DATE=2/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-US (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259255
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Top officials from China and the United
States have resumed a bilateral dialogue on strategic
security issues that was cut off by Beijing after NATO
unintentionally bombed the Chinese embassy in
Yugoslavia last May. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison
reports from Beijing, China's main concern in the two-
day talks is what it sees as U-S support for Taiwan.
TEXT: Deputy U-S Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi held
their first session Thursday afternoon in Beijing.
Neither the Chinese Foreign Ministry nor the U-S
Embassy would provide details on the meeting, except
to say that they covered security issues. On Tuesday,
a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing, during the
talks, would raise U-S arms sales to Taiwan and
Washington's plans to build an anti-missile defense
shield.
China is worried that Washington, especially Congress,
is planning to sell Taiwan advanced weaponry that will
undermine threats of force from Beijing and make it
easier for the island to resist Chinese overtures for
reunification. China regards Taiwan as a rebel
province that must be reunited with the mainland.
Still, China seems to be casting a positive spin on
the Talbott-Yang meeting. Foreign Ministry spokesman
Zhu Bangzao -- speaking through an interpreter -- says
it should be seen as another sign of improving
relations between the two countries, since the
downturn that followed last year's embassy bombing.
/////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////
Last year, for reasons known to all, China-U-S
relations experienced a rather big up-and-down, and
thanks to joint efforts by the leaders of the two
countries and the two governments, China-U-S relations
have gradually moved back to the track of restoration
and development.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
But despite the positive spin, Mr. Zhu insisted that
China wants the U-S administration to fulfill a pledge
to prevent a pro-Taiwan bill, recently passed by the
House of Representatives, from being enacted. The
legislation would increase military contacts between
Washington and the island. China says it would
provide a legal basis for U-S sales of sophisticated
weapons to Taiwan. A similar bill is being discussed
in the Senate. But President Clinton has promised to
veto any such legislation.
NEB/RW/FC
17-Feb-2000 06:10 AM EDT (17-Feb-2000 1110 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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