Washington Post

Chinese Officials in U.S. Facing a Chilly Climate

By Steven Mufson, Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 11, 2001; Page A22

Amid the standoff over a Navy surveillance plane, there are signs of a diplomatic chill toward Chinese officials in the United States, including indignant correspondence with members of Congress, canceled meetings and sparsely attended parties.

On Monday, the Chinese Embassy hosted an event to welcome Yang Jiechi as its new ambassador. Just a month ago, it had been expected to be a warm evening for Yang, an old acquaintance of former president George Bush and a fluent English speaker with a warm manner.

But many people stayed away, and the State Department barred its employees from attending. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell had "made quite clear that he considered it inappropriate for U.S. officials to be attending that reception," the department's spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said yesterday.

Private groups are also distancing themselves from Chinese officialdom. The U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, for example, had planned a briefing on May 19 from Chinese Embassy officials for 300 of the chamber's members. The chamber canceled the meeting yesterday.

"As much as many Asian Americans and other business people here in the United States are interested in conducting business in the PRC [People's Republic of China], we cannot proceed with 'business-as-usual' while our fellow Americans are being detained," the group's president, Susan Au Allen, said in a letter to Yang.

The Bush administration has asked members to Congress to exercise restraint while it tries to win the release of 24 U.S. military personnel held by China since their Navy surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet and made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island on April 1.

But in recent days, an increasing number of lawmakers have talked about various steps -- including opposing Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics, selling more arms to Taiwan and restricting trade -- that they might take in retaliation for China's prolonged detention of the plane's crew.

On April 2, Yang wrote to members of the Senate, warning that they should not seek to sway the International Olympic Committee this summer when it weighs Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics.

"The bills in Congress against Beijing's bid . . . constitute a gross interference in the internal affairs and inherent rights of the IOC," Yang said in the letter. He added that it would be inappropriate for Congress "to obstruct, under the pretext of human rights, Beijing's bid" and that any such effort would "be met with the strong opposition from the Chinese people and all the justice-upholding people the world over."

One of the recipients, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass), said this week that he was dismayed by the letter. "The timing, tone and message of that kind of statement strikes me not only as insensitive to the reality of what we're facing today and to the concerns of the families of American service people currently detained, but regrettable for those of us who've been outspoken and open-minded about the long-term, important issues at the heart of the U.S.-China relationship," Kerry said.

Chinese diplomats have also taken aim at the possibility that the United States might grant a transit visa to Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian, who is scheduled to visit Caribbean countries in May. China opposes visits to the United States by senior Taiwanese leaders and visits by senior American officials to Taiwan. A visa granted in 1995 to then-President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan to enable him to attend a reunion at his alma mater, Cornell University, set off a crisis in U.S.-China relations.

Last month, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) met with Taiwanese officials who complained about the difficulty of getting a transit visa in Los Angeles, and he urged them to come through his home town of Houston. His suggestion was reported in Taiwanese newspapers and prompted a stern response from the Chinese consulate in Houston.

"I believe you are fully aware of the seriousness and sensitivity of the Taiwan issue," the consul general, Zhang Chunxiang, wrote to DeLay. "I sincerely hope that, for the sake of the healthy and steadily growing relations between China and the U.S., especially the relations between China and the city of Houston, you will refrain from promoting the transit from Houston by Mr. Chen."

DeLay interpreted Zhang's letter as a threat to Houston.

"The tone of your letter and the implicit threats contained within do not suggest the sentiments of a government willing to work with our country to promote our mutual interests, nor do they suggest a willingness to develop a constructive dialogue between our nations," DeLay wrote back.

"The United States of America will not be intimidated by threats from the [People's Republic of China] regarding our Taiwan policy and the United States Congress will not be deterred from promoting freedom and democracy throughout the world," he added.

DeLay also took issue with a part of Zhang's letter that called the idea of a transit stop in the United States part of a "splittist scheme carried out by Taiwan authorities." China regards the self-governing island of Taiwan as part of China.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2001