DRAFT MESSAGE FOR DINNER OF
NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON US-CHINA RELATIONS
GREENBERG AWARD

September 25, 1991

It is a honor and a great personal joy for me to have this
opportunity to speak to you about my good friend Hank Greenberg.
I only regret that I am not able to be with you in person to
honor him.

It is particularly fitting that the National Committee
should decide to honor Hank for his work on Sino-US relations.
I can think of no American businessman who has more consistently
or energetically sought to promote better understanding between
China and the United States. That too is fitting, for Hank's
company, as many of you know, was founded in Shanghai more than
70 years ago.

For the better part of twenty years now, Hank's voice has
been heard, in business and government circles, arguing in favor
of close American-Chinese relations. He has tirelessly (and I
mean **tirelessly**) pursued this goal, reminding us all that if
these two great countries can work together, there is little that
cannot be accomplished. Through the years Hank has been a fine
example of how an enlightened and farsighted businessman can
affect the world around him.

As we approach the twentieth anniversary of the Shanghai
Communique, it is useful to remind ourselves that the rationale
which led to that event is as valid today as it was twenty years
ago. China, with a quarter of the world's population and one of
the world's oldest cultures, was then and must be in the future
an important player in regional and world affairs. Its isolation
then, or now, cannot serve the interests of peace. Stability in
Asia, which both our countries seek, cannot be achieved unless
China plays a role in regional matters. Recent world events only
serve to underscore the continued importance of the relationship.

It was the recognition of these facts which led five
American Presidents of both political parties to sustain and
develop relations with China. Between them they negotiated and
signed three separate communiqués with the Peoples' Republic of
China. Today, those three documents continue to provide the
framework for American policy toward China.

America's interests dictated an opening to China in the
early 1970s and they today dictate a continuation of good
relations with Beijing. These relations were established not as
a favor by one country to the other, but because both our
countries saw close relations as serving their respective
national interests.

This is not to ignore that our relations today are in a
difficult period. Both sides will have to work hard to overcome

these problems. And as we do so, each side must be sensitive to
the unique historical experience and values of the other. If we
are, and if both sides can practice pragmatic statesmanship, then
we should be able to restore relations to a more satisfactory
level through regular high-level dialogue.

Mr. Chairman, I am convinced, as I know this Committee is,
of the continued importance of Sino-US relations to the orderly
development of world affairs. I know you join me in hoping that,
in the near future, we will be able to overcome our current
difficulties and return to the open relationship which has been
characteristic over the past two decades.