Kagan: Right now we're going to get some insight into the political leadership in China and how that plays into the efforts to resolve the standoff.
Joining us now from Albany, New York, is Professor Cheng Li. He is a China expert and a professor of government at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York...
I want to start by asking you--any insight perhaps that you could provide in terms of why is there even the limited contact that the Americans are being offered between the diplomats and crewmembers, and why the confusion over why they might be meeting?"
Cheng Li: Well. the -- there are two reasons. One, Chinese government has dilemmas, both at home and also in terms of China's relations with the United States. At home they are very much concerned with the timing China should have returned these crewmembers, because there is a very strong resentment against what Chinese people called America's arrogance. If China immediately returns these crew members and the government will be seen as too soft, that's not popular because they probably will be criticized by doing so. And the international front because they are very much concerned about the Taiwan issue. They want to use that incident as a bargaining power, probably can ask U.S. to reduce the spy flight over Taiwan straight and probably can also have bargaining power in terms of U.S. decision to sell weapons to Taiwan.
Cheng Li: Well. the -- there are two reasons. One, Chinese government has dilemmas, both at home and also in terms of China's relations with the United States. At home they are very much concerned with the timing China should have returned these crewmembers, because there is a very strong resentment against what Chinese people called America's arrogance. If China immediately returns these crew members and the government will be seen as too soft, that's not popular because they probably will be criticized by doing so. And the international front because they are very much concerned about the Taiwan issue. They want to use that incident as a bargaining power, probably can ask U.S. to reduce the spy flight over Taiwan straight and probably can also have bargaining power in terms of U.S. decision to sell weapons to Taiwan.
