Dragon TV Interview: Developing a Comprehensive, Integrated Dialogue With China
Interview
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State, Secretary of State
Interview With Yang Lan of Dragon TV
Beijing, China
February 22, 2009
MS. YANG: But this is a beautiful Embassy.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Isn't it? I am so proud and impressed by it. It took a long time to
build, but it is very beautiful and very functional. And the
architecture is Chinese-inspired, so it's really a wonderful addition to
our embassy community.
MS. YANG: And so you are going back today, right?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes. I have to go back today.
MS. YANG: And just in time to celebrate your daughter's 29th birthday.
SECRETARY CLINTON: That's true. She will be 29 on Friday. And I am very much looking forward to seeing her for a birthday dinner.
MS. YANG: Okay. So what kind of path do you like to see her take? I know she has been studying health policy and management at Columbia.
SECRETARY CLINTON:
That's right. I think she is someone who charts her own path, and I am
very impressed and delighted at the choices that she has made. I just,
like most mothers, want her to be happy and have a good life. And that
is really all I wish for her.
MS. YANG: Does she resemble you in the ways that she does things?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
I think she is a good combination of both her father and me. She has a
very wonderful personality, and she is a hard worker, and she is a good
friend and a caring person. So I am just very happy to be her mother.
MS. YANG: I
know you have just had a dialogue with the Chinese women. Some of them
you have known for 11 years. Well, to the younger generation of women,
like your daughters, what kind of advice would you like to give to those
who aspire to succeed and lead, but could be afraid of failure?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, that's a good way of phrasing the question, because I think that
overcoming your fears, whether you're a young woman or a young man, to
be willing to take a risk, to try something different, to follow your
heart, to pursue your dreams, takes a certain level of courage.
And
I just try to tell young people who ask me all the time what I think
about the best way forward is to be true to themselves, you know, to
listen to their own heart, to do what gives them joy in life, and
meaning in their public and professional careers. And I think if you do
that, you may change, you may take a different path. But if you can keep
focused on what you believe is important, I think that's the best way
to proceed.
MS. YANG: Let's get back to this trip. In your
testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, you suggested that
U.S. should use smart power to handle international issues. How is that
approach, or strategy, reflected in your Asian trip, especially your
trip to China?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it is our goal in
the Obama administration to reach out to the rest of the world using
every tool at our disposal. I like to talk about the three D's of our
foreign policy: defense, diplomacy, development.
We want to
emphasize, particularly, diplomacy and development. And what I have
tried to do in the month that I have had this position is to make clear
that we will represent and defend the interests and the security and the
values of the United States, but we want to listen.
We are
different countries and different cultures. China and the United States
have very different histories. And we need to understand each other
better so that we can find more common ground. And I was encouraged by
my talks with your leadership, that there are a number of areas we can
work on together.
We are constructing, and have agreed, in
principle, to a strategic and economic dialogue that will not only
include the economic crisis, which is very important, that China and
America lead on a recovery, globally, but clean energy and climate
change, and more educational exchanges, and people-to-people exchanges,
more work on health care, medicine, science.
I want to deepen and
broaden the connections, not only between government officials, as
important at that is, but between all kinds of Chinese and Americans.
MS. YANG: You
know, former Treasury Secretary Paulson used to champion the U.S.-Sino
dialogue in the structure of the Strategic Economic Dialogue. Have you
convinced President Obama to let the State Department take back the
reigns? And, if so, what kind of new framework of dialogue are we
talking about?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we are going to
have a comprehensive, integrated dialogue. It will be co-chaired by
myself and the Treasury Secretary, because I think there was an
awareness that our prior engagement at the dialogue level,
government-to-government, was very heavily dominated by economic
concerns, and by traditional Treasury priorities. They are very
important but that is not the only high-level dialogue that needs to
occur.
So, we have always had a lot of interaction at many levels
of our governments. But what we want to do is to integrate those, and
to have our two Presidents, when they meet at the G-20 summit in April,
announce the mechanism that we will be pursuing now.
