ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96032201.POL
DATE:03/22/96
TITLE:22-03-96  U.S. POSTPONES PLANNED VISIT BY CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTER

TEXT:
(Perry says U.S.-PRC security dialogue will continue) (1000)
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
USIA Security Affairs Correspondent

Washington -- Defense Secretary Perry March 22 officially postponed
the planned April visit of Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian to the
United States, saying he believes "a large-scale official visit is not
appropriate in the present climate."

Perry stressed, however, in a written statement released by the
Defense Department, that he expects a constructive U.S.-Chinese
security dialogue to continue. "I believe that through such dialogue
we can reduce tensions and help restore relations," he said.

A senior Defense Department official said that the current tensions
over Taiwan, "which have been caused by the Chinese effort to carry
out these provocative (live-fire missile) tests and (military)
exercises" in the vicinity of Taiwanese ports "have been a blow to
U.S.-China relations."

Perry is disappointed that the visit had to be postponed, the senior
official told reporters at the Pentagon March 22, and views it "as a
setback to defense-to-defense relations." However, the official
stressed that a full-scale, official ceremonial visit to the United
States by China's minister of national defense would not be
appropriate now "due to tensions in the Taiwan Strait" caused by
large-scale, non-routine Chinese military tests and exercises designed
"to intimidate Taiwan."

The official, who briefed on the condition that he not be identified,
emphasized that "this is a time for all parties to show restraint in
the situation that has developed in the region." U.S. officials
believe, he said, "that it is appropriate for everybody to pull back
from the level of tension that has been generated by Chinese
activities in the region." He added that Perry "is deeply committed to
reducing tensions."

The official also noted that while the secretary has postponed his
Chinese counterpart's visit, Secretary of State Christopher still
intends to continue with his plan to hold a working-level meeting with
Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen in the Hague on April 21 to
discuss Taiwan and other issues.

Perry expects to reschedule Chi's visit "as soon as conditions
permit," the official said, perhaps as soon as this summer. While the
exact itinerary of the Chinese defense minister's visit had not been
announced, he was expected to spend 10 days in the United States in
early April, visiting U.S. military installations and holding
high-level meetings with members of Congress and Executive Branch
officials.

The official stressed that the U.S. military wants to have an ongoing
"serious, substantive dialogue" with China. Perry last visited Beijing
in October 1994; Chi's visit in April was meant to reciprocate the
hospitality offered to Perry's delegation by the Chinese then.

In view of the current political climate in Asia, Perry and other
Clinton administration officials "reluctantly concluded," the official
said, that U.S. interests and the cause of reducing tensions in the
region "would be better served by rescheduling" Chi's visit later in
the year. A visit now would only have been viewed as "a source of
controversy, he added, instead of being an opportunity "to symbolize
cooperation and understanding."

Asked about the possibility of the Chinese military exercises
continuing beyond the date of the Taiwanese presidential election on
March 23, the official said the U.S. has no reason "to question the
Chinese statement that when their announced times for the exercises
end (March 25)...that that will be the end of this series of
exercises, and the exercises and tests will terminate."

It is "extremely important" for that to occur, the official stressed,
and for there to be an end "to any cycle of increasing gestures."
Because the U.S. expects this to happen as announced, he said, it can
entertain the notion of rescheduling the Chinese visit at "a later
time" assuming "conditions permit" and a better "climate" exists.

Perry said March 19 that the U.S. had deployed two U.S. carrier battle
groups to the region in an effort to signal "caution" to China and to
reassure Taiwan. The U.S. also did so, he said, because it wants to
remind its friends in the region that the U.S. maintains "a large
stake in their peace and stability."

The USS Independence is already sailing near Taiwan, and a second
aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, is afloat in the western Pacific and
scheduled to arrive on station around March 23. The official said "no
decision has been made on where it, or the other ships, will go in the
immediate future." That decision, he said, will be based on events and
what is deemed appropriate at the time.

U.S. officials have used a number of public platforms in recent weeks
to call attention to provocative Chinese military actions and to
criticize Chinese activities in the region; Perry noted on March 19
that the Chinese efforts were "counter-productive."

The Chinese actions "are not appropriate and not conducive to the
resolution of problems that do exist" in the region, the senior U.S.
defense briefer concluded at the Pentagon on March 22.

The Defense Department released the following statement on March 22:

(begin text)

Defense Secretary William J. Perry has postponed the anticipated April
visit of China's Minister of National Defense, General Chi Haotian, to
the United States. In a letter to Minister Chi delivered in Beijing
last night Washington time, Secretary Perry said that he remained
committed to a continuing and constructive security dialogue between
the U.S. and China. However, he said that he is postponing the visit
because a large-scale official visit is not appropriate in the current
climate. The Chinese news agency has reported the postponement.

Dr. Perry supports the continuing security discussions between the
U.S. and China until the official visit can be rescheduled. "I believe
that through such dialogue, we can reduce tensions and help restore
relations," Dr. Perry explained.

(end text)
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