Pickering to China, on maps, embassy and trade:
Tuesday June 15, 10:13 am Eastern Time
U.S. envoy aims to placate China over NATO bombing
BEIJING, June 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on a delicate mission to placate China over the NATO bombing of its embassy in Yugoslavia.
One of Washington's most senior diplomats, Pickering faces the difficult task of convincing China that the May 7 attack which killed three journalists and injured 20 people was an accident.
At stake immediately are talks on China's bid to join the World Trade Organisation and military and other exchanges with the United States -- all put on ice by Beijing after the strike.
Pickering and his team are expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan on Wednesday to deliver a detailed report on how the embassy became a target in NATO's strikes on Belgrade, Western diplomatic sources said.
China has made no official announcement of his visit and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue declined to say when he would arrive and whom he would meet.
''The two sides held consultations and the result is the U.S. envoy will be coming to China,'' Zhang told a regular news conference.
''As for his arrangements while in China, we will make announcements in due course.''
Zhang also would not speculate on how China would react to Pickering's report if it did not fit Beijing's version of events.
''We have not seen the U.S. report on the incident. We are waiting to hear the views of the U.S. side,'' she said.
Although top Chinese leaders have not publicly endorsed the view that the attack was deliberate, they have done nothing to dispel it. State media have fanned conspiracy theories with virulent attacks on the United States and NATO.
Washington has said the attack was a tragic blunder caused by the use of outdated maps.
Pickering will bring the U.S. response to four Chinese demands -- an apology, a full investigation, publication of the details of the probe and the punishment of those responsible.
Since China has already acknowledged apologies by U.S. President Bill Clinton, the first demand should now be the least contentious.
Ordinary Chinese were genuinely enraged by the attack, which sparked four days of stone-throwing protests at the U.S. and British embassies in Beijing.
Although passions have now cooled, the Chinese still appear insulted by the notion that the world's most advanced military, with all its sophisticated satellite imaging and eavesdropping technology, was fooled by a map.
Chinese officials have indicated they want blame pinned on individuals in the chain of command, which stretches through the CIA, military intelligence and other sensitive U.S. agencies.
And the Foreign Ministry said earlier it would like to see punishment handled in an international court.
''Our stance has not changed,'' Zhang said when queried on whether Beijing had dropped the call for a court hearing.
Pickering is also playing to a tough U.S. audience, still reeling from allegations that China has been engaged in a decades-long espionage programme targeting America's nuclear arsenal.
Offering too much information to Beijing could play into the hands of congressmen who argue that the White House policy of engagement with China is compromising national security.
(Mq will have supplied the diplomatic pouch into which can be stuffed large pad with wire transfer instructions)
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