[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[May 3, 1993]
[Pages 552-553]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Governor Chris Patten 
of Hong Kong
May 3, 1993

Bosnia

    Q. Mr. President, do you expect the Serbs to keep their word----
    The President. The what?
    Q. ----the Bosnian Serbs? Do you trust the Serbs at this point?
    The President. Well, I want to reiterate what we've already said. I 
want to evaluate them by their actions. We'll see what they do. I hope 
the Serbian Assembly will support the decision to sign onto Vance-Owen, 
and we'll just see. We'll just have to measure it as we go along.
    Q. Mr. President, are you still committed, as you said, to sending 
in ground troops to help enforce the peace if it does hold? Would there 
be American participation in a peacekeeping mission?
    The President. We said several weeks ago that the United States 
would be prepared to support a United Nations effort, heavily engaged in 
by the Europeans, to help to enforce a peace if a peace was made that we 
would have no interest in. We were not interested in sending soldiers in 
there into combat, into a fighting situation but that we thought there 
would have to be a peacekeeping force there and that we would be 
prepared to participate.
    Q. Well, if this peace holds, then, if Vance-Owen holds, you've got 
10 provinces, wouldn't that be a very difficult and dangerous mission 
for American and United Nations forces?
    The President. No, it depends entirely on what happens between now 
and then. And before I agree to put one American soldier there, we're 
going to watch events, and I will obviously speak not only to you but 
directly to the American people about it.
    Q. How many do you contemplate sending in?
    The President. I think it's very important now to point out--let me 
just restate what's at stake here--there has been enormous loss of life 
under especially brutal conditions there. And it is a very politically 
unstable part of the world, which has significant potential for a wider 
war.
    So the United States has tried to work with our allies--Secretary 
Christopher, as you know, is on this mission now--in an attempt to get 
the parties together so that we can present a united front and so that 
we can keep the pressure up to end the killing but also to stop the 
prospect of a much wider war, which could cause much more trouble, much 
more instability. But there has been at this point no decision made on 
any of that, and I would not make any such decisions without further 
consultation with the Congress and discussing it directly with the 
American people.
    Q. Why don't the allies agree with you?
    Q. Are you getting cooperation from the allies----
    The President. So far, the meetings are going great.
    Q. Have you talked to Christopher?
    The President. I have. I talked to him twice yesterday, talked to 
him twice.
    Q. You mean, they have signed on your policy?
    The President. I talked to Christopher, Prime Minister Major, 
President Mitterrand, the Prime Minister-designate of Italy, to 
President Yeltsin, and to Chancellor Kohl. I've talked to a lot of 
people----
    Q. And they all agree----
    The President. ----Prime Minister Mulroney. We have agreed that 
we're going to keep the

[[Page 553]]

pressure up and have a united front and move forward, and we're 
developing a policy now.

China

    Q. Mr. President, can we ask you a question about----
    The President. Sure.
    Q. ----we're just trying find out--the Governor will be here to ask 
you not to renew MFN with conditions. You have said that you will have 
some conditions. Can you have any kind of a compromise here? And the 
other question was, if you do support the Governor's proposals, do you 
think that will upset the Chinese?
    The President. Well, let me answer the first question first. We 
obviously hope that we can maintain the maximum good relationship with 
the Chinese. I have no interest in trying to isolate them. I'm 
encouraged by the successes of their economic reforms. And that's got to 
be in the interest of the whole world if it is accompanied with 
responsible behavior and respect for human rights and movement toward a 
more democratic society. There has been some encouraging news in China 
on a number of fronts in the last few weeks. I still think that more 
needs to be done. And I'm hopeful that it will be. But we're not in the 
position to say finally what the condition of our relations will be--and 
next month when the time runs out because it's an evolving situation.
    And secondly, I just have to say that I think that the democracy 
initiative in Hong Kong is a good thing. And I'm encouraged that the 
parties have agreed to talk about it. And it's one of the world's most 
vibrant, thriving important cities. It is an incredible center of 
commerce and haven of opportunity for millions of people who literally 
have--many of them have not a thing but the clothes on their back when 
they came there. And I think the idea of trying to keep it an open and 
free society after 1997 is in the best interest of the Chinese. I think 
it's clearly in the best interest of the Chinese. So I think this 
initiative is well-founded, and I support it. I hope it doesn't offend 
anybody, but how can the United States be against democracy? That's our 
job; get out there and promote it.

Note: The exchange began at 10:31 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
exchange.