Gore himself has a strong moralistic streak that is deeply offended by the human rights abuses committed by the Beijing regime. The human rights lobby is especially strong within the Democratic party and will raise that issue forcefully with a new Democratic president. Indeed, two of the most outspoken critics of the PRC's human rights policy, Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Tom Lantos, are prominent Democrats and close associates of Gore.
In addition, Gore has stronger ties with (and is more dependent on the support of) US labor unions than was Clinton. It is revealing that Gore initially took a rather skeptical position regarding the granting of permanent normal trade relations to China when that legislation came before Congress and sought to appease labor leaders by proposing that various conditions be attached. He changed his position only in response to enormous pressure from the White House. Given the protectionist sentiments of the labor unions, and their influence on Gore, trade could become an unexpected source of friction between China and the US under a Gore administration.
Those who believe that the China policy of a Gore presidency would look very much like the Clinton administration's policy may be right in one sense.
It could well resemble the policy that Clinton embraced when he first took office. It should be recalled that President Clinton initially took a very hard line toward Beijing -- lecturing PRC leaders on human rights and threatening to condition trade relations on improvements in that area. Indeed, during the 1992 presidential campaign, candidate Clinton denounced President Bush for "appeasing the butchers of Beijing." It was only after it became apparent that his hardline approach was creating dangerous tensions in US-PRC relations, that the new president adjusted his strategy. The point is that the China policy of the later years of the Clinton administration was vastly different from that of the early years. A Gore policy could be a throwback to that earlier strategy.
In any case, change is coming in Washington's China policy. No administration merely continues the policies of its predecessor, even when the new president comes from the same party. Regardless of which candidate wins the presidential election, the US relationship with both Beijing and Taipei will be different from what it has been in recent years.
Ted Galen Carpenter is vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and is the author or editor of 12 books on international affairs.
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