As much as certain politicians don't want to admit it, the Chinese Communist regime is no friend of America. And no amount of goodwill on America's part toward China will make her our friend.

The harsh reality is that Red China is inherently incapable of enjoying a mutually trusting relationship with the United States. The reason is that free nations represent a threat to tyrannical ones. Communist governments, by definition, are tyrannical. They generally acquire and always sustain their power by force and by repressing political freedoms.

Free nations by their example, especially in an increasingly open world, expose the godless lie that is communism. Despite all its false egalitarian promises, communism is ultimately a perverse vehicle that allows the few to exploit the many.

In 1992, Bill Clinton railed against George Bush for being too soft on the Chinese. But since taking office, Clinton has been catering to them like they were his biggest supporters. Imagine that.

What has our policy of engagement with China recently yielded? China has:

-- become even more belligerent toward Taiwan and Japan;

-- become more militaristic;

-- continued to oppress its own people and deny them democratic or civil rights;

-- transferred arms and technology to Iran and Pakistan;

-- fomented protests against the United States for "intentionally" bombing its embassy in Belgrade;

-- begun to refer to the United States as an enemy;

-- suspended military contacts with the United States;

-- stolen almost all of our nuclear secrets.

The only sins that the United States has committed against China to warrant all of this mistreatment are:

-- the accidental bombing of her embassy;

-- charging her an exorbitant price for the nuclear technology by way of contributions to Clinton's campaign coffers.

Given this dismal track record, was the United States wrong in attempting to establish a better relationship with China? Absolutely not. The U.S. policy of engagement, which has been ongoing since Nixon, has contributed to producing certain desirable changes in China: specifically, limited market reforms.

China has instituted these reforms, not because its communist regime began to see the wisdom in capitalism, but as a desperate measure to hang on to its power. By making economic reforms, the regime was able to stave off the pressure to make political reforms.

But experts are now saying that these market reforms have run their course. Arthur Waldron, international relations professor at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that the economic boom injected new life into the politburo's anemic power base.

As a result, the legitimacy of the regime is dependent on China's continued material progress. Now that the boom has ended, the regime is in jeopardy of losing its power. Waldron argues that further economic progress in China may require political reforms, "just those reforms that economic development was supposed to avoid."

We mustn't forget that communism is not just an economic system, but a political one, as well. While the Red Chinese may have been reluctantly willing to flirt with capitalism, they will not so readily adopt political reforms. Meaningful political reforms will inevitably lead to the collapse of their regime.

While our policy of engagement toward China may have yielded dividends in the past, acts of kindness toward her by the United States obviously have generated no reciprocal kindness toward us. It is clear that it is not in our best interests to continue along this path. We cannot well-wish China into a democratic state.

Red China ought not be allowed to repay United States benevolence with communist malevolence. Its very future may well depend on economic and political cooperation with the United States. So we have the trump card, and they are playing it against us!

Since our constant appeasement of China has backfired, we should begin to play hardball ourselves. This does not mean that we should pursue a policy of confrontation. It does mean that we should recognize that China's communist government views us as an enemy and act accordingly.

For starters, we should not give China Most Favored Nation status at this point. Nor should we vote to allow her into the World Trade Organization, which would guarantee her Most Favored Nation status in perpetuity.

Clinton has a vested interest in continuing to downplay China's animosity toward the United States so as to justify his miserably lax treatment of her. For the rest of us, China's political future is a gravely serious matter. Our prospective policy toward her should be guided by this fact, rather than the gross political interests of the Clinton/Gore regime.

~David Limbaugh of Cape Girardeau is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.