On September 12,Vice Premier Qian Qichen, accompanying President Jiang Zemin
on his visit, met with U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Mr. Samuel
Berger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in Auckland,
New Zealand. Prior to this meeting, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met with U.S.
Secretary of State Madeline Albright on September 9.
Since the meeting between the heads of state of China and the U.S. in
Auckland, the atmosphere of China-U.S. relations have been improved to some
extent, and the exchanges and contacts in various fields have been increased. On
September 23, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met with U.S. Secretary of State
Madeline Albright during the 54th session of the UN General Assembly in New
York. On October 11-23, at the invitation of the House of Representatives of the
U.S. Congress, a delegation of National People's Congress of China led by Mr.
Zen Jianhui, member of the Standing Committee and Chairman of the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the National People's Congress visited the U.S. During the
visit, the delegation met with Senator Strom Thurmond, President Pro Tempore of
the Senate and other Congressmen and officials from the Department of State. On
Oct. 17, upon the request of President Clinton, President Jiang Zemin had a
phone talk with President Clinton through the direct secure telephone link,
exchanging views on the negotiation between China and the U.S. on China's
accession to the WTO. On Oct. 25, President Jiang Zemin sent a letter to
President Clinton, expressing thanks to President Clinton for his congratulatory
message on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's
Republic of China on September 30. In his letter, President Jiang also stated
that his official meeting with President Clinton during the APEC informal
leaders meeting in Auckland had achieved positive and constructive results. He
expressed his wishes that China and the U.S. should further improve and develop
the bilateral relations of the two countries through their joint efforts. On the
same day, the 12th session of China-U.S. Joint Economic Committee was held in
Beijing, co-chaired by Chinese Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng and U.S.
Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers. On October 28, Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi held the Sino-U.S. vice-foreign-ministerial consultation
with the U.S. Under-Secretary of State Thomas Pickering. On November 7, upon the
request of U.S. President Clinton, President Jiang Zemin had a phone talk with
President Clinton on the bilateral negotiation between China and the U.S. on
China's accession to the WTO.
On Nov. 10-15, Chinese Government delegation headed by Mr. Shi Guangsheng,
Minister of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation and the U.S. Government
delegation headed by Ms. Bashervski, U.S. Trade Representative and Mr. Sperling,
Director of U.S. National Economic Council held talks in Beijing on China's
accession to the World Trade Organization. The two sides signed the Bilateral
Agreement on China's Accession to the World Trade Organization on Nov. 15, 1999.
After the signing ceremony, President Jian Zemin met with the U.S. delegation.
President Jiang stated that the signing of the agreement was conducive to
expediting China's accession to the World Trade Organization, promoting the
overall development of China - U.S. economic and trade cooperation, the
improvement and development of China - U.S. relations, as well as adding new
momentum to the development and prosperity of the world economy. Jiang Zemin
also pointed out that the conclusion of the bilateral agreement by both sides of
China and the U.S. has fully demonstrated that both sides should view and handle
the major issues concerning the fundamental interests of the Chinese and
American people and the people of the world in a strategic and the twenty-first
century perspective.
On Dec. 15, President Jiang Zemin accepted the credentials presented by the
new U.S. Ambassador in China, Mr. Prueher at the Great Hall of the People and
exchanged views with him on China - U.S. relations and the Taiwan question. On
Dec. 16, China and the United States reached an agreement on the U.S.
compensation for its bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. According to
the agreement, the U.S. Government will pay twenty-eight million U.S. dollars to
the Chinese Government to compensate for the property losses caused by the U.S.
bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia last May.
Entering the year of 2000, China-U.S. exchanges and
contacts have been increased in various fields. On Jan.12, the Third Session of
China-U.S. Environment and Development Forum was officially opened in Honolulu,
the capital city of the state of Hawaii of the U.S., which was co-chaired by Zhu
Lilan, Minister of Science and Technology of China and Dr. Neal Lane, Assistant
to the U.S. President for Science and Technology. On Jan. 13, Vice Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi met with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Stanley
Roth, who was visiting China as the guest of the U.S. Embassy in China,
exchanging views mainly on China-U.S. relations, Taiwan question and relevant
international and regional issues. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wang Yi
also met with Mr. Roth on the same day, both exchanging views on international
and regional issues. On Jan. 14, the 9th session of the China-U.S. Joint
Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held in Honolulu of
Hawaii. From Jan. 22 to 26, Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of
the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA), visited the
U.S. and co-chaired with the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Walter Slocombe the
third vice-ministerial defense consultation between the defense departments of
China and the U.S. U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen met Xiong Guangkai on
Jan. 26. During his visit, Mr. Xiong also met respectively General Shelton,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ralston, Vice-Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, James Steinberg, Deputy Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs and Thomas Pickering, Under Secretary of State. On
February 17 and 18, Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Deputy Secretary of
State Talbott held China-U.S. Consultation on Strategic Security. The two sides
concentrated and had an in-depth and frank exchange of views on the global and
regional security, China-U.S. relations and, in particular, the Taiwan
question,. They agreed that China and the US bear special responsibilities for
safeguarding world and regional peace, stability and security. They also
expressed their desire to increase contacts, enhance mutual understanding,
broaden consensus and promote cooperation. The Chinese side pointed out that the
development and deployment of the National Missle Defense (NMD) system and the
Theatre Missle Defense (TMD) system is not in the interest of global strategic
balance, nor does it serve regional peace and stability. The Chinese side hopes
that the US side will respect the universal aspiration of the international
community, handle the matter with prudence and come up with a wise decision. On
Feb. 18, Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Vice Chairman of the Central Military
Commission Zhang Wannian, Minister in charge of the Foreign Affairs Office of
the CPC Central Committee Liu Huaqiu and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of
the PLA Xiong Guangkai met with Mr. Talbott and his entourage respectively.