Yahoo! News - Before U.S. Poll, China Criticizes 'Bush Doctrine':
"BEIJING (Reuters) - On the eve of the U.S. election, China criticized the 'Bush doctrine' of pre-emptive strikes, said the Iraq war has destroyed the global anti-terror coalition and blamed arrogance for problems dogging the United States around the world.

In a strongly worded commentary, Qian Qichen, one of the main architects of China's foreign policy, said the United States was dreaming if it thought the 21st century was the 'American century.'"

I though that the PRC leadership had better judgment than to do stuff like this. I'm not sure what Qian wanted to accomplish with this kind of statement, but the timing obviously would imply that he was trying to somehow influence our election. If they are trying to influence the election I don't know what their motive would be for such a risky diplomatic maneuver that is unlikely to yield any positive benefits. The Chinese leadership is usually too shrewd and too cautious to try something so foolish and transparent.
  ¶ 10/31/2004 07:16:00 PM