THE US expects no early improvement in human rights in China after Mr Deng's death - and plans to pursue a resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva next month criticising China's record, a senior US official said yesterday.
As the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, prepared to make her first visit to Beijing today, the official said - that while the visit was important, Washington did not expect major progress on any of the issues to be discussed, including human rights, trade, Taiwan, Hong Kong and nonproliferation.
"The emphasis in China over the coming weeks and months is likely to be on continuity, on stability within the leadership, on building consensus within the leadership, in other words nothing risky," the official said.
"Based on the current situation, we expect to proceed with the resolution, [and most EU member states] share our view of the situation."
The Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr Qian Qichen, is expected to visit Washington soon with the US Vice President, Mr Al Gore, due to visit Beijing later. An exchange of summits in Beijing and Washington involving President Clinton and President Jiang is also planned.
Ms Albright, who arrived in Tokyo as part of a nine nation tour, said yesterday the US has no intention of cutting back its forces in Japan or Asia despite some calls for closure of American bases in Okinawa. She urged Japan to end uncertainty about the future of bases on Okinawa.
Ms Albright told the Japanese Defence Minister, Mr Fumio Kyuma, that Washington wanted to maintain its current troop levels in Japan, Japanese officials said.