CHINA SUMMIT A PR SUCCESS.

Byline: Steven Thomma and Jennifer Lin Knight Ridder Newspapers

They began the summit with well-established differences - over human rights, weapons proliferation, trade.

But in the end, Presidents Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin walked away from their historic meeting with a shared accomplishment: Each had made the most of the public-relations opportunities available to him.

Clinton made the nine-day tour to show Americans the new face of China, and to justify his controversial policy of engaging the giant power instead of confronting it.

Jiang responded by showing that China is not the static Communist regime of a decade ago, but a complicated nation capable of evolving in unpredictable ways.

In the process, the leaders dispelled some of the acrimony that has lingered since Chinese troops killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square nine years ago, resulting in China's diplomatic isolation.

Whether the new relationship produces results on the sensitive issues confronting the two monoliths remains to be seen. The meeting failed to produce trade concessions, such as reducing Chinese tariffs on American goods or closing the United States' $49 billion trade deficit with China. And the agreement to stop aiming any nuclear missiles at each other is largely symbolic.

But the visit allowed China's leaders to take risks and shatter stereotypes, while boosting Clinton's confidence that he gained enough results to silence critics at home of his pro-China policy.

Jiang made the stunning decision to allow the Chinese people to hear for the first time a foreign leader bluntly criticize their government for its 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and for its overall treatment of its people.

Going head-to-head with Jiang at the Great Hall of the People, Clinton proclaimed on China's national television that the government was wrong to use force to stop the student protests. He was allowed to reiterate his call for personal freedoms in a speech to Beijing University students and an interview with Chinese television, both of which were nationally broadcast, as well as on a Shanghai talk-radio show.

``I don't think it would be wise to say this opens up a whole new era in China,'' said Susan Shirk, deputy assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs. ``But it was a very self-conscious decision on President Jiang's part to allow this kind of open discussion of previously taboo ideas.''

``It's not going to be possible to bury those subjects again,'' she said.

The spirit of openness also spilled over to Jiang's visit to Hong Kong in advance of Clinton's stop. Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the city's return to China on July 1, Jiang became the first Communist president in the enclave's history to mingle with ordinary residents. Wearing a windbreaker and open-neck shirt, he tried to look casual as he schmoozed shoppers at a mall and shared tips on playing the game of mah-jongg at a hospital.

In deciding on their approaches to the summit, Clinton and Jiang also faced a similar thorn: Critics on the political right. And both men disregarded them on occasion.

Clinton ignored members of the Congress and others who attacked him for agreeing to an official welcome ceremony at the edge of Tiananmen Square.

For his part, Jiang may have opened himself up to internal challenges from hard-liners by allowing the televised exchanges and by committing himself to such friendly relations with the United States.

Both sides keenly remember what happened the last time the leader of a large Communist country attempted reforms: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev first faced an aborted coup, then presided over the collapse of Communism. He is seen as a model of failure within the cloistered corridors of Chinese power.

Jiang's flirtation with openness, and the hint it could lead to reform, is ``fraught with great risk,'' said White House spokesman Mike McCurry.

``There are, no doubt, within the ruling elite, people who question some of the decisions that have been made associated with the president's trip, and that, as in any political environment, people will look to try to calculate their own opportunities,'' McCurry said. ``And so we obviously want to try to help the good guys as much as we can.''

Many, including Clinton, suggested that the decision to let the Chinese public get a close-up look at the U.S. president was a sign of increasing confidence on the part of China's leaders. It may also signal their approval of his China policy, some observers said.

``In a way, the live press conference validates Clinton's policy of engagement since engagement assures the level of trust and goodwill that made it possible,'' said Jia Qingguo, a political scientist at Beijing University.

That should help Clinton with his critics at home, Jia said. ``He has shown the American people that China is indeed more open and more tolerant than before and his policy of engagement is far superior to those of his cynical critics.''

Even during the summit, the fresh images of progress mingled with old images of repression. Just before Clinton's official welcome in Beijing, ordinary Chinese were roughly swept away from Tiananmen Square by police who feared seeing a crowd gather. Dissidents in Xian, Clinton's first stop, were detained and prevented from talking to foreign reporters.

``One should not underestimate the progress in China,'' Jia said, ``nor should one expect too much.''

In the United States, as well, congressional critics noted that nothing substantial has changed yet.

Said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., ``We should be very, very careful not to gush and do the victory lap prior to seeing real and substantial deeds by the Chinese.''