DATE=10/29/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA / U-S (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255597
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A top U-S diplomat says relations between his
country and China are now on the mend after being
severely damaged by NATO's bombing last May of the
Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia. But, as VOA
correspondent Roger Wilkison reports, Undersecretary
of State Thomas Pickering did not appear to convince
China to renew -- at least for now -- formal dialogues
on human rights and arms proliferation that Beijing
broke off following the bombing.
TEXT: Mr. Pickering held talks on bilateral and
regional issues Thursday with Chinese Vice-Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi and top Communist Party foreign
affairs expert Liu Huaqiu. He told reporters in
Beijing Friday that the talks were -- in his words --
workmanlike and serious.
/////PICKERING ACTUALITY/////
Progress has been made. Both sides look forward to
making continuing progress in our future discussions.
In sum, U-S-China relations are moving in the right
direction.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Mr. Pickering says his talks covered bilateral issues
like the embassy bombing, human rights, non-
proliferation, military ties and Taiwan and regional
questions like Korea, South Asia and Indonesia. But
he evaded questions about the resumption of the formal
US-China dialogues on human rights and weapons
proliferation, saying only that Washington looks
forward to continued discussions with Beijing on all
issues.
One question that may be holding up the normalization
of U-S-China ties is the issue of compensation for the
destruction of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and
damages to U-S diplomatic facilities in China caused
by Chinese demonstrators after the May bombing. Mr.
Pickering says the two sides have not yet agreed on
figures.
/////PICKERING ACTUALITY/////
While we have made progress, the question of the
resolution of the actual figures for compensation
remains under discussion and we look forward to the
completion of that very soon.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
In previous talks between legal experts of both
sides, China refused to even consider the American
demand for compensation for damage to U-S facilities.
But Mr. Pickering says there is now a common
understanding that each side must compensate the
other.
/////PICKERING ACTUALITY/////
The Chinese side believes that the two issues are
separate, and we understand that. The American side
believes that, before there can be payment of
compensation with respect to Belgrade, there also
needs to be concurrently and congruently payment of
compensation for the damage to our facilities here,
and I believe the Chinese side understands that.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Chinese officials have said publicly that they are
still not satisfied with U-S explanations that the
bombing of their embassy was accidental. In the past,
Beijing has demanded that those responsible for the
attack be punished. Mr. Pickering says Washington is
still conducting an inquiry into the matter.
/////PICKERING ACTUALITY/////
A review of accountability has been undertaken on our
side in a very serious way, and that is a continuing
process about which we intend to keep the Chinese side
informed.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Mr. Pickering says China still has strong doubts that
the bombing was based on faulty intelligence -- as
Washington says it was. But he says his main purpose
in coming to China was not to try to change that
perception but to focus on the future of the U-S-China
relationship. (SIGNED)
NEB/RW/FC
29-Oct-1999 03:17 AM EDT (29-Oct-1999 0717 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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