Amid Anger, China Hints at Diplomatic Solution

Thousands of protesters continued to march on the U.S. Embassy here Monday, but China tried to rein in public anger and for the first time held out the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Sino-U.S. ties caused by NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.

In a list of demands made by telephone to U.S. Ambassador James R. Sasser, who remained trapped inside an embassy building, Beijing called for a formal apology, a thorough investigation and punishment for those responsible for the weekend attack.

The Communist regime also announced that it was suspending high-level military exchanges and human rights talks with the U.S., two key programs the White House has held up as proof of the success of its strategy of “engaging” China.

At the same time, however, Chinese officials tried to reassure jittery American companies that their investments and businesses would be protected from the anti-American backlash.

President Clinton already has written a letter of regret to Chinese President Jiang Zemin and expressed his condolences Sunday to the families of the three Chinese journalists killed in the airstrike. But those facts had not been reported in the media here until early today.

In Washington, the State Department disclosed that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited the Chinese Embassy early Sunday to personally deliver a letter of apology addressed to Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan after Tang refused to talk to her on the telephone.

On Monday, Albright told reporters that on her midnight visit she “made very clear that I understood the sadness of losing innocent diplomats.” But she said she added: “Ours was a tragic error; Milosevic targets innocent civilians on a regular basis or as a regular part of his policy.”

In the letter, whose text was made public Monday, Albright repeatedly expressed regret for the embassy bombing. But she also told the Chinese authorities that they have an obligation “to ensure the safety of all Americans in China and protection of American properties.”

A simple apology is not likely to appease people such as Li Fanghui, a graduate student who skipped class to join the protests in Beijing on Monday.

“You can’t just call this ‘a terrible mistake,’ ” said Li, 25, who read about Clinton’s expression of regret on the Internet. “This isn’t like kids fighting. It’s not just a matter of saying ‘Sorry.’ ”

He acknowledged that he had not fully thought out what kind of restitution the U.S. should make. But at the very least, those behind the bombing “should step down,” Li said as he walked past a cardboard cutout of the Statue of Liberty shown clutching a missile instead of a torch.

Li was one of thousands who filed past the U.S. Embassy to express outrage in a constant stream of chants and banner-waving. Protests also continued Monday in other major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, where students rushed into a McDonald’s and told customers to boycott the restaurant.

In addition to university students, the protesters in Beijing included Buddhist monks in their saffron robes, Roman Catholic nuns in their black habits and art students with metallic red hair.

But the demonstrators were significantly fewer and more controlled than the day before, when angry crowds, armed with rocks and bricks and burning paper, threatened at times to overwhelm police officers protecting the embassy buildings.

Sasser, the ambassador, said the weekend protests seemed to be getting so out of hand that he and other embassy staff began destroying sensitive documents. Early Monday morning, the situation had calmed enough for the ambassador to take a quick peek outside the building where he remained trapped with fewer than a dozen other personnel.

Throughout the day, protesters continued to hurl objects at regular intervals at the defaced building housing the embassy’s main offices. Police stood in double or triple rows, arms locked, ready to repel any rush by demonstrators.

But the atmosphere was far less tense than the day before. Officers kept prodding the marchers along, preventing knots of people from forming and growing more violent.

Analysts said the central government, surprised by the vehemence of public reaction, has embarked on a clear campaign to rein in the protests that it seemed initially to encourage.

Most of those allowed to participate Monday were groups organized by student unions and work units and headed by leaders who tried to keep their groups in line. Some other residents who tried to join in were turned back by police.

On the national evening newscast, special focus was given to students who stayed on campus to express their anger.

“Students should show resistance by studying well and strengthening education. Workers should show resistance by working hard,” the news reader exhorted. “This way China will develop to a level where no one would dare to cross China.”

One Chinese scholar said Beijing’s attempt to calm the situation reflected both its desire to get U.S.-China relations back on some sort of track and its fear that the public outcry could redound on the government itself.

The government is afraid that citizens “will raise more and more irrational demands” for redress that it could not achieve, the scholar said. “That would make the government look like it betrayed the nation.”

In Washington, Albright said the U.S.-China relationship is “based on national interests by both sides.” As such, she said, it should be able to survive Chinese anger.

“Obviously, there have been ups and downs, and this is definitely a rough period,” she said.

State Department spokesman James P. Rubin conceded that the Chinese have said that now is not the time to hold arms control and human rights talks. But he noted that those meetings were not imminent anyway, and expressed confidence that they will ultimately be held.

Late Monday, Clinton cleared the way for China to launch a communications satellite owned by Motorola in early June.

As required by law, Clinton signed and sent to Congress a certification declaring that the export to China of satellite fuels and explosive bolts will not harm the U.S. space launch industry and will not improve China’s missile or space launch capabilities.

Administration officials said the action is not intended as a specific gesture of reconciliation in the wake of the embassy bombing.

“This decision is not in any way connected,” one administration spokesman said.

Clinton administration officials acknowledged Monday that they were growing upset about their inability to get America’s version of the incident into Chinese news coverage.

“We’re frustrated. None of our statements or apologies have been communicated to the Chinese people,” said one senior State Department official, who spoke before the official New China News Agency reported that Clinton and Albright had apologized for the attack.

China’s demands are mild by comparison with the shouts of a few protesters urging the Beijing leadership to declare war on the U.S.

“It is desirable to receive an official apology from President Clinton, and compensation for loss of Chinese life and property,” said Shen Dingli, deputy director of American studies at Shanghai’s Fudan University. “If the U.S. can [do that] and facilitate an open and fair investigation into the bombing, it should help resolve the problem.”

One potential flash point will occur today, when the bodies of those killed in the bombing are supposed to be returned to China. Chinese television has repeatedly broadcast emotional footage of the father of one of the victims sobbing over her body and clutching a bloodied blanket.

Despite Beijing’s severance of some political and military contacts with the U.S. on Monday, the importance of economic ties between the two nations was underscored when senior city officials in Shanghai, including the mayor of China’s commercial hub, summoned American business leaders to tell them that their investments and companies are still welcome and will be safe.

“They told us they are doing everything they can to make us feel comfortable, and that this is business, not politics,” said Charles Wu, IBM’s chief representative in Shanghai. “It was a very reassuring message.”

Chu reported from Beijing and Farley from Shanghai. Times staff writers Edwin Chen, Norman Kempster and Jim Mann in Washington contributed to this report.

Video clips of protests and events related to the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade are available on The Times’ Web site: https:// www.latimes.com/china-embassy.