American Congressman Rick Larsen (R) and People's Daily Washington-based correspondent Tang Yong during a recent interview in Larsen's office.

"We congressmen just represent a small part of America"

Tang Yong : Nicholas Kristof, Beijing-based Bureau Chief of The New York Times, said in his article in May 29, 2005 that the Sino-American relations are the most important bilateral diplomatic relations in the world. He said that relation is deteriorating and is likely to continue to deteriorate. The culprits behind this deterioration are some Democratic congressmen, who incite on China issue all the time. How do you think of his point?

Larsen: Sino-American relations are the most important bilateral diplomatic relations. I think that can deteriorate. The upcoming Summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao and American President Bush will be an important summit in order to put halt to the potential deterioration. And if you look at who is criticizing China in the congress, you will find both sides of the aisle are very active now. Both Democrats and Republicans, not just Democrats. I think that's very sad. As important as the relationship is, Mark and I are trying to find ways to emphasize what is working and work on the things that are working.

Tang Yong : Why does the Capitol Hill tend to be much more negative about China than the White House?

Larsen: I think it is not a function of China, it is a function of House of Representatives. When we wrote the Constitution back to 1783, the House of Representatives was designed to be more reflective of voters and constituencies. That is why I have to run for reelections for every two years. So congressmen are more reflective of how voters and constituencies are feeling that day. You could find this in any issue including the US relations with China. Voters and constituencies are telling the members of congress that they are concerned about losing jobs, they are concerned about trade deficit. China saved almost one trillion dollars in foreign reserves and why not use that to buy things we made?

Those are kinds of questions members of the congress get from their constituencies. When you get those questions you have to go out and represent. Actually we congressmen just represent a small part of America while President represents all of America. Getting to your questions why China's image in the congress is more negative, it is because members of congress are expressing anxiety and frustration that they hear from people for whom they represent and they have to respond to that.

Tang Yong : Someone says the Capitol Hill is a major driving force behind American unilateralism on foreign affairs. The US overall foreign policy orientation is too conservative. This runs against the long-term interest of America. Do members of congress have any moral responsibility to look at things from a long term and broad perspective?

Larsen: I think we do. Even though I just represent my part of America, I have responsibility to look at what is the best for the country. Sometimes that means I should go to my district to explain myself. Sometimes you have to be a leader of not only reflecting what people believe and feel, you have to go back and say to my voters: I understand how you feel but here is what I know and what I want to do and I ask you to think as well and come with me. I think we always have moral responsibility to do what is right for the country as a whole. You will find in our system our members of congress have different ideas about what is right for the country. We have the freedom to that and we have exercised that a quite bit.

"Rather than grab the biggest thing, let's find some little things first"

Tang Yong : Can you tell me what specific work the US China Working Group is doing and what improvement have you achieved so far?

Larsen: You are here talking to Mark Kirk and me. A year ago you would not be sitting down with me or Mark Kirk to talk about China. The point I want to make is Mark and I think it is important to talk with Chinese media about the congress and about the country. Because one goal we want to achieve is educating our Chinese partners about the congress itself and help Chinese leaders understand the House of Representatives better. That is why we have sat down here with Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong several times to talk about issues and hear from him Chinese perspectives on the issues. That is one achievement.

When we were in China, we talked about a couple of things. One is on the defense side. We believe US Department of Defense and Chinese Ministry of Defense should set up a defense telephone link so that there is a direct connection between the two sides in case there is ever a time when we need to have immediate and direct contact with leadership between the two sides. We talked about that and encouraged Chinese leadership to accept that idea. They didn't say yes, but they didn't say no, that is good enough for now.

Also in terms of space cooperation, we think China is the third country that could put people on space, we should develop a common docking ring in case we ever need to rescue astronauts. About intellectual property rights enforcement, we think there is room for US to help China build capacity to better enforce the IPR laws they have on books.

When people talk about American Chinese relations, they always want to grab the biggest thing. If it is difficult to grab 500-dollar bill, why not first pick up so many nickels and dimes on the ground? Rather than grab the biggest thing, let's find some little things that we can be successful on in order to build up to solve bigger problems. I would hope Chinese President Hu would address that desire when he comes to Washington DC in April.

Tang Yong : What else do you expect from his forthcoming visit?

Larsen: I would expect that is a successful visit. I would expect Chinese President Hu could outline what China is doing to enforce IPR laws. I expect him to outline Chinese's position on currency. I would hope he would signal openness to encouraging military to military cooperation between US and China on appropriate subjects. Finally I would expect President Hu to take some time to describe to American people what his situation is in China and the things he wants to do in China and the challenges he faces between the developed east and coast China and less developed west and interior China. And what he is trying to do to bring development into West China.

"I am optimistic but there is a lot more work to do"

Tang Yong : What changed you most after your January trip to China?

Larsen: I have been to China twice. After you go to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong everybody goes to, you should go somewhere else. Go into the interior in China. Go see the big cities and the interior China, away from the coast. It is entirely different China than what we see on TV.

Tang Yong : There is media distortion here that China is becoming a superpower and threatening US. But when you see all of this in China, you would realize how poor China still is.

Larsen: Yeah, they would say that.

Tang Yong : What do you want to say most to your colleagues on the Capitol Hill after your China trip?

Larsen: They need to go to China. They need to see Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. But they need to get outside cities and see something else because China is a big country and China is an old country with great history and great culture. A whole lot more China than skyscrapers and Olympics.

Tang Yong : So are you optimistic about the future of Sino-American relations?

Larsen: I am optimistic. There is a lot more work to do. So when you get to print that, you'd better print both: I am optimistic but there is a lot more work to do.

Tang Yong : Of course. Mr. Larsen, thank you very much for the interview.

Larsen: Thanks a lot.

Profile:

Rick Larsen, a Democrat from Washington State, is serving his third term in Congress where he sits on three committees: the House Armed Services Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. Larsen also serves as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine where he has become a congressional leader on meth issues. As a member of the Northern Border Caucus, he also works to bring attention and funding to the unique needs of US border communities and border security.

Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois State, is serving his third term in Congress where he is a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and serves on three of its subcommittees: Foreign Operations, Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and Science, State, Justice and Commerce. Kirk is also co-chairman of the Tuesday Group, the caucus of mainstream Republican Members of Congress.

By Tang Yong , People's Daily correspondent based in Washington DC