China Gives Gift of Friendship, but Big-Ticket Orders Help

BEIJING — What do pandas, political prisoners and airplane deals have in common?

They make great gifts.

At least it seems that way in the often opaque world of Chinese diplomacy. The bestowing of endangered species, the release of key dissidents and the purchase of new jetliners have been known to play critical roles in helping Beijing clinch deals and make friends.

After Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan toured China last month on a historic trip that followed more than 60 years of animosity between the Communists and the Nationalists they defeated in a civil war, Beijing offered to send Lien home with a pair of giant pandas as a symbol of peace. When President Nixon made his groundbreaking trip to Beijing in 1972, he got the same parting gift.

In March, Washington's decision not to seek a U.N. resolution critical of China's human rights record coincided with the release of Rebiya Kadeer, a 58-year-old businesswoman sentenced to eight years in a Chinese prison for sending newspaper clippings to her husband in the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited China a few days later.

The biggest-ticket item in this game of political give-and-take may be airplanes.

During a visit by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin last month, Beijing signed a deal to buy 40 Airbus jets worth $3.2 billion. The most expensive items on the shopping list were the world's biggest passenger jetliners, the new super-jumbo A380s. Each costs about $250 million. China ordered five.

Airbus is primarily owned by France and Germany, which are the two biggest advocates for the lifting of the European Union's 16-year-old arms embargo against China. Europe imposed the weapons ban after Beijing's bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.

Opponents of the embargo face an uphill battle, particularly after Beijing passed a controversial anti-secession law against Taiwan in March. The measure authorizes the mainland to use force against the island, which Beijing considers a rogue province, if it moves to declare independence. Washington is among the biggest critics of advanced weapons sales to China, which it fears could upset the balance of power in the region.

But Beijing has goodies for the Americans too.

Early this year, China announced plans to buy 60 Boeing jets, worth $7.2 billion.