Published by: World Tibet Network News ISSUE ID: 97/10/21

The New York Times

By STEVEN LEE MYERS

WASHINGTON October 20 (NYT)-- With only a week to go before the visit of China's president to the United States, the Clinton administration finds itself in a diplomatic predicament of its own making over its pledge to appoint a "special coordinator" to oversee American policy towardTibet.

The appointment is bringing protests from Beijing, which regards the planned office as interference with its internal affairs, while members of Congress are accusing the State Department of dithering. The administration, caught in the middle, is scrambling to avoid a confrontation just as President Jiang Zemin arrives for a weeklong tour of America, starting on Sunday.

"The question is: Is there a way to deal with this appointment without poisoning the overall atmosphere of the summit?" asked Jonathan D.Pollack, a senior adviser at the Rand Corporation.

Under pressure from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright announced three months ago that she would create the office to raise the profile of Tibet in the making of foreign policy. The problem, diplomatically, is that she pledged to do so by Nov. 1, the final day of Jiang's visit, which both sides intend to be a culmination of months of efforts to improve relations.

With the visit and deadline approaching, the State Department has yet to announce an appointment, though Albright's spokesman, James P. Rubin, said she would make it as promised.

But other officials in the department and at the White House have strongly suggested -- in interviews and in discussions with members of Congress -- that the appointment will be put off until after Jiang's visit or at least after the Washington part of it ends on Oct. 30.

While the administration has sought to engage China's Communist government on a variety of fronts, a vocal faction in Congress has accused it of putting pragmatic concerns like trade over issues of principle involving human rights and religious freedom.

Tibet, which has sought a greater degree of autonomy from China since Chinese troops violently established Communist rule over the region beginning in 1950, has long been a sensitive subject for the Chinese. The debate over creation of the position comes as awareness of Tibet's cause has mushroomed here, in part through popular depictions in Hollywood.

An appointment on the eve of the visit, the administration officials said, would almost certainly be seen by the Chinese as an affront to Jiang. And that could upset the progress the administration hopes to make on a variety of matters, including a pledge by China to stop selling missiles and nuclear technology to countries like Iran.

"It definitely is not very good for the atmosphere," an administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese have objected to the creation of the coordinator's office. Senior officials from Beijing have repeatedly raised the matter in the flurry of preparatory meetings leading up to Jiang's visit -- most recently during one between Albright and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen in New York City late last month.

"Our position is very clear," said Yu Shu Ning, a counselor at China's Embassy in Washington. "We are opposed to any interference in China's internal affairs."

The administration's failure to fill the job by now is already drawing criticism from Tibet's supporters in Congress, who say Beijing is brutally repressing Tibet's unique culture, language and religion. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., sent a letter to Albright two weeks ago pointedly, if politely, recalling the deadline and urging the appointment of "someone of stature who will command respect." Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., sent his own letter last Friday.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a D-Calif. who is one of the most outspoken critics of China in Congress, said the administration risked losing a perfect opportunity to highlight Tibetan issues in a way the Chinese could not ignore.

"I think if the administration is serious about the Tibet coordinator," she said, "that person would be appointed before the Jiang Zemin visit so that he or she could be present at the table."

The United States does not regard Tibet as an independent country, nor does it support its independence from China. But it has long been supportive of Tibet's spiritual leader, the dalai lama, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for peacefully advocating more autonomy for his homeland.

In addition to coordinating policy toward Tibet, which now falls between the separate bureaus in the State Department that oversee China and human rights, the new office is supposed to promote talks between the dalai lama's representatives and the government in Beijing. Albright promised that the coordinator, while not an ambassador with diplomatic credentials, would travel to the region.

Rubin, Albright's spokesman, said Monday that there were "intensive discussions" under way to select the coordinator by Nov. 1. And he played down any connection between the appointment and the visit.

"The purpose of the special coordinator is to promote our interest in the human rights of the people of Tibet and a dialogue with the authorities in Beijing," he said.

Jiang is likely to be dogged by protests throughout his trip, which includes stops in Williamsburg, Va., Philadelphia, New York City and Los Angeles, as well as a speech at Harvard and the official visit in Washington on Oct. 29. On the night of Jiang's state dinner, for instance, the International Campaign for Tibet plans to have a protest dinner.

The campaign's director, John Ackerly, said President Clinton and Albright should not simply paper over differences with China. "They will leave themselves vulnerable," he said, "if they try to push aside too many of the controversial issues."