A careful boost for US-China ties

The seaside resort of Beidaihe, where China's leaders decamp in August, is famous for swimming, beaches, and super-secret summer meetings.

Yet in an evident bid to keep relations with the US on an improving track, President Jiang Zemin broke with precedent this week - inviting four leading US senators for lengthy talks at his Beidaihe hideaway.

For President Jiang, it was a time to advocate market reforms, make a few jokes, and talk tough on Taiwan.

For the US senators, it was a time to grapple with the perennial dilemma of how to deal with China.

After months of tension, including a standoff over a midair plane collision in April and a more pro-Taiwan Bush administration - the senators sought a "third way" with China, aides said. That is, to try and constructively engage Beijing by promoting trade and exchange, but also to speak directly and forcefully on issues that divide the two major powers.

While there were no breakthroughs, the talks with China's supreme leader were revealing: Jiang denied that China was breaking "the letter" of agreements not to export sensitive weapons and missile technology to states like Pakistan and North Korea, the senators said. And Jiang stated he did not want to see a North Korea with nuclear-weapons capability.

Jiang left the impression, moreover, that despite earlier vociferous opposition to the Bush administration's proposed national missile defense (NMD) shield, China had not reached a final decision on the matter. (China hoped to ally with Russia against NMD - hopes that were dashed last month when Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to work with the White House on a new arms-control formula.)

The delegation, including Sen. Joseph Biden (D) of Delaware, new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was equally frank. They made clear to Jiang that if China continues to proliferate sensitive weapons technology, this would create a public outcry in the US and "lead to an arms race" that neither side wants, Senator Biden said. They frankly raised human rights, China's lack of due process in legal cases involving a spate of detained US citizens, and Taiwan - where the delegation spent a day before reaching mainland China.

What seems significant about the trip is the working tone established between the two sides, some China experts say.

This past spring, the debate over often-rugged US relations with China has fallen even more sharply into two basic camps: those who feel it best to help China open and develop through a liberal policy of "engagement," and those who feel China should be "contained" as a potential threat to the US.

The Clinton administration advocated the former approach. The Bush administration has leaned toward the latter, with a number of "China hawks" in key positions.

Page: 1 | 2