Top US, China diplomats work to smooth relations

FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats

have work to do to keep a confrontation between

American and Chinese naval vessels from damaging a

relationship that President Barack Obama deems crucial

to confronting the world's toughest crises.

Even if diplomatic efforts by Secretary of State Hillary

Rodham Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang

Jiechi are successful in toning down the dispute — the

two were scheduled to meet Wednesday in Washington

— they may ease anger only temporarily over a larger

military disagreement.

Beijing has long complained about U.S. surveillance

operations around China's borders. Without better

communications between the two militaries as they

operate in the South China Sea, the possibility for future

conflict will remain.

Clinton and Yang "can have a productive exchange to

keep this bounded, but the real bureaucracies that need

to be there aren't going to be at the meeting," said

Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian studies at the U.S.

Naval War College.

He suggested that without stronger military-to-military

links, the potential for "something ugly" happening "should

not be minimized."

China says a U.S. Navy mapping ship confronted by

Chinese vessels Sunday was operating illegally in China's

exclusive economic zone. The United States says

Chinese ships surrounded and harassed the Navy vessel

in international waters in the South China Sea.

U.S. defense officials said Tuesday that the Navy ship

was looking for threats such as submarines, presumably

Chinese. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity

because the ship's exact capabilities are sensitive. Other

U.S. officials have said publicly that the United States will

continue to patrol in the South China Sea despite Chinese

objections.

Also Tuesday, U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis

Blair told lawmakers that the incident was the most

serious episode between the two nations since 2001,

when China forced the landing of a U.S. spy plane and

seized the crew. Blair said the confrontation indicated that

China is willing to flex its military might.

The Clinton-Yang meeting Wednesday was meant

originally to build on good will from Clinton's visit to China

last month. Yang also was scheduled to meet with

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and with White

House officials, the State Department said.

Clinton, during her China trip, impressed Beijing officials

by listening to China's concerns, pledging not to let human

rights differences interfere with attempts to cooperate on

broader issues, and generally working to lay a foundation

for a positive relationship between the two powers.

An indication of the sensitivity involved in the complex

relationship arose Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of the

1959 Tibetan uprising that resulted in the flight into India

by the Dalai Lama, living god to Tibet's Buddhists, and

80,000 followers.

Robert Wood, acting spokesman at the State Department,

issued a statement Tuesday night noting the anniversary

and treading softly on differences it shows between the

United States and China.

"The United States respects the territorial integrity of the

People's Republic of China and considers Tibet to be part

of China," Wood's statement said. "At the same time, we

are deeply concerned by the human rights situation in

Tibetan areas."

The weekend naval incident comes as the Obama

administration tries to get Chinese help on a host of

foreign policy matters, including efforts to confront Iran

and North Korea over their nuclear programs.

Last year, China canceled or suspended nearly a dozen

military exchanges with the United States, infuriated by a

$6.5 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan.

Talks resumed when Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary

for East Asia David Sedney met late last month in Beijing

with high-level People's Liberation Army officials.

Sedney said after he returned to Washington that a

changing Chinese military is increasingly interested in

cooperating with the United States. He also noted U.S.

worries about China's huge amounts of opaque defense

spending, a weapons buildup across from Taiwan and

arms sales to Iran.

Bonnie Glaser, an analyst with the Center for Strategic

and International Studies think tank, said the immediate

goal for Clinton and Yang is to underscore the importance

of the relationship and ease tensions before Obama and

Chinese President Hu Jintao meet in early April.

Sunday's incident, she said, is part of "an ongoing push

and pull between the Chinese and the U.S." over

American surveillance.

Both sides need to find a solution that allows them to

"have rules of the road, safe means of operations that are

agreed upon so that we don't end up with an accident that

gets escalated," Glaser said. "These things can often be

difficult to defuse."

Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Pamela Hess

contributed to this report.

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