World Tibet Network News Saturday, March 14, 1998

WASHINGTON, March 12, 1998 (CNN) -- President Bill Clinton is planning to visit China in late June or early July, the first trip there by a U.S. leader since the bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

While no firm date has been set, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Thursday that a mid-summer trip to China "is something that's seriously under

consideration."

And in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese officials announced that they would sign the U.N.'s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a treaty that would commit China's communist government to principles such as freedoms of expression and religion.

Human rights in China to come up next week in Geneva

The announcement came one week before the annual meeting of the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which will discuss human rights violations in China and other countries. China's decision was hailed as a positive step in Washington.

"It's a very significant development that will ensure a regularized process under international law for shining the spotlight on the abuses of human rights that we have long talked about in China," said State Department spokesman James Rubin.

"By announcing its intention to sign the covenant, China has indicated in more concrete terms than ever before that it accepts the universality of human rights," McCurry said.

The United States has not yet decided whether it will sign on to a resolution in Geneva condemning China's human rights practices, and U.S. officials say Thursday's announcement could have an impact on that decision.

But on Capitol Hill, U.S. senators were sending China a different message, voting 95 to 5 in favor of a resolution urging Clinton to push for a U.N. resolution condemning China "for its human rights abuses in China and Tibet"