China, Soviet Leaders Plan Summit in Spring

China and the Soviet Union agreed Friday that their top leaders will get together this spring for a meeting that will mark the full restoration of normal ties after three decades of hostility.

An official invitation to visit China was issued Friday to Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced. The invitation was given to visiting Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze by his Chinese counterpart, Qian Qichen, and was immediately accepted, according to the announcement.

China’s invitation to Gorbachev was issued in the name of Chinese President Yang Shangkun, but Gorbachev’s most important meeting here would be with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. Although Deng’s only formal title is chairman of the Central Military Commission, which makes him commander in chief of the armed forces, he is universally recognized as China’s top leader.

Question of Deng’s Health

A suggestion has been raised, however, that Deng, 84, who is now in the coastal city of Shanghai, may be seriously ill.

Asked Friday evening whether Deng is expected to be in good health to receive Gorbachev, Soviet Embassy spokesman Vyacheslav V. Duhin replied, “I’ve heard that he is in Shanghai to undergo some medical examination, or maybe to see the doctor, so I hope that he’s OK.”

Duhin said he did not know the nature of Deng’s medical problem, if any. When reporters pressed him for details, he said he had no official information about the Chinese leader’s condition and was basing his remarks on foreign news reports.

Deng is reported to have a prostate problem. Such troubles are fairly common among elderly men and are not necessarily serious. But the prostate gland can be a site for cancer.

According to some foreign press reports, the Chinese are pressing for the summit meeting as soon as possible because of concern about Deng’s health.

Shevardnadze flew to Shanghai on Friday evening for a scheduled meeting this morning with Deng. Afterward, the Soviet foreign minister will return to Beijing and then go on to Pakistan this evening.

Qian told reporters Friday morning that he expects Shevardnadze to announce the date of the summit meeting at a press conference today, but Soviet officials indicated Friday evening that Shevardnadze may only announce the approximate dates of the meeting. Soviet Embassy officials said Friday that it would be after the beginning of April and before the end of June.

During his visit, Gorbachev could be expected to meet with the Chinese Communist Party general secretary, Zhao Ziyang, and with Premier Li Peng in addition to Deng and Yang.

China and the Soviet Union have sought to reassure the world that they are not rebuilding the close alliance they had in the 1950s, and that their reconciliation should not be viewed as a threat to the United States or other countries.

No Effect on Others

The official New China News Agency reported that Qian, at his Friday morning meeting with Shevardnadze, said that China “pursues an independent foreign policy of peace, and the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations will by no means affect their relations with other countries.”

U.S. diplomats in Beijing and State Department officials in Washington generally agree that improved Sino-Soviet relations are in the interests of world peace.

The rapprochement between China and the Soviet Union has provided the context for major steps toward settlement of the decade-old Cambodian conflict. Moscow has supported the Vietnamese-installed government in Cambodia, while Beijing backs a three-faction Cambodian resistance coalition. Both are now urging their Cambodian clients to sit down together and work out the terms of a peace settlement.

China and Vietnam reportedly have reached agreement that Hanoi will withdraw its troops by September and Beijing will end its aid to the resistance.