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WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The United States and China are in talks to resume military ties, a step that would move them toward improving relations damaged by NATO's bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Efforts to normalise relations, pushed ahead last week with a visit by a senior administration official to Beijing, come as President Bill Clinton steps up his campaign for trade talks with China ahead of a World Trade Organisation meeting.
"We have been discussing with China the resumption of military-to-military ties," an administration official said. "If this progresses, the first step would be the resumption of defence consultative talks."
Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said: "I can confirm that we have had very positive discussions with the Chinese" on resuming military-to-military ties, but gave no further details.
In May, U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen called off a visit to China scheduled for June amid rising tension with Beijing due mainly to the May 7 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
Bacon told reporters at the time that it was Cohen, not the Chinese, who called off the trip. Cohen has said several times since then that he wanted to reschedule the trip but that it would be up to the Chinese.
Military contacts, including exchanges of senior and mid-level officers and visits by U.S. military ships to Chinese ports, were suspended by Beijing after the embassy was hit by a bomb during NATO's bombing campaign of Yugoslavia over Kosovo.
Three Chinese journalists were killed and 27 people wounded in the attack which sparked anti-American demonstrations in China and sharp protests from Beijing. China said the bombing was deliberate and demanded Washington punish those responsible.
The United States, which apologised and said the attack was a mistake caused by intelligence blunders, has offered $4.5 million to families of the victims.
Clinton sent Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering to China last week and in June to try to patch up the shattered relations. After meeting Chinese officials, Pickering said last week that U.S.-China relations "were moving in the right direction."
The administration official could not say when military ties between the two countries might resume. "We are in discussions and it depends on how those go, obviously. But relations with China are getting back on track."
In one sign of improved ties, China approved a U.S. request for the Destroyer O'Brien to visit Hong Kong, defence officials said. The ship is now winding up a five-day visit there.
As discussions to improve relations move ahead, Clinton is pushing to restart trade talks to hammer out a deal with China that would clear the way for Beijing's accession to the WTO.
Clinton said on Wednesday he had called Chinese President Jiang Zemin last month for an effort to re-start these negotiations, which were stalled by the embassy bombing.
The idea has been to strike a WTO deal with China before WTO members gather in Seattle late this month to launch a new round of global trade negotiations. To join the trade organisation, China must win U.S. support as well as the backing of the European Union and others.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators have not met since September in their effort to produce a market-opening trade deal.
Clinton said on Wednesday if a WTO deal can be reached, he would be "fully committed" to persuading Congress to approve permanent normal trading status for China, rather than having it come up for renewal each year. |
