Rep. Alcee Hastings on US-China relations

Alcee Hastings

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Florida), has served as representative from Florida's 23rd U.S. Congressional district since 1992. Among his committee assignments, Hastings sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence Subcommittee.

CNN Moderator: Welcome to CNN, Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Rep. Hastings: Thank you, and it's good to be back.

From the chat room: What can President Bush really do to solve this problem? Can he do anything other then just posture and wait until the Chinese make their demands?

	MESSAGE BOARD
China: Spy plane accident

Rep. Hastings: Indeed, he can. At the outset, let me say that I believe that the Administration is handling this matter appropriately. If the Chinese do not act to release the military personnel in a more hurried fashion, and indicate when they're going to release the reconnaissance plane, then the president can cancel existing trade agreements and cultural exchanges. Also, he can block China's accession to the World Trade Organization, which they desperately desire, and he can accelerate and expand the arms sales to Taiwan. We also have representatives that are influential with the Olympic Committee, and we could indicate our desire that China not host the Olympics. In addition, we could vigorously pursue having the United Nations assert that China is a major violator of human rights, as we intend to in Geneva. Those are just a few of the things that I believe the president has in his power to do.

From the chat room: Why doesn't President Bush just apologize?

Rep. Hastings: I do not believe he should apologize. I don't believe our reconnaissance plane was within the 12-mile limit that is internationally recognized. I believe the plane was in international waters. Further, I do not believe that a plane as slow as the P-3 was capable of running into a fighter plane of the caliber that evidently it collided with. So, if anyone owes an apology, in my view, it would be China for causing the incident in the first place. We certainly can strongly indicate that we are sorry that the Chinese pilot lost his life. However, to agree that we owe them an apology would give China the right to assert that the South China Sea and the islands in that locale belong to them. I think that that would be a serious mistake.

From the chat room: What affect will this incident have on China's most favored nation status? Is this the only "club" we actually hold to make them comply?

Rep. Hastings: I hope that the audience questioner heard my previous answer. It is not the only club that we hold. We could repudiate the most favored nation status for China, and it would affect more than $115 billion of trade that the United States businesspersons are involved with. The one thing that we can do that very few people have talked about is immediately stopping our military and cultural exchanges. I hope we don't do that because China is an integral part of this world. The Chinese are culturally much different than the United States, and I believe that as long as we give them an opportunity to save face, they will do the right thing.

From the chat room: Do you believe a little compassion for the loss of their pilot and plane might help diffuse this situation?

Rep. Hastings: I certainly do, and I believe that that compassion should be done in a public manner by either the Secretary of State or the President. I certainly believe that our diplomats should assert the same.

From the chat room: Will this incident lead to a new cold war?

Rep. Hastings: That is a very good question. This incident was an accident. If both sides do not act with appropriate diplomacy, we could revert to Cold War status with China that would probably impact our status with Russia, which is bordering on Cold War status as well. I genuinely believe that the global economy is much too important for us to let this accident become the kind of incident that would cause further straining of our relations with China and other members of the world community.

From the chat room: What will happen if China returns the crew but not the plane?

Rep. Hastings: That is an excellent question! Although armchair diplomacy is worse than armchair quarterbacking, I predict that China will return the crew before it returns the plane. The way Chinese officials are handling this situation suggests to me that they're going to use every minute to try and learn as much about this reconnaissance-type aircraft as they can, and our primary mission is to have our troops returned. Our secondary, and important mission, is to have the plane returned without further tampering. There is more information to be had before I, as a policymaker, would want to suggest what the administration and/or those of us that are policymakers should do if the plane is not returned. We have kept aircraft from other countries, and we have boarded them when defectors brought them to our shores. This situation is different, and I believe that China knows that. It runs the greatest risks of all if they do not return that plane real soon.

From the chat room: I heard China has already taken equipment from the plane. Will the technology they obtained affect the United States very drastically?

Rep. Hastings: Well, I would not want to go so far as to say very drastically, but this equipment is unique. Any compromising of it will affect our ability to conduct the kind of reconnaissance that the plane is capable of doing. It, in fact, will set us back, but this nation is very resilient. I can assure the audience member that we will be able to undertake appropriate surveillance of China and of any other country anywhere in the world.

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Rep. Hastings: I thank you all very much.

Rep. Hastings joined us from Washington, D.C.; CNN provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the chat which occurred on Tuesday, April 3, at 8 p.m. EDT.

Check out the CNN Chat calendar
Post your opinion on our message boards

China declines U.S. search offer
April 3, 2001
Plane crew safe, China assures U.S.
April 1, 2001
U.S. Navy study 'backs Taiwan arms upgrade'
April 1, 2001
Beijing looks to get tough
April 2, 2001
Chinese jets intercept U.S. Navy plane
April 1, 2001
U.S.-based scholar a spy, says China
March 28, 2001
Taiwan critical to Bush's China policy
March 23, 2001
China, U.S. come in from the cold
March 15, 2001
Jiang blames U.S. for crash
April 3, 2001

USCINCPAC Homepage
The Pentagon
U.S. Navy
Navy Fact File: EP-3E ORION (ARIES II) Aircraft
U.S. Department of Defense
Government of China (in Chinese)
U.S. Department of State
Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the U.S.A.
Government Information Office, Republic of China

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.