WORLD : Chinese, Americans, Soviets to Clean Up Mt. Everest Garbage

Chinese, American and Soviet mountaineers plan to scale Mt. Everest and clean up some of the 2 tons of discarded tents, oxygen bottles and other garbage left by generations of climbers on the world’s highest peak.

The expedition--a new kind of superpower summitry--is China’s biggest joint cultural undertaking with any foreign country since June, when its violent crackdown on protesters strained ties with many countries.

Jim Whittaker of Port Townsend, Wash., who organized what he is calling the Everest Peace Climb, tried to emphasize the political implications at a U.S. Embassy reception today on the eve of the team’s flight to Tibet.

Will the friendly climb affect tense Chinese-American relations?

“We hope it will, we hope there’s peace,” Whittaker answered quickly. “One Chinese, one Soviet and one American will stand on the summit with our arms around each other, demonstrating that with cooperation, high goals can be reached.”

But U.S. Ambassador James Lilley, to whom the question had been directed, smiled uncomfortably and said, “I believe it stands on its own: normal people-to-people relations.”