Assessing the course of the U.S.-China relationship as the war on terrorismenters its third year ，it may be instructive to examine how China has or has notcooperated in meeting the challenge of global terrorism. The September 11，2001，terrorist attacks on the U.S.stunned China，andon September 12，the Chinese president conveyed his deepest sympathies to PresidentBush.Soon afterward，however，China hedged its support for the brewing war onterrorism with immediate words of caution that American military action should "respectthe United Nations‘charter and norms of international law."6China also incongruouslylinked "terrorism"with what Beijing characterized as Taiwan‘s "splittism"7andcalled for "reliable evidence"before it would countenance American military strikesagainst Afghanistan.8 From the beginning，China lobbied U.N.Security Council members to put thebrakes on American action.In a telephone conversation on Sep-tember 18，ChinesePresident Jiang Zemin told British Prime Minister Tony Blair that U.N.approvaland "irrefutable evidence"were needed for China to back armed retaliation for theattacks on the U.S.In a similar call to French President Jacques Chirac beforeChirac‘s trip to Washington ，Jiang cautioned that "under current circumstances，keeping sober-minded is especially needed ，and prudence should be exercised inhandling relevant issues."Jiang‘s message to Russian President Vladimir Putin wasthe same.9 1 |
