US, Europe want to be in sync on China (ADDS talks on Helms-Burton, details)
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (AFP) - The United States and the European Union agreed Tuesday to better coordinate their approach to China and consult each other on how to press for improved human rights.
But representatives failed to agree on whether a resolution lambasting China for its crackdown on dissent should be jointly presented at the UN meeting on human rights in Geneva in March.
"We are very much in agreement on a purpose and on an approach," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said following talks with Dutch Foreign Minister Hans Van Mierlo and Sir Leon Brittan, vice president of the European Commission.
"There is a common stand," she said. The EU representatives were the first foreign guests to be welcomed by Albright since she was sworn in as the nation's top diplomat last week. "We have a common interest that China should enter the world community in the fullest possible sense, accepting the rights and the obligations," Brittan later told a news conference.
Albright has hinted that she plans to speak out on human rights violations in China but has insisted that Beijing should not be punished for its failure to meet western standards of democracy.
"We have a common view that the question of human rights in China is a legitimate one to raise," Brittan said.
But he stated the EU view that the Chinese will enjoy greater freedoms if China is allowed to participate in world affairs rather than be isolated. "The question of the right way to register our concerns is something which we are concerned about and need to discuss with the Americans," Brittan said.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns acknowledged that while the sides had agreed to seek common ground concerning China, they had not come to agreement on what that stance would be.
"We are going to keep closely in touch en route to Geneva but the US has not yet announced its position," Burns said.
Van Mierlo expressed a European desire to improve cooperation with the United States on several fronts and noted that joint efforts in the Middle East had contributed to the recent Palestinian-Israeli breakthrough on Hebron.
"On the Middle East, you know there were a lot of divergences, competitions," Van Mierlo said. "But in the last Hebron crisis there was a very productive cooperation between the two."
The United States has long maintained that the Europeans cannot play a mediating role in the Middle East, arguing that Israel and the Palestinians have chosen Washington to be their sole intermediary. The EU representatives reiterated their opposition to two laws, Helms-Burton and the Iran-Libya Oil Sanctions Law, which punish non-US companies that do business in Cuba, Iran and Libya.
Brittan said the talks in Washington had not yielded much progress on that dispute.
(cml-avz/pfm) (AFP)
Clinton says spread of liberty inevitable in China
SHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuter) - President Bill Clinton defended U.S. policy toward China on Tuesday and predicted the ``spread of liberty'' will grow in the communist state, saying: ``I just think it's inevitable, just as the Berlin Wall fell.''
The comments, as close as Clinton has ever come to predicting the ultimate demise of the communist government in Beijing, came at a time when the United States and China are working to arrange reciprocal summits between Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
``I believe that the impulses of the society and the nature of the economic changes will work together, along with the availability of information from the outside world, to increase the spirit of liberty over time,'' Clinton said.
``I don't think that there's any way that anyone who disagrees with that in China can hold that back. I just think it's inevitable, just as the Berlin Wall fell,'' he said.
Clinton spoke two days before the United States issues its annual report on human rights conditions. Officials said the report, due out on Thursday, concludes that by the end of 1996 there were no active dissidents left in China who had not been jailed or exiled.
At a White House news conference, Clinton was asked whether his policy of ``constructive engagement'' with China had failed to achieve marked improvement in China's human rights policy.
The ``constructive engagement'' policy seeks to avoid having any single issue -- such as human rights or weapons proliferation -- dominate the relationship so that high-level talks can continue in spite of political differences.
``It means that we have not made the progress in human rights that I had hoped to make,'' Clinton said.
But he said he doubted a policy of isolating America from China would have achieved better results.
``I still believe, over the long run, being engaged with China, working with them where we can agree ... and continuing to be honest and forthright and insistent where we disagree, has the greatest likelihood of having a positive impact on China,'' Clinton said.
Clinton also gave Beijing some advice on Hong Kong, which is to return to Chinese rule on July 1. He said the thriving economic centre might be of less value to China if the civil liberties of its people were crushed.
``I'm not so sure that it can exist with all of its potential to help China modernise its own economy and open opportunities for its own people, if the civil liberties of the people are crushed,'' he said. ``So I think it would be wrong on its own merits, but I think it might wind up being less useful to China.
``So I would hope very much that they would look for ways to maximize the continuation not only of the economic system but of the personal freedoms that the people of Hong Kong have enjoyed in making it such an economic engine,'' Clinton said.
A U.S. team is now in Beijing seeking a meaningful gesture from China on human rights that could make it unnecessary for the United States to sponsor a U.N. resolution faulting China's policy.
Officials said the team, led by the National Security Council's chief Asian expert, Sandra Kristoff, is also discussing the full range of issues between the two countries, including weapons proliferation and security on the Korean peninsula.
There is the possibility of a summit meeting in November between Clinton and Jiang associated with Jiang's visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the annual summit of leaders from Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, which Clinton is also to attend.
