As preparations for the Tiananmen Square Summit proceed apace, it's increasingly clear that no Chinese infamy -- not blatant interference in American elections, not Beijing's aggressive military buildup, not the forced-abortion and organ-harvesting horrors perpetrated by the Chinese Communists -- will halt the tank-like forward progress of the Clinton appeasement machine. It's also clear that, as long as Clinton embraces the butchers of Beijing, much of America's commerce-loving foreign-policy Establishment will embrace Clinton. Interestingly, the more craven and fawning Clinton has become towards Beijing, the more he has tended to point out that his policy is a direct descendant of George Bush's. And for the approval-craving Bush crowd, this praise from the man who booted them out of office seems to be most welcome.
Perhaps that's why Brent Scowcroft, Bush's national security adviser, swung into action last week in defense of Clinton and his summit. Scowcroft drafted a cliche-drenched "Open Letter to Congress" full of Council on Foreign Relations blahblah ("China is destined to become a great economic and political power in the 21st century; the United States should neither fear nor oppose this development"). Then he circulated this letter with a comically full-of-itself cover memo on Scowcroft's letterhead -- a copy of which THE SCRAPBOOK has obtained -- in order to drum up VIP signatures for the letter.
"Dear Colleagues," Scowcroft wrote, "As you are aware, U.S.-China relations have come under significant criticism in recent weeks. Much of the criticism seems based on misinformation or a lack of credible facts. . . . In an effort to bring some balance to public debate, we are proposing an open letter to Congress, to be published in selected national newspapers a week before President Clinton leaves for China. We anticipate that funding for this effort will come through the U.S.-China Education Foundation. Presidents Bush, Carter and Ford, as well as Henry Kissinger and Larry Eagle-burger, agree that such a letter could bring a much needed reminder of the critical importance of the strategic relationship between out two countries. All have agreed to sign the letter. We would be honored if you would join us."
"I am currently in China with President Bush, but my colleagues . . . can assist you with any questions you may have regarding this letter."
It's nice to know that if President Clinton needs any informal advance work for the Tiananmen Square Summit, he seems to have some very able helpmeets already on the ground. THE SCRAPBOOK is also pleased to learn, from the distribution list on the Scowcroft memo, who makes the Establishment A-list these days: James Baker, Lloyd Bensten [sic], Michael Blumenthal, Nicholas Brady, Harold Brown, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Dick Cheney, Warren Christopher, Henry Fowler, Alexander Haig, Melvin Laird, Anthony Lake, Robert McFarlane, William Miller, Walter Mondale, William Perry, Colin Powell, Dan Quayle, Donald Regan, Elliot Richardson, William Rogers, Donald Rumsfeld, James Schlesinger, George Shultz, William Simon, Cyrus Vance, and Casper [sic] Weinberger. Next week, once the letter has been published, we'll provide an update on which of these men has the gumption -- and principle -- to spurn Scowcroft's entreaties.