MS. YANG: Have
you found the terminology to define the relationship between our two
countries? Because under your husband's administration we called it
"constructive strategic partnership," and then, in the Bush
administration we called it "stakeholders." Have you found the new words
yet?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I'm not as interested in
the words as in the actions. I think that we have evolved dramatically
in our relationship over the 30 years that we have had diplomatic
relations. China has grown just exponentially in a way that is a real
tribute to the people of China.
But what we now need to do is
demonstrate that the United States and China can work productively
together, not only on those issues that we have bilateral concerns over,
but to show leadership to the rest of the world.
If you just
take two major issues confronting the world, I don't think it's
realistic to expect that we will see global recovery without Chinese and
American cooperation and leadership. I know that it is not realistic to
expect that we can deal with global climate change without the United
States and China working together.
So, what we are talking about
is very concrete and specific. It is not so much the description, as the
reality and the content of what we will do together that we're focusing
on.
MS. YANG: Okay. You quoted Chinese story, (speaks Chinese), which means, "We are in the same boat" to tackle economic crisis.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.
MS. YANG: Yet,
at the same time, the "Buy American" rhetoric triggered another round
of fear of protectionism. How would the U.S. government reconcile the
international responsibility with the demand of domestic constituencies?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, President Obama was very quick to act, and to make clear that we
are not going to engage in protectionism. And, with respect to the
provision that was in the stimulus package, it must be compliant with
our international agreements.
We know that a round of
protectionism is not in America's interests. It's important that we work
with countries like China, and others, to establish a framework for
renewed economic growth and prosperity.
Now, we also have work to
do at home. Not only do we have to stimulate our economy, but we have
to be working to enhance our manufacturing base, work on our automobile
industry. So we have a lot of internal decision-making that is important
to our economic future. And I think China does, too. mean, China is
stimulating your economy at the central government level. You are
looking to deal with problems like migrant workers who no longer have
jobs.
So, we each have our own internal domestic challenges. But
we cannot solve those at the expense of generating global growth again,
which will benefit both of our people.
MS. YANG: You
certainly have your hands full, with all sorts of challenges and
problems around the world, from Iraq to Gaza Strip, from nuclear
proliferation to climate change. And then, of course, the economic
crisis.
How would you set an achievable target for your term, as secretary of state?
SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, it's true, that we have come into office at a time of so many
problems. You mentioned a few of the most well known. I don't know that
we can pick and choose. It's one of the reasons why I have advocated the
appointment of special envoys, because I think we need, as they say,
all hands on deck. Everyone has to work hard together to try to untangle
some of these problems, to look for solutions where possible.
So,
I don't have the luxury of saying, "I will only work on this." I have
to be very conscious of everything going on in the world. But I did
choose to come, for my first trip, to Asia, because I want to send a
clear message that the United States is both a trans-Pacific, as well as
a trans-Atlantic power, and that much of what we see as the potential
for positive growth and good relations in the 21st century will come
with Asian countries like China.
MS. YANG: Thank you very much for your time, although it falls short of my questions. Well, can I squeeze just one more?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Sure.
MS. YANG: Do
you think that China should further invest into American treasury
bonds? Because there is a debate here - with unclear future, we should
stop buying more.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I certainly do
think that the Chinese government and the central bank here in China is
making a very smart decision by continuing to invest in treasury bonds
for two reasons.
First, because it's a good investment. It's a
safe investment. Even despite the economic challenges sweeping over the
world, the United States has a well-deserved financial stability
reputation.
And, secondly, because our economies are so
intertwined. The Chinese know that, in order to start exporting again to
its biggest market, namely, the United States, the United States has to
take some very drastic measures with this stimulus package, which means
we have to incur more debt.
It would not be in China's interest
if we were unable to get our economy moving again. So, by continuing to
support American treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing our
interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together. We are in
the same boat. And, thankfully, we are rowing in the same direction,
toward landfall.
MS. YANG: Okay. So we have to keep rowing?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes.
MS. YANG: Thank you very much, Secretary Clinton.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.
