    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [June 3, 1998]
    [Pages 870-871]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Action Against Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia and
    Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status for China
    June 3, 1998

        Good morning. Secretary Albright and Mr. Berger and I have just
    had a meeting before Secretary Albright leaves to go to Geneva for
    tomorrow's meeting of the Permanent Five Foreign Ministers, convened
    at our initiative, on the situation in South Asia. Our goal is to forge
    a common strategy to move India and Pakistan back from their nuclear
    arms race and to begin to build a more peaceful, stable region.
        Secretary Albright will speak to our agenda in Geneva in just a
    moment, and I understand later will be at the State Department to
    answer further questions. But I'd like to take a
    few moments to put this problem in its proper context. The nuclear tests
    by India and Pakistan stand in stark contrast to the progress the world
    has made over the past several years in reducing stockpiles and
    containing the spread of nuclear weapons. It is also contrary to the
    ideals of nonviolent democratic freedom and independence at the heart of
    Gandhi's struggle to end colonialism on the Indian subcontinent.
        Through the START treaties, the United States and Russia are on
    their way to cutting nuclear arsenals by two-thirds from their cold war
    height. With our help, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan agreed to return
    to Russia the nuclear weapons left on their land when the Soviet Union
    dissolved. We secured the indefinite, unconditional extension of the
    Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa
    each voluntarily renounced their nuclear programs, choosing to spend
    their vital resources instead on the power of their people. And to date,
    149 nations have signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which bans all
    nuclear explosions, making it more difficult for nuclear powers to
    produce more advanced weapons and for nonnuclear states to develop them.
        Two years ago, I was the first to sign this treaty at the United
    Nations on behalf of the United States. The present situation in South
    Asia makes it all the more important that the Senate debate and vote on
    the Comprehensive

    [[Page 871]]

    Test Ban Treaty without delay. The CTBT will strengthen our ability to
    deter, to detect, and to deter testing. If we are calling on other
    nations to act responsibly, America must set the example.
        India and Pakistan are great nations with boundless potential, but
    developing weapons of mass destruction is self-defeating, wasteful, and
    dangerous. It will make their people poorer and less secure. The
    international community must now come together to move them to a diverse
    course and to avoid a dangerous arms race in Asia.
        In just the last week, NATO, the NATO Joint Council with Russia, the
    Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, and today the OAS condemned the
    tests. That is about 80 other nations who want to work with us to move
    the world to a safer place.
        And we must do more. We are determined to work with any countries
    who are willing to help us, and we want very much to work with both
    India and Pakistan to help them resolve their differences and to restore
    a future of hope, not fear, to the region.
        Let me now express my appreciation to China for chairing the P-5
    meeting to which Secretary Albright is
    going. This is further evidence of the important role China can play in
    meeting the challenges of the 21st century and the constructive Chinese
    leadership that will be essential to the long-term resolutions of issues
    involving South Asia.
        This is an important example of how our engagement with China serves
    America's interests: stability in Asia, preventing the spread of weapons
    of mass destruction, combating international crime and drug trafficking,
    protecting the environment. At the same time, we continue to deal
    forthrightly with China on those issues where we disagree, notably on
    human rights, and there have clearly been some concrete results as a
    result of this engagement as well.
        Trade is also an important part of our relationship with China. Our
    exports have tripled over the last decade and now support over 170,000
    American jobs. But just as important, trade is a force for change in
    China, exposing China to our ideas and our ideals and integrating China
    into the global economy.
        For these reasons, I intend to renew MFN status with China. This
    status does not convey any special privilege. It is simply ordinary,
    natural tariff treatment offered to virtually every nation on Earth.
    Since 1980, when MFN was first extended to China, every Republican and
    Democratic President who has faced this issue has extended it. Not to
    renew would be to sever our economic and, to a large measure, our
    strategic relationship with China, turning our back on a fourth of the
    world at a time when our cooperation for world peace and security is
    especially important, in light of the recent events in South Asia.
        This policy clearly is in our Nation's interest, and I urge Congress
    to support it. Now I'd like to ask Secretary Albright to say a few words about our objectives in
    Geneva in the days and weeks ahead.
        Madam Secretary.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:05 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. The transcript made available by the Office of the Press
    Secretary also included the remarks of Secretary of State Madeleine K.
    Albright. The memorandum on most-favored-nation trade status for China
    is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.