Vice President Al Gore is expected to travel to Beijing within the next few months. (REUTER) (Reut17:34 01-28-97)
U.S. officials discussing rights in China (adds Clinton, Albright, European comments)
By Carol Giacomo
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuter) - A U.S. delegation is in Beijing seeking concessions on human rights that could make it unneccessary this year for the United States to sponsor a U.N. resolution faulting China's policy, officials said on Tuesday.
The talks are on Wednesday and Thursday, when the Washington is to release its annual report on human rights worldwide that as usual hits Beijing hard for rights abuses, officials said.
This year's China report says that by the end of 1996 there were no active dissidents left in China who had not been jailed or exiled, officials and other sources told Reuters.
Human rights is one of the most sensitive issues between China and the United States, which have been working hard to stablize ties and manage differences constructively.
The human rights report and the decision on whether to pursue a resolution criticising China at the U.N. Human Rights Commission pose an early challenge for new Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who has said China will be a priority.
The commission meeting runs from March 10 to April 18.
The adminstration has been intensely debating how to balance rights with other issues on the U.S.-China agenda like Taiwan, trade and arms sales.
Albright has vowed to ``tell it like it is'' to China on human rights and said she would go forward with the annual U.N. resolution if there is no progress in Beijing's record. But she also said ties would not be held hostage to one issue.
While backing President Bill Clinton's goal of integrating Beijing into the world, not isolating it, Albright's public comments have raised hopes among rights advocates that she will promote a more aggressive U.S. approach toward China.
Albright discussed the U.N. resolution on Tuesday at the State Department with Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, and European Commission Vice President Leon Brittan.
Later, she told reporters Washington and Europe were still deciding ``how to make clear to the Chinese government our common desire for them to abide by certain (rights) standards.'' Van Mierlo expressed confidence the allies ``would find a way to deal with it ... together.''
At a news conference, Clinton defended U.S. policy toward China, which was delinked from human rights two years ago and now focuses more on trade and cooperation in other areas.
In Beijing last November, then Secretary of State Warren Christopher played down human rights. Albright may stop in 0Beijing on an around-the-world tour next month, one of many contacts expected ahead of proposed reciprocal summits.
The U.S. team now in Beijing is led by Sandra Kristoff, the National Security Council's chief Asia expert.
In a memo to the European Union obtained by Reuters, the adminstration said it was talking with China ``about what meaningful, concrete steps they might take to avoid confrontation in Geneva.' These steps are releasing political prisoners needing medical attention, signing and submitting for ratification two international human rights covenants and resuming talks with the International Red Cross on allowing prison visits.
The administration urged European allies to ``press these specific issues in your contacts with the Chinese'' and stressed the importance of joint action, the memo said.
Experts said if China does not offer some credible human rights gesture this week, the United States would seem to have little choice but to sponsor the U.N. resolution.
Rights advocates fear there will be insufficient time to build political support for the resolution if action is delayed much longer. Unified action with Europe is seen as essential.
Mike Jendrzejczyk of Human Rights Watch/Asia said that in 1996 ``China used trade and aid deals all over world to keep the resolution from coming up for debate and a vote'' and is lobbying intensively against the resolution again this year.
If Washington and Europe continue delaying a decision on the resolution, ``this is a recipe for disaster. ...Europe and the United States are playing into China's hands,'' he said.
Last week China suddenly offered to resume a long-stalled dialogue with the European Union on human rights on Feb. 14 in Singapore. That has effectively delayed a European Union decision on the issue until foreign ministers meet on Feb. 24. (REUTER) (Reut18:36 01-28-97)
China accuses US of prejudice on human rights - BIJING, Jan 29 (AFP) -
The exchange of words on human rights, in which both sides steered clear of provocative language, emerged as US and Chinese leaders are de-emphasising the divisive issue and focusing on cooperation.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has said the human rights issue should not hold the entire Sino-US relationship "hostage" and has stressed China's helpful role in international problem areas such as North Korea.
"We have noticed that the United States is carrying out a 'contact' policy toward China," Premier Li Peng said on Tuesday in a meeting with visiting US congressmen.
Li expressed optimism about an improvement in Sino-US ties in 1997, with a series of high-level meetings scheduled, including China visits by Albright and US Vice President Al Gore and a trip to the United States by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Foreign ministry spokesman Shen Guofang, citing the exchange of visits, said conditions were ripe for a "new direction" in bilateral dealings.
Jiang said on Tuesday that Sino-US relations had "recently witnessed a momentum for further improvement and advancement."
Even in responding to Clinton's comments on the human rights issue, the foreign ministry said it was natural for the two sides to have different views, as the situations in the US and China were different. If both sides view the relationship broadly and "have equal consultation on the issues concerned on the basis of mutual respect," understanding will increase and bilateral relations will see stable development, the ministry statement said. China's newfound optimism about Washington has also manifested itself in the state media.
The official Xinhua news agency, denouncing US criticism of Beijing's plans to water down Hong Kong civil rights laws, Tuesday steered criticism away from the US government, targeting the country's media instead.
"Sino-US relations are now improving, but some people in the US are trying to link the Hong Kong issue with their policies toward China, and restrain the United States government from improving relations with China," it said. (hab/cf) (AFP)
