U.S. Seeks to Ease Military Tension With China

The Clinton Administration is preparing to discuss with China emergency procedures to avert escalation of military activities after incidents involving U.S. and Chinese aircraft and warships.

The move follows an exchange in October in which the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk squared off with a Chinese nuclear submarine in international waters in the Yellow Sea, drawing a warning from Beijing that next time Chinese forces will shoot to kill.

Although neither side fired a shot in the confrontation, U.S. officials acknowledged it was serious.

Before it was over, the Kitty Hawk had dispatched aircraft to track the Chinese sub, and China’s air force had scrambled jet fighters.

The U.S. plan, similar to one now in place with Russia, would set general guidelines for U.S. and Chinese warships that are near each other’s waters, for mutual notification about scheduled military exercises and for handling unforeseen incidents.

Administration officials said they plan to sound out Chinese military leaders about the proposal when the Chinese visit the Pentagon in March as part of an exchange program between the two countries’ defense ministries.

Defense Secretary William J. Perry has already approved the idea in principle, and Pentagon strategists have begun trying to flesh it out in time for discussions in March, officials here said Thursday.

However, policy-makers warned that it was not clear whether the Chinese will go along with such a proposal, particularly in the face of trade and human rights disputes between the two countries.

Administration planners said that Chinese military officials in the past have been decidedly lukewarm to such emergency procedures--known as “confidence-building” measures in diplomatic jargon. They have rejected similar proposals from other Pacific Rim countries.

Washington worked out a similar accord with the former Soviet Union, and it continues today under the new Russian government. Although there have been some encounters involving U.S. and Russian submarines, none has prompted the two sides to place forces on alert.