From June 25 to July 3, U.S. President Bill Clinton paid a state visit to
China at the invitation of President Jiang Zemin. President Jiang Zemin and
President Clinton reached important consensus on a wide range of issues in their
talks. The two sides agreed that China and U.S. should further strengthen
dialogues and cooperation on major international issues. The two sides agreed to
continue in concerted efforts to make greater strides towards the goal of
building a constructive strategic partnership between China and the U.S. gearing
towards the 21st century. The two sides decided not to target the strategic
nuclear weapons under their respective control at each other. The two sides
agreed to further strengthen the strategic dialogue in economic and financial
sector so as to make positive contribution to a healthy development of world
economy and finance. The two sides issued the Joint Statement on the Negotiation
of the Protocol to the Biological Weapons Convention and the Joint Statement on
Banning Anti-Personnel Landmines. The two sides held in-depth discussions on the
question of nuclear proliferation in South Asia and issued the Joint China-U.S.
Statement on the Issue of South Asia. The two sides agreed to continue to
strengthen and expand cooperation and exchanges in the vast fields of politics,
economy and trade, environment protection, energy, culture, education, science
and technology, military, law, etc. Besides Beijing, President Clinton visited
Xi'an, Shanghai, Guilin and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
On July 27, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met with U.S. Secretary of
State Madeline Albright during the Foreign Ministers Meeting of ASEAN Regional
Forum in Manila. In September, Zhang Wannian, Vice Chairman of the Central
Military Commission of China visited the U.S. From September 27 to 29, Foreign
Minister Tang Jiaxuan visited the U.S. On November 16, during the sixth APEC
Informal Leaders Meeting in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, President Jiang Zemin met
with U.S. Vice President Al Gore , who attended the meeting on behalf of
President Clinton.
On January 1, 1999, President Jiang Zemin and President Bill Clinton
exchanged congratulatory letters on the occation of the 20th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S. From March 1 to
2, U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright visited China. On March 27, Chinese
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson expressed China's strong opposition to the U.S.
Government's decision to sponsor a China-related motion on the 55th Conference
of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
From April 4 to 14, 1999, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji paid an official visit
to the U.S. at the invitation of U.S. President Bill Clinton, which was the
first visit to the U.S. by a Chinese Premier in 15 years. Premier Zhu and his
entourage were accorded warm welcome and reception by the U.S. Government and
the American people of all circles. Premier Zhu Rongji and U.S. President Bill
Clinton held two rounds of talks during the visit and had an extensive and
in-depth discussion on China-U.S. relations and international and regional
issues of mutual interest. Both sides indicated that they attached great
importance to the development of China-U.S. relations and would continue in
their concerted efforts to build toward a constructive strategic partnership
between China and the U.S. On April 9, Premier Zhu Rongji and U.S. Vice
President Al Gore co-chaired the opening ceremony of the 2nd session of
China-U.S. Forum on Environment and Development. On April 10, Premier Zhu Rongji
and President Clinton issued a joint statement on the issue of China's accession
to the WTO in Washington, D.C., in which the U.S. Government expressed its
commitment to firmly support China's accession to the WTO in 1999. Premier Zhu
Rongji also elaborated China's principled position on the questions of Taiwan,
human rights, Kosovo, etc. Besides Washington, D.C., Premier Zhu Rongji visited
Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York and Boston.
On April 23, the "no motion" measure introduced by China was passed on the
55th conference of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which voided the
so-called resolution on China's human rights situation sponsored by the U.S.
before it reached the conference for vote.
At 5:45 a.m. of May 8, Beijing time, the U.S.-led NATO
brazenly fired five bombs from different angles on the Chinese Embassy in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which caused three Chinese journalists dead,
more than twenty Embassy staff injured, and the Embassy building seriously
damaged. On the morning of the same day, the Chinese Government issued a
statement, expressing its utmost indignation and severe condemnation of such
brutal act and lodging its strongest protest. On the afternoon of the same day,
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yingfan called in James Sasser, U.S.
Ambassador to China, and made a solemn representation to the U.S. side on
U.S.-led NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia and lodged the strongest protest to the U.S.-led NATO. On May 9, U.S.
President Clinton sent a letter to President Jiang Zemin, in which Clinton
expressed his apology and sincere condolence for "the tragic situation and human
losses in Chinese Embassy in Belgrade yesterday". On May 10, the Foreign
Ministry Spokesperson issued an announcement, declaring the postponement of the
high-level military contacts between the armed forces of China and the U.S.,
China-U.S. consultations in the fields of proliferation prevention, arms control
and international security and the suspension of the dialogue on human rights
between the two countries. On the afternoon of the same day, Foreign Minister
Tang Jiaxuan made a solemn representation again to James Sasser, U.S. Ambassador
to China, demanding that the U.S. side apologize to the Chinese Government, the
Chinese people and the relatives of the victims in an open and official manner,
carry out a complete and thorough investigation of the bombing incident,
promptly make public the detailed results of the investigation and severely
punish those responsible. On May 14, President Jiang Zemin had a phone talk with
President Clinton at the latter's request. President Clinton expressed his
regrets over the bombing incident and undertook to order a thorough and complete
investigation of the incident. On June 16, Thomas Pickering, U.S. Under
Secretary of State and special envoy to U.S. President, visited China and
presented to the Chinese Government a U.S. Government report on the result of
its investigation into the U.S.-led NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On July 10, the Chinese women's soccer team lost
to the U.S. team by 4 to 5, ranking the second in the final of the Third Women
Soccer World Cup in Los Angeles, U.S.A. On July 11, in response to a letter from
President Clinton on July 10, President Jiang Zemin wrote back, expressing
congratulations on the championship of the U.S. team in the Third Women Soccer
World Cup and hoping that the friendly exchanges in various fields between the
two peoples would be constantly deepened and expanded . In July, China and the
U.S. held two rounds of talks on resolving the U.S. compensation for the Chinese
human casualties and property losses caused by the U.S. bombing of the Chinese
Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and agreement was reached on the
human casualties compensation. The U.S. side agreed to promptly pay US$ 4.5
million to the Chinese Government. On July 25, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang
Jiaxuan met with U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright while attending the
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Singapore. On September 11, President
Jiang Zemin and President Bill Clinton held an official meeting during the APEC
Informal Leaders Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand. The Meeting was positive and
constructive. The two sides stated that China and the U.S. should continue to
build towards the constructive strategic partnership gearing towards the 21st
century. President Jiang Zemin elaborated China's principled positions on the
question of Taiwan. President Clinton reiterated that the U.S. adhered to its
one China policy. Both sides believed that the meeting would be a positive
guidance for the bilateral negotiation on China's accession to the WTO. This
summit was an important meeting since the exchange of visits by the heads of
state of the two countries and has great significance for the restoration,
improvement and development of China-U.S. relations.