U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Interview With Rita Braver of CBS Sunday Morning

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
December 22, 2008

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QUESTION: You know, you say that, but the Pew Global Attitudes Project released a new report very recently. On the very first page it says, "The U.S. image abroad is suffering almost everywhere." The most recent CBS News/New York Times poll shows that only 26 percent of Americans approve of the President's foreign policy. It has to be more than just a perception problem.

SECRETARY RICE: No. Rita, first of all, it depends on where you're talking about. In two of the most populous countries, China and India, the United States is not just well regarded for its policies, but well regarded. And --

QUESTION: This report says the only place the U.S. is really -- you know, people are happy about the U.S. is in some of the southern African countries, but --

SECRETARY RICE: Well, that's no small fact either, that in Africa, the policies of AIDS relief and so forth have been so regarded. But you know, this isn't a popularity contest. I'm sorry, it isn't. What the Administration is responsible to do is to make good choices about Americans' interests and values in the long run, not for today's headlines, but for history's judgment.

And I am quite certain that when the final chapters are written and it's clear that Saddam Hussein's Iraq is gone in favor of an Iraq that is favorable to the future of the Middle East, when the history is written of a U.S.-China relationship that is better than it's ever been, an India relationship that is deeper and better than it's ever been, a relationship with Brazil and other countries of the left of Latin America better than it's ever been, a relationship that has given an umbrella to antiterrorist activities so that this country is not yet safe, but clearly much, much safer. When one looks at what we've been able to do in terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this Administration will be judged well, and I'll wait for history's judgment and not today's headlines.

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QUESTION: And I'm sorry to be flipping through these so quickly, but I know you're pressed for time.

When this Administration came in, North Korea was considered part of the "axis of evil". Are they still part of the "axis of evil"?

SECRETARY RICE: It is a very difficult thing. And the other day somebody said, well, you trusted the North Koreans. Now, come on, who trusts the North Koreans? But we have been able, with China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, to put in place the Six-Party Talks, which will -- which have agreement that there should be a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and have made some steps by shutting down the North Korean reactor, disabling parts of it, beginning to verify about the North Korean nuclear program. And even with the verification protocol, it's about 80 percent done. But the North Koreans balked at writing down assurances that they've made to us. Now, in the context we have of the Six-Party Talks, we're not going to deliver any benefit until the North Koreans have done what they're supposed to do. But this position of the other five, I think will ultimately lead North Korea now to do the right thing.

QUESTION: Conservatives have been attacking the Administration for even trying anything in North Korea. Do you think that you have disappointed one of your main constituencies here?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I don't know what other good option there is but to work with the countries of the region and to work through the ups and downs of denuclearization in North Korea. It took the North Koreans decades, 30 years or more, to build a nuclear capability. You're not going to unravel that in a few days. But you've got a much better chance of unraveling it with the other major powers at the table so that the North Koreans, which they love to do, can't make this a U.S.-North Korea issue. Now they have to face China, they have to face South Korea, states with, frankly, more leverage than we have. And that's why I think we've gotten as far as we have gotten.

But there are a lot of very troubling elements in the North Korean program. They probably are pursuing, or were pursuing, another path to a nuclear weapon, not just the plutonium path. We are ultimately only going to get a handle on this by the diplomatic course that we're on, in the context of all of the regional states engaging in this. And I really don't know what other option there is.

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2008/1098

Released on December 28, 2008