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On China, he has said he will make it clear to the government that the U.S. is
unhappy at the weakness of the currency and the ``repression of democracy.'' He
also vows to oppose any effort by China to force reunification with Taiwan.
``He thinks we need to make sure that the hard edge of the balance is kept up,'' said
Gary Schmitt, a McCain adviser and senior fellow at the Washington-based American
Enterprise Institute.
On North Korea, he questions the agreement by the administration to provide nuclear
fuel in exchange for the country suspending its nuclear-enrichment program.
``The jury is still out on North Korea, and Senator McCain has been a little more
skeptical about the route they've gone,'' said Schmitt.
McCain has also differentiated his Russia policy from that of the White House,
insisting that when he looks at the eyes of departing President Vladimir Putin, he
sees the ``K.G.B,'' not the man Bush once said was ``deeply committed to his
country.''
`Rigged' Elections
After the Russian elections earlier this month, McCain said they were ``clearly
rigged.'' Bush told President-elect Dmitry Medvedev he wanted a ``close working
relationship.''
McCain's aides said he has voiced concern that Medvedev is still chairman of OAO
Gazprom, whose recent reduction of natural gas supplies to Ukraine is ``a real
problem,'' said Randy Scheunemann, an adviser. He also supports a path to
membership for Ukraine and Georgia in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Neither McCain nor Bush has ruled out the use of force in Iran or North Korea. Nor will
McCain sit down with leaders of those countries, or Cuba, unless conditions are met.
Both say troop withdrawals in Iraq will be determined by events on the ground, not
timetables set in Washington.
McCain's campaign aides have taken pains to knock down the notion that he is more
of a hardliner than Bush.
``He's no neoconservative,'' said Charlie Black, another top adviser. ``But he
believes in supporting countries that are struggling.''
Party Split
The Republican Party has been divided between self-styled ``realists'' such as Brent
Scowcroft who didn't support the invasion of Iraq, and ``idealists,'' such as Richard
Perle and Robert Kagan, who urged Bush to depose Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in
the name of democracy.
The so-called realists were skeptical of Bush's plan to bring freedom to the Middle
East and worried that regime change in Iraq would have unintended consequences
throughout the region.
McCain is a ``realistic idealist,'' said Mark Salter, a senior adviser.
His foreign policy worldview is defined by ``standing up for people he thinks are
being abused,'' said Salter. ``Here was a guy who was deprived of liberty.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Hans Nichols in Washington at
hnichols2@bloomberg.net