April 30, 1997
Here are excerpts from the briefing on meeting between Secretary Albright
and Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen.
Bhuchung
U.S. Department of State
Press Briefings
Tuesday, April 29, 1997
Briefer: Nicholas Burns
You know the Secretary last night had a working dinner with Foreign Minister
Qian Qichen. Let me very briefly review the highlights of that for you. The
dinner was devoted to a discussion of global issues and also issues
pertaining to the Asia-Pacific region, the environment and U.N. reform -
those four issues. It was a very good meeting. It was an informal, in some
respects, exchange of views. I think one of the better meetings that I have
observed in the last three years in the U.S.-China relationship - a real
give and take, a lot of ideas exchanged on some of these issues. I know the
Secretary's looking forward to seeing Vice Premier Qichen tomorrow over at
the White House when Vice Premier Qichen sees the President.
On the environment, they agreed together on the importance of joint action
on global warming. They noted that the United States and China are the two
largest emitters of poisonous gasses, of CO2 and other poisonous gasses.
Therefore, we have the responsibility to act together with other nations to
reduce the effects of global warming and to try to work together to improve
the environment.
On Tibet, there was a brief discussion of Tibet. The Secretary expressed
hope for a renewed dialogue, renewed communication between the Chinese
Government and the Dalai Lama, with whom the Secretary and the President met
last week.
On law enforcement, they had a long discussion of the fact that criminal
issues, international crime is now high on the agenda for China and the
United States. That is why we were very pleased the China extradited Li Chia
Cheng a couple of days ago to the United States. He is a major
narco-trafficker from Burma.
Finally, on U.N. reform, it was interesting because two of Minister Qichen's
deputies - his deputy foreign minister and his ambassador here -- were
former Chinese ambassadors to the United Nations. There was a long
discussion about U.N. reform, about financing, about possible enlargement of
the Security Council. We agreed that Assistant Secretary of State Princeton
Lyman would travel to Beijing soon to have a full round of discussions with
Chinese officials on U.N. issues. That is important because we are
two-fifths, of course, of the Perm Reps on the Security Council.
