China welcomes Bush with NMD poser

Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent his congratulations to Bush, saying he was "ready to work together... to promote a sound and stable development of China-U.S. relations," the official Xinhua news agency said.

Stable Sino-U.S. relations would promote "peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large," Jiang said. The Republican election manifesto promised a "robust" version of NMD and the development of an East Asian regional Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) system, which could include Taiwan.

But a foreign ministry spokeswoman warned Bush that NMD would "not be conducive to arms control and disarmament and would have a far- reaching and negative impact on global and regional strategic balance." "We hope the U.S. will heed the rational call of the international community and give up its NMD plan," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said.

The last six U.S. administrations all developed relations with China, though there remain "both opportunities and challenges" and differences of opinion are "natural", Zhang said. "We hope and believe that during Bush's tenure as U.S. president, Sino-U.S. relations will progress further", she said.

Differences are also likely on climate control and the sensitive issue of arms sales to Taiwan, but overall China expects little change, a senior researcher in international relations said. There will be "sparks but no fire", said Wang Yizhou of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Known in China as "Little Bush", or Bush Junior, the Republican is seen as a pro-trade president who will push for China's entry into the World Trade Organization and strengthen cooperation in the United Nations, Wang said. The legal wrangles between Bush and his defeated challenger, Al Gore, fuelled five weeks of public debate that will be "positive for the long term" development of democracy in China and served as "a good example of the rule of law", said electoral researcher Li Fan.

"There is a lesson for us... From the beginning, we must have a good system," Li said. State media gave daily updates on the court battles between Bush and Gore, often mocking the process and supporting the Chinese government policy of limiting democratic reform.

The court decisions meant "the people have no right to speak", Yangcheng Evening News said in a typical example. "I heard many people say it (the United States) is a false democracy, but others, like me, would say that it's a long process," Li said. "The United States is a democracy for sure, but there are many problems with the election system. It needs reform," he said.

(la/dpa)