Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
May 29, 2000, Monday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A02
LENGTH: 567 words
HEADLINE:
Chinese Leader Telephones Thanks for Trade Bill Vote; White House Officials
Describe Call to Clinton as 'Unusual'
BYLINE: Marc
Kaufman; John F. Harris , Washington Post Staff Writers
BODY:
Chinese President Jiang Zemin
telephoned President Clinton yesterday to express his thanks for the House vote
last week in favor of granting China permanent normal trade relations.
The call, which White House officials termed "unusual," lasted for 40
minutes and included discussions about nuclear nonproliferation and human
rights.
"Jiang called the president to thank him for his leadership on
the PNTR vote," said White House spokesman Mike Hammer. "Jiang
called [the vote] an important development that marks an improvement in
bilateral relations with China."
White House officials said they had
expected a formal exchange of letters with Jiang about the trade vote, and so
were surprised by the call.
"I don't recall Jiang ever initiating a
call," said a senior White House official involved in China policy. The official
said the call shows Jiang is interested in having the China-U.S. "relationship
move forward in a new way."
Chinese-American relations were badly
strained after the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was inadvertently destroyed by
American bombs during the Kosovo fighting.
The House voted 237 to 197 on
Wednesday to normalize trade relations with China, a step eagerly sought by
China, by American businesses and by advocates of free trade such as Clinton.
The measure still faces some opposition in the Senate, particularly from Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), but officials expect it to
pass.
By approving the legislation, the House agreed to end its 21-year
practice of granting normal trading privileges to China on an annual basis. It
voted instead to permanently guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access
to U.S. markets as is given to products from all but a few countries, such as
Afghanistan, North Korea and Cuba.
In return, China agreed to lower
tariffs on U.S. products and to take other market-opening steps in areas ranging
from agriculture and automobiles to telecommunications under a trade accord it
reached with the United States last year as part of its accession to the World
Trade Organization. Having reached a similar trade pact with the European Union
last week, China is on schedule to enter the WTO later this year.
White
House officials said that Clinton and Jiang also discussed nuclear
nonproliferation and regional stability on the Korean peninsula during their
phone conversation, as well as relations with Taiwan. While both sides
reiterated known positions, the senior officials said that Jiang made "no
threats" regarding Taiwan, a departure from some of the more truculent rhetoric
out of Beijing in recent months.
In addition, officials said that
Clinton brought up the issue of missile defense in the context of his June 4-5
summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Leaders in both China and Russia
have voiced strong opposition to American efforts to build a national missile
defense system, and some analysts have concluded that development of a U.S.
anti-missile system would force both nations to upgrade their nuclear arsenals.
U.S. defense officials have said a missile defense is needed because of
the growing threat of attack from "rogue nations" such as Iran, Iraq and North
Korea. The Chinese have significant influence in North Korea and are seen as
central to any efforts to keep leaders there from building nuclear weapons and
intercontinental missiles.
LOAD-DATE: May 29,
2000 
