the Fox News Sunday program. "Governor Bush has a solid set of advisers and good instincts, and I think he's gonna be just fine in the foreign policy arena."

But New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he thought Bush had failed to reassure Americans.

"And while I think it's too early to claim that George Bush is an empty suit, I think

there are people beginning to think the suits he's wearing are probably several sizes too large," Torricelli quipped.

Alcove Mr. Bush view that reported from Washington, may be a new review of checking communist's thought.