498 { China’s Quest
Before the talks, Qian Qichen had arranged a formal reception for Major on
Tiananmen Square, followed by a courtesy call on Li Peng by Major. Going
into the talks with Major, Li Peng told the press: “Our two sides share many
common points. There may be some different views, but it doesn’t matter.
Since we live on the same planet, we need contact.”Confronting the United StatesThe day after 6-4, President George H. W. Bush announced the imposition
of a set of modest sanctions as an expression of US disapproval of events in
Beijing.^24 At the same time, Bush attempted to telephone Deng Xiaoping to
explain that the moral sentiments of the American people made unavoidable
some expression of US displeasure. This was the first time an American pres-
ident had attempted a direct telephone call to a Chinese leader. The Chinese
side refused to put the call through.^25
The day after Bush announced the United States’ first post-6-4 sanctions,
the Politburo augmented by the elders met to discuss the US move. Li Peng
opined, “All the Western countries, with the United States in the lead, are is-
suing one or another kind of proclamation about applying sanctions against
China and cutting China off from the world.” Deng Xiaoping’s response to Li
Peng is worth quoting at length:
Those countries like to come up with resolution after resolution about
how to interfere in our internal affairs. But the interference is no big
deal for us; we can ignore it if we like, or we can fight back. Those coun-
tries want to apply sanctions against us? All right, but first, let’s ask
them why this is any of their business. And second, if it is, then we can
fight with sanctions, too. Our economic growth might suffer, but not all
that much. We’ve done all right under international sanctions for most
of the forty years of the People’s Republic. So we don’t have to worry too
much. We can take it all calmly. This little tempest is not going to blow
us over. We’re not trying to offend anybody; we’re just plugging away at
our own work. Anybody who tries to interfere in our affairs or threaten
us is going to come up empty. We Chinese have self-confidence; infe-
riority complexes get you nowhere. For more than a century we were
forced to feel inferior, but then, under the leadership of the Communist
Party, we stood up. No behemoth out there can scare us now. ... Our
people are not going to cower before foreign invasions or threats, and
neither will our children or grandchildren.^26
From the very beginning, Deng displayed the cool-headedness that would
guide him, and China, through the storm. US interference was “no big deal.”
CCP leaders needed to remain calm, not offend anyone, and keep plugging