THE US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, in a series of meetings with top Chinese leaders in Beijing yesterday, laid the groundwork for improved Chinese US ties and for a fully fledged summit meeting next year between President Clinton and President Jiang Zemin.
As the Beijing meetings were taking place, Mr Clinton was sending a message of reassurance about US intentions towards China by way of an address to the Australian parliament. He told a joint session of both houses in Canberra: "The United States has no interest in containing China. That is a negative strategy. What the United States wants is to sustain an engagement with China, in a way that will increase the chances that there will be more liberty and more prosperity."
Mr Christopher, in his first visit to China in two years, held separate meetings with President Jiang, the Foreign Minister, Mr Qian Qichen, and the Prime Minister, Mr Li Peng, all of which seemed to have been businesslike. At an opening ceremony at which he and Mr Qian were almost hidden on separate podiums behind massive bouquets of flowers, the Chinese Foreign Minister demanded an end to "massive" US arms sales to Taiwan.
"The question of Taiwan is the core issue of Sino American relations," Mr Qian said. "If well handled, then the Sino US relationship can grow smoothly. If mishandled, then our bilateral relationship will be subject to disruptions." Mr Christopher made no commitment to end its current arms sales to Taiwan - including aircraft, ships and air defence missiles which it maintains are for defensive purposes only.
Mr Qian referred pointedly, however, to a 1982 Sino US communique promising an eventual end to US arms sales to Taiwan. "We can only feel reassured when this promise is turned into reality," he said. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Relations between Beijing and Washington reached a low ebb in mid 1985 when the US gave a visa to the Taiwan leader, and in, March a major crisis blew up when China briefly blockaded Taiwan to deter a pro independence vote in elections.
Mr Christopher said he raised human rights extensively with all three leaders, and specifically the case of Mr Wang Dan, the pro democracy leader sentenced last month to 11 years in prison. US officials said afterwards that if the Chinese side engaged in serious discussion on human rights then relations could improve, but that if the issue was mismanaged, it could yet become an obstacle on the path to a summit. However, for now the issue is clearly no longer an impediment to increased US Chinese engagement.
Some progress was made on the issue of nuclear proliferation, Mr Christopher told reporters afterwards. He said the US would consider some form of peaceful nuclear co operation with China even before a previously signed agreement was fully implemented, if they "were making progress towards putting an 1985 non nuclear proliferation agreement into effect.
The US has held up the agreement on peaceful nuclear co operation because of concerns over Beijing's nuclear sales, in particular, a contract to sell Iran a uranium conversion facility which could help produce fuel for nuclear bombs. China wants to buy billions of dollars worth of nuclear power reactors from US firms, which are equally eager to sell. Mr Qian insisted China was not engaging in nuclear proliferation and in fact had stepped up efforts to control nuclear exports, and that China had upheld a 1994 commitment, not to sell missiles to destabilising regions.
Mr Christopher hailed this as "very important". He was nearly 30 minutes late for his first meeting with Mr Qian, so he could talk by telephone to officials with Mr Clinton in Australia.
In Australia, Mr Clinton called for a deeper engagement with China and reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the Asia Pacific region. He and President Jian will meet this weekend at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Philippines.
. The APEC forum in Manila reached a consensus yesterday to support China's bid for World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, Japanese officials said.