U.S.-China Pacts Reached in Shadow of Discord on Rights

Clinton, Jiang Announce Security, Economic Accords

President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin concluded a summit meeting yesterday by reaching agreements on a broad range of security, economic, environmental and law-enforcement issues, even as they acknowledged stark and seemingly irreconcilable differences over human rights.

The summit, the first between the United States and China since 1989, culminated a long effort to restore relations disrupted by Beijing's crackdown that year on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. At a news conference with Jiang, Clinton hailed the outcome as offering "the opportunity and responsibility to build a future that is more secure, more peaceful, more prosperous for both our people."

Yet the human rights issue, which both leaders had sought to prevent from dominating the agenda, surfaced vividly during the news conference, when Jiang defended the crackdown and Clinton, standing stiffly at his side, replied that on human rights China is "on the wrong side of history."

On other subjects, the summit meeting gave both leaders much of what they said they wanted. Clinton won Chinese commitments to cooperate with the United States on a range of issues and move closer to full participation in global arrangements for arms control and trade.

And Jiang, who has sought the international status achieved by the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping during a U.S. visit nearly two decades ago, got the red-carpet welcome and 21-gun salute he had coveted. The day was crowned by a White House state dinner attended by American executives of some of the world's richest corporations, a testament to China's growing clout as an emerging economic power.

In their private conversation, as described by senior officials, and in their news conference, Clinton and Jiang struck opposing positions on the question of individual freedoms and the right of political dissent. Jiang publicly defended the 1989 crackdown by saying that "the Chinese Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have long drawn the correct conclusion on this political disturbance."

Despite this unusual display of discord between heads of state who otherwise were proclaiming their mutual esteem, the summit unfolded mostly along the lines senior administration officials had predicted. The overall result appears to be the one Clinton wanted: a network of expanding political, military and economic ties that could usher in a new era of cooperation between two countries long at odds.

The two presidents said in a joint statement that despite their differences they "are determined to build toward a constructive strategic partnership . . . through increasing cooperation to meeting international challenges and promote peace and development in the world" -- a declaration that hardly seemed possible just two years ago, when relations bottomed out over disagreements about Taiwan.

Clinton and Jiang agreed to "regular visits to each other's capitals," beginning with a return visit to Beijing by Clinton next year. According to White House national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, the two have already achieved "greater ease of communication, less stiffness, less polemics in how they talk" than was evident during four previous encounters at international gatherings.

"A lot has been accomplished at this summit," Berger said. "I think there's been significant, solid progress in a lot of areas."

Some of the agreements are concrete, such as China's commitment to purchase 50 jetliners from the Boeing Co. for about $3 billion and allow the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to open an office in Beijing. Others are amorphous, such as an agreement to cooperate in meeting China's skyrocketing demand for electricity while reducing its critical air pollution problem.

As expected, Clinton announced that he is satisfied China has taken sufficient steps to curb the export of nuclear materials to Iran that he will permit U.S. companies to export nuclear reactors to China. The decision was sharply denounced by some members of Congress even before it was made official.

If the first U.S.-China summit in 12 years lacked the drama of Cold War encounters with Soviet leaders, that is just the way the president and his foreign policy team wanted it.

Senior officials said they had no desire to reprise those tense sessions of yesteryear, when outcomes were often uncertain and the overriding concern was to stave off nuclear holocaust. China and the United States are not adversaries, officials said, and the purpose of this summit was more to nurture a long-term cooperative relationship than to achieve breakthroughs.

Jiang, who in Chinese political terms is having a banner year after the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, seemed willing to give Clinton what he sought, provided that the United States accept "the principles of mutual respect, noninterference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit."

To the Chinese, the issue of political dissent and the question of Taiwan are both "internal affairs." China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province destined to be reunited some day with the mainland, as Hong Kong was in July, and Clinton said he will "adhere strictly to the one-China policy."

In advance of the meeting, U.S. officials said the fact it was to be held carried greater weight than any specific agreements it might produce. "This is already a successful summit because we wanted them to meet," Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright said while Jiang was still in Williamsburg on his way to Washington.

Nevertheless, the announced accords, while containing few surprises, could have real impact, especially economically. In addition to the Boeing purchase, China announced its intention to participate in the Information Technology Agreement, a worldwide treaty opening markets for communications and high-tech equipment. That decision "takes tariffs from 23 percent to zero on an average of $1.4 billion in American exports," Berger said. "That's a big deal."

It was not a sufficiently "big deal" to win U.S. assent to China's entry into the World Trade Organization, because Washington believes that Beijing has not sufficiently opened most of its markets to external competition.

But Berger called it a "significant step" toward Chinese entry into the global trading framework and said Clinton "is very serious in saying we would like China in the WTO."

"The United States will do everything possible to bring China into the World Trade Organization as soon as possible," Clinton said.

The nuclear agreement should provide further opportunities for U.S. companies, which have been lobbying heavily for a deal that would give them access to a potential multibillion dollar market for nuclear power.

"I welcome the steps China has taken and the clear assurances it has given today to help prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and related technology," Clinton said. Based on those assurances, he said, he would authorize "our companies to apply for license to sell equipment to Chinese nuclear power plants subject to U.S. monitoring."

Clinton said this arrangement "is the right thing to do for America," but it is certain to expose him to criticism on Capitol Hill, where many members of Congress have charged that China routinely violates its nonproliferation commitments.

On this issue, the opposition parallels criticism of the administration's decision to pursue good relations with China despite Beijing's human rights abuses: to the president's critics, such as Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), he has again put commercial interests ahead of sound policy.

"This is precisely what I feared would happen," Ashcroft said in a statement. "And it is exactly what Iran and other terrorist states hoped would happen."

Jiang is to meet with members of Congress today before departing for Philadelphia, his next stop on an eight-day tour that also includes stops in New York, Boston and Los Angeles. He can expect some chilly greetings there, but so far his visit has unfolded mostly in an upbeat atmosphere. The fears of administration officials that Jiang would be insulted by an outpouring of demonstrations have not materialized.

"Since I came here I have been immersed in the atmosphere of friendship from the American people," Jiang said, "and I was also accorded a warm reception from President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

"However," he added with a smile, "sometimes noises came into my ears," an apparent reference to demonstrators camped across Pennsylvania Avenue in Lafayette Square. He said he was "aware that in the United States, different views can be expressed, and this is a reflection of democracy."

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.