DATE=1/26/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-US-TALKS (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-258464
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Talks aimed at repairing strained relations 
between the United States and China are underway at 
the Pentagon.  China cut nearly all military-to-
military ties when U-S bombers damaged the Chinese 
embassy complex in Belgrade last May.  As V-O-A's Jim 
Randle reports, this week's talks included a meeting 
Wednesday between Defense Secretary William Cohen and 
a senior Chinese general, Deputy Chief of Staff Xiong 
Guangkai.

TEXT:  Pentagon officials say the talks are an 
important sign that relations between Washington and 
Beijing are getting back on track, adding that they 
may lead to an exchange of visits by defense ministers 
from China and the United States later this year.

A visit by U-S Defense Secretary William Cohen to 
China was canceled after the accidental bombing of the 
Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia during the 
Kosovo conflict last May.  The attack killed three 
people and injured about 20 more.

The United States blamed the bombing on an 
intelligence blunder, prompting Beijing to demand that 
the person responsible be named and punished.

Defense experts said that was one of a series of 
issues that could make these talks contentious, but 
Pentagon officials have said little about the 
substance of the discussions so far.

The U-S Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Walter 
Slocombe, is hosting a delegation headed by Chinese 
Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai (prono: sheong guan-
kai).  The general is deputy chief of staff of the 
People's Liberation Army and a key member of Beijing's 
intelligence and policy leadership.

The talks are also expected to include the situation 
in North Korea, U-S plans for ballistic missile 
defenses, expansion of the NATO alliance and Asia-
Pacific regional issues.

The talks could lead to a resumption of exchanges of 
senior military officers and civilian defense 
officials, and port visits by warships and other 
exchanges.

U-S officials say such exchanges are key to keeping 
occasional frictions and accidents from turning into 
open conflict between the world's most populous nation 
and the world's most powerful military.

But the Republican-controlled U-S Congress - angered 
by allegations of Chinese theft of U-S nuclear secrets 
and donations to rival Democrats - has put sharp 
limits on bilateral military relations.

These restrictions limit joint war-games, discussions 
of defenses against nuclear, chemical or biological 
weapons and several other key topics.

Meanwhile, Beijing complains about U-S military 
support for Taiwan, despite U.S. recognition of 
Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China. 
(Signed)

NEB/JR/JP




26-Jan-2000 16:29 PM EDT (26-Jan-2000 2129 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.