Deng Sees Bush, Stresses Taiwan Issue : Calls It Obstacle to Better Ties; Vice President Discounts Friction

Vice President George Bush and senior Chinese officials concluded two days of meetings Tuesday with the Chinese emphasizing their continuing differences with the United States over Taiwan and Bush seeking to play down the significance of the disagreement.

After Bush met for more than an hour with China’s top political leader, Deng Xiaoping, a Chinese spokesman said Deng told the vice president: “The obstacle in our bilateral relations remains that of Taiwan. Once this is solved, Sino-U.S. relations will develop smoothly.”

However, Bush said at a news conference later that while the Taiwan issue had been discussed, “I didn’t notice any new initiative or sense of urgency” on the part of Chinese leaders. He said Deng and other officials spent more time discussing economic issues than complaining about Taiwan.

According to Chinese sources, when British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stopped here last December to sign the agreement transferring Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, Deng gave her a personal appeal to President Reagan concerning Taiwan. The message apparently sought U.S. help in persuading Taiwan to accept the “one country, two systems” formula used to resolve Hong Kong’s future.

U.S. sources have acknowledged that there was some sort of message sent by Deng through Thatcher, but they maintain that it was vague and that nothing came of it.

Hope to End Stalemate

Since then, the Chinese regime has been trying increasingly to bring the Taiwan issue to the foreground again. Chinese officials have said they would rather try to break the stalemate over Taiwan now, before Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo, who is 75 and in frail health, gives way to a new group of leaders.

On Monday, the day Bush started his meetings with Chinese leaders, the weekly Beijing Review published a lengthy article discussing the “potential crisis” between China and the United States over Taiwan. It accused the United States of “obstructing the reunification of China.”

One knowledgeable source who sat in on Tuesday’s meeting between Bush and Deng said that Deng and other Chinese officials pressed the Taiwan issue forcefully. However, this official said, “It was a reiteration of positions long established.”

At his news conference, Bush said, “I don’t think the U.S. is in a position to be the catalyst to solve this (Taiwan) problem.” He added that the United States will simply abide by its previous agreements on Taiwan, including the 1982 communique promising to limit arms sales to the island.

In response to a reporter’s question, the vice president disclosed that he had discussed the subject of human rights with Chinese officials. But he refused to explain what he had said or what had prompted him to raise this issue.

Bush will leave Peking today and visit the Chinese cities of Chengdu, Guilin, Canton and Shenzhen. He will then stop in Hong Kong and return to the United States.