"..From the jus' so's ya know Departmemt.."
AUCKLAND, Sept 9 (Reuters)
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan had what the U.S. side called a cordial and businesslike meeting on Thursday in advance of a Sino-American summit. Over breakfast for an hour and a half at Tang's Auckland hotel, they talked about North Korea, Taiwan, human rights, Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the proliferation of powerful weapons, a U.S. official said.
"The atmosphere was both cordial and businesslike, certainly free of any acrimony. The clear purpose of both ministers was to help set the stage for the meetings of the two presidents a few days from now," he added.
Presidents Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin will meet on the margins of the Asia-Pacific economic summit in Auckland, for the first time since the United States bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the war over Kosovo.
Albright and Tang are in New Zealand for the preparatory ministerial meetings, which opened on Thursday.
"There was a clear desire on each side to see significant improvement in the relationship coming out of the meeting of the two presidents, to get as much normalcy restored post the bombing of the embassy in Belgrade," the U.S. official said.
The United States asked China to resume discussions on all subjects, including a human rights dialogue suspended after the embassy bombing, and expects an answer from Jiang, he said.
One subject that did not come up was the crisis in East Timor, the dominant concern at the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Auckland.
Western states, led by Australia, say international intervention might be necessary in East Timor if Indonesia fails to restore law and order. China traditionally opposes outside intervention in what it considers internal affairs.
On Taiwan, Albright assured Tang that the United States still believes in "one China," the U.S. official said. But she also called for dialogue across the Taiwan straits and a peaceful resolution of Beijing's differences with Taipei.
Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui has angered China by saying they should have "state-to-state" relations, implying a step towards Taiwanese independence.
The U.S. official said the Albright-Tang meeting did not bring any breakthrough on China's WTO membership, which is under negotiation by trade experts.
"Secretary Albright indicated that we were prepared to complete the negotiations," he added.
Tang told Albright that China did not want an arms race on the Korean peninsula and would "play its due role."
But the United States is not sure exactly what the Chinese tell the North Koreans in private, he added. "The Chinese indicate what their policy goals are but don't indicate the specific actions that they taking with North Korea, so it's difficult to get a measure of that," he said.
The United States is leading a campaign to persuade North Korea to abandon its long-range missile programmes, in exchange for diplomatic relations and an end to sanctions.
Albright told Tang the United States was concerned about China's crackdown on dissidents and on the Democracy Party and about recent arrests related to Christian churches in China. |
