Bush's advisers first tried quiet diplomacy to win the U.S. flight crew's freedom. Publicly, the approach has been carefully modulated, despite growing anger inside the Administration. Despite the President's desire to stand tall in the face of a crisis, there may be limits on how many times the Bushies can poke a sharp stick at China, all the while professing that improved economic ties are divorced from a deteriorating political climate. As a result, U.S.-Chinese relations are at low ebb. Jiang Zemin's government is livid over Administration plans to speed deployment of an antimissile shield and to beef up Taiwan's defenses.
More problems are on the way.
Even if Bush invests his limited political capital to fend off that challenge, conservatives will press him to sell Taiwan destroyers equipped with advanced Aegis radar. Beijing bluntly warns that could spark a military response. This nosedive in relations is occurring before Bush has his Asia hands in place and fleshes out his still-sketchy blueprint for the region. The White House only sent the nomination of James A. Kelly as Assistant Secretary of State for Asia to the Senate on Apr. 3, in the midst of the spy-plane flap. The Administration is loaded with Asia experts such as Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Torkel L. Patterson, but few real China hands.