DATE=7/6/2000 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=U-S-CHINA - TRACK TWO NUMBER=5-46614 BYLINE=STEPHANIE MANN DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: When Chinese and American negotiators resume arms control talks in Beijing Friday, some ideas that arise during their discussions may have originated in what is called the "Track Two" dialogue. As V-O-A's Stephanie Mann reports, ongoing behind-the-scenes track two talks have helped the United States and China confront differences on many sensitive issues, including weapons proliferation. TEXT: Sino-U-S relations are troubled by several especially sensitive issues -- human rights, weapons sales, trade disputes and Taiwan. These problem areas have made normal diplomacy difficult and, at times, nearly impossible. Yet, for more than a decade, American and Chinese scholars have met periodically and held serious and friendly conversations on ways to overcome these and other issues of special sensitivity. These unofficial exchanges are part of what is called the "track two" dialogue. Asia specialist Douglas Paal has participated in several track two meetings with Chinese counterparts. /// PAAL ACT ONE /// They can address sensitive issues in a more open and exploratory fashion without having to have all the caveats and cautions that a government official would have to introduce. /// END ACT /// Douglas Paal is president of the Washington research and consulting firm, Asia Pacific Policy Center, and was on the U-S National Security Council staff during the Bush administration. He says the Chinese participants are scholars from academic institutions and are able to discuss issues in a more open way than Chinese officials would be able to do. But Mr. Paal says they still have links to the government. /// PAAL ACT TWO /// There wouldn't have to be track two dialogues if it weren't China that was reluctant to get involved ... And the fact that they can simply put on their clothes of unofficiality to participate, loosens up the Chinese system to be more speculative and experimental than it would be normally, because it becomes very hide-bound and bureaucratic when there isn't some cover story about unofficiality. /// END ACT /// Another frequent U-S participant in the track two process, Asia security expert Ronald Montaperto, says some of the Americans also have close ties to government. /// MONTAPERTO ACT ONE /// For example, I think it's not a secret that my own institute, the Institute for National Strategic Studies is affiliated with the Department of Defense. That gives us an official connection, and it gives us some entree and I think a certain amount of responsibility. There are similar Chinese organizations. /// END ACT /// However, the participants are not speaking for their governments and not making any commitments for them. Yet, both governments know these talks occur and expect to get reports about the ideas discussed. In fact, according to Mr. Montaperto, a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, many ideas first proposed during track two dialogues have eventually found their way into policy. As examples, he points to the Taiwan issue and China's effort to join the World Trade Organization. /// MONTAPERTO ACT TWO /// I think if one goes back over the historical record of what China has said to Taiwan and what Taiwan has said to China over the years, many of the ideas that have been articulated by the respective sides in their dialogue have their roots in processes that could be described as track two processes. That is one area. Certainly some of the ideas and some of the understandings that were reflected in discussions having to do with W-T-O accession -- economic reform and so on -- have come out of track two processes. /// END ACT /// Professor Montaperto says he expects the new round of U-S/Chinese arms control talks to reflect some influence by the track two dialogue. Without wanting to go into detail, he says the U-S side may modify its approach to the negotiation as a result of ideas that came out of the track two process. /// REST OPT /// Track two meetings are different from normal academic conferences because they are much smaller and more focused. Track two dialogues sometimes include as few as 10 people and usually no more than 40. Because of that intimacy, the participants are able to develop a rapport with their counterparts that often is not possible when meetings are official in nature. Some gatherings just involve American and Chinese participants, but sometimes -- depending on the topic -- others are included, such as scholars from Taiwan or Japan. Funding for the track two talks can come from the respective governments, independent foundations or corporate sponsors. Americans engage in similar unofficial behind-the- scenes discussions with other countries. The United States holds such dialogues with Poland, Russia France and India. Douglas Paal says it would be useful to have a track two process -- including India, Pakistan, Russia, China and others -- to deal with the South Asian security problem. /// PAAL ACT THREE /// It's been a downward trajectory with the arrival of nuclear weapons and missiles in the arsenals of both India and Pakistan. And China's own military capabilities are not unrelated to those developments. The U-S has a strong interest in resisting proliferation. These governments are all highly sensitive, however, and I think track two would be a good place to start broaching ideas for capping military modernization and for finding lasting solutions to security problems in South Asia. /// END ACT /// For the past decade, there has been an annual track two dialogue between the United States and Australia, involving academics, business leaders and government officials, in a private capacity. The group plans to gather next week (7/11-13) in Washington for talks on Asian security issues, world trade problems and the politics of evolving technology. Past meetings have helped participants better understand changes in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular political troubles in Indonesia and the recent Asian financial crisis. (SIGNED) NEB/SMN/JP 06-Jul-2000 12:44 PM EDT (06-Jul-2000 1644 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .