DATE=11/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S - CHINA (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255830
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-S officials say China wants to resume
military ties that were broken during the Kosovo
conflict. Chinese officials were outraged when U-S
bombs accidentally killed three people at China's
embassy in the Yugoslav capital. V-O-A's Jim Randle
reports, it is not yet clear when the military-to-
military relations will resume.
TEXT: U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen says
Beijing now appears ready to reestablish the regular
exchanges of military officers and defense officials
that Beijing cut to protest the Embassy bombing.
/// COHEN ACT ///
Every indication is that they would like to
resume military to military contacts. Having
said that however, there have been no concrete
steps taken to reestablish the contacts. I am
hopeful that they can come about soon.
/// END ACT ///
Efforts to normalize relations made progress last
week when a senior U-S diplomat visited Beijing.
The effort comes as President Clinton steps up
his campaign for trade talks with China ahead of
a World Trade Organization meeting this month in
Seattle.
During months of intense diplomacy to repair relations
with China, Washington repeatedly apologized, blamed
the bombing on an intelligence failure, and offered
four-point-five million dollars to compensate the
victims' families.
The first sign of a thaw in the frosty relations came
when China allowed a U-S warship to visit Hong Kong.
The U-S-S O'Brien's port call ended Thursday.
Last May, Mr. Cohen called off a visit to China
scheduled for June. Mr. Cohen says he is willing to
visit China and happy to have China's defense minister
come to Washington.
A senior defense official says the ties between
Washington and Beijing are important because
China is the most populous nation on earth, with
growing economic and military power that make it
an important force in regional and global issues.
The official says a constructive, stable and
transparent relationship with Beijing is vital to
bringing stability to Asia - and much of the
world. (Signed).
Neb/jr/gm
04-Nov-1999 16:14 PM EDT (04-Nov-1999 2114 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
