Albright Visit Underscores Rifts in U.S.-China Relations

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan never stopped smiling, but when he and visiting Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met reporters here Monday, part of his opening statement was downright chilly.

“A handful of anti-China elements within the United States are going all out to interfere with and obstruct the normal development of China-U.S. relations,” Tang said. Their actions, he added, “are doomed to failure.”

Tang did not elaborate. Albright, after glancing warily at her aides clustered along the wall, did not immediately respond. But the message was clear in the opening round of Albright’s two days of meetings with China’s top leaders: After two successful summits between President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in 1997 and 1998, the honeymoon is over.

Last week alone, the Clinton administration rejected the proposed sale by a U.S. company of a $450-million satellite communications system to China; delivered a report to Congress predicting a “substantial” buildup of Chinese missiles near Taiwan; and issued a scathing State Department report on China’s mounting human rights abuses. In addition, the Senate voted 99 to 0 to condemn Chinese human rights policies.

China, in turn, gave no sign of easing the political crackdown it launched in December with a dramatic series of arrests, show trials and prison sentences. On Friday, as Albright was en route here, China detained dissident Wu Yilong and sentenced pro-democracy advocate Peng Ming to 18 months in a labor camp.

In response to questions Monday, Albright expressed “great concern” about the crackdown. But she said Washington is not considering reversing course and linking China’s progress on human rights to trade policy because “we actually make better progress in both when they are not linked.”

James P. Rubin, the State Department spokesman, said Albright gave a far more spirited critique of China’s human rights policies during her two-hour meeting and 90-minute lunch with Tang and a subsequent 70-minute discussion with Premier Zhu Rongji, who is scheduled to visit the White House in April. She also met with Vice Premier Qian Qichen. This morning, she met with President Jiang for 45 minutes before departing for Thailand.

“On human rights, the discussions were forceful, tough, and there wasn’t a lot of agreement,” Rubin said Monday. He said she denied “some hidden conspiracy in the United States” against China but added that “most Americans” are concerned about Chinese policies on human rights and missile proliferation.

China’s leaders are also under pressure to talk tough. The giant economy is faltering, unemployment is rapidly rising, and the government warns that the United States is risking a new arms race if it persists in developing advanced missile defense systems to protect U.S. troops in Asia as well as such key allies as Japan, South Korea and possibly Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory, and it fiercely opposes such a missile defense for the island. A senior U.S. administration official said Albright attempted to defuse the issue.

“We’re talking about weapons systems that still haven’t been developed and decisions that are years off,” the official said.

Albright’s aides sought to lower expectations about her visit and to downplay the obvious strain in relations. “This is a business trip,” Rubin said. “We’re not here to make breakthroughs.”

In her sessions with Tang, Rubin said, Albright sought greater help from China in reining in its longtime ally, North Korea.

U.S. intelligence officials are concerned about proliferation of China’s ballistic missiles, and they also say North Korea may be planning to develop nuclear weapons technology at an underground site in violation of a 1994 pledge. North Korea so far has refused to allow U.S. experts to inspect the site.

During her meeting with Zhu, Albright sought to set the stage for U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky’s visit later this week to push for economic reforms that would allow China to at last join the World Trade Organization.

China had a record $58-billion trade surplus with the United States last year, second only to the U.S. deficit with Japan, and that surplus is expected to grow this year.

Beijing has strengthened protectionist policies recently by imposing foreign currency controls and limiting certain investments, adding to distrust in Congress and anger among U.S. companies here.