The United States would pursue good relations with China rather than try to convert it into an enemy like the former Soviet Union, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published in the Washington Post Saturday.
"We're looking forward to having a good and productive relationship with China," said Powell, who is scheduled to visit Beijing by the end of this month.
US-China relations suffered a setback after the collision of a US reconnaissance plane with a Chinese fighter jet near China' s Hainan Island in April.
"We had a major hiccup with the EP-3 (spy plane) incident ... It's clear we wanted to get this behind us so we could get on to the real issues of trade and economics," Powell said.
Powell stressed the United States is not willing to turn China into another enemy although it will continue to press with such issues as human rights and proliferation.
"We're not working on converting China to an enemy. We do not need another Soviet Union for an enemy in order to give a sense of purpose. We want more friends, people we can work with," Powell said.
Powell also dismissed China's military threat ballyhooed by some conservative politicians in America.
"Are they (the Chinese) also trying to modernize their military? Yes. Does it look like it's being modernized to go on the march? Not to me so far," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency 07/15/2001)
