Nixon Warns China That a Return to Isolation Would Cause Turmoil : Foreign affairs: The former President tells Li bluntly that this is a delicate moment in Sino-American relations.

BEIJING —  Former President Richard Nixon, in a bluntly worded speech, warned Chinese leaders today that China risks economic stagnation and political turmoil if it returns to the isolation of the past and does not work to improve Sino-American relations.

“Neither of us wishes to return to the hostility and bitterness that characterized our relations for over 20 years at such a high cost to our peoples,” Nixon said at a banquet hosted by Chinese Premier Li Peng on the third day of his unofficial visit to Beijing.

Nixon, who cleared the way for restoration of ties with China when he first visited Beijing in 1972, told Li it was “neither in China’s nor America’s interest for your nation of over 1 billion people to return to its isolation. The certain result would be an angry and impoverished nation.”

The former President, considered an “old friend” by the Chinese leadership, made no attempt to soft-pedal the strain in Sino-American relations resulting from the government’s bloody crackdown on the democracy movement in late spring and early summer.

He began his dinner toast with a direct reference to the brutal military suppression of unarmed protesters in Beijing’s Tian An Men Square.

“We meet at a delicate moment in Sino-American relations,” he said. “The tragedy that occurred in Beijing from June 2 to June 4 and the subsequent developments in your country and mine have cast a shadow over our relations.”

Nixon’s visit occurs at a time when relations between the two countries are at their lowest point since 1979, when diplomatic ties were formally restored. After the events of June, President Bush banned certain military sales and government-funded loans to China to protest the crackdown.

But Chinese leaders insist that the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries will not harm China in the long run, and they have pressed forward with a vigorous campaign to silence dissent.

Nixon warned that if China returns to the isolation of previous years, it will “consign itself to the backwater of oppression and stagnation.” He said the United States and China must continue to cooperate to help maintain world peace and overcome such global problems as overpopulation.

Nixon also admonished Chinese leaders to stand by previous commitments involving the Cambodian conflict and Hong Kong, which is to return to Chinese mainland rule in 1997. Despite a pledge to allow the British colony to retain its current system of government, Chinese authorities continue to criticize Hong Kong for harboring “counterrevolutionaries” intent on overthrowing communism.