U.S., CHINA ANNOUNCE SUMMITS.

Byline: Terence Hunt Associated Press 

Trying to calm a stormy relationship, President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed today to a pair of presidential summits over the next two years. The first high-level goodwill visit will be by Vice President Al Gore in the first half of next year.

The timing and sequence of the presidential summits will be determined by the foreign ministers for both countries, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said. He said the two leaders agreed that the sensitive relationship between the two nations ``needs regular high-level meetings.''

One of the state visits will be during 1997. The second will be in 1998.

White House officials described the mood of the meeting as serious and businesslike sprinkled with light moments. Jiang, for instance, commented on Clinton's hoarse voice and suggested Chinese medicine or acupuncture.

Clinton raised the delicate subject of human rights, saying China needed to make progress. McCurry quoted Clinton as telling Jiang, ``It's important that we work to remove irritants in our relationship, but we need to be as honest and candid . . . as we can.''

However, U.S. officials said Clinton did not set any specific conditions for summits, a decision sure to draw criticism from human rights groups.

It was their fourth set of talks in neutral settings during Clinton's presidency. They met in the Green Room of the Central Bank of Manila, stopping first to pose for pictures, shaking hands warmly and smiling.

Clinton rejected suggestions that he should not meet with Jiang because of China's human rights problems. ``No,'' he said. ``We're doing the right thing to have this meeting.''

Jiang said the meeting was important on the heels of Clinton's re-election.

U.S. officials said the most likely outcome was an announcement that Gore would travel to Beijing next year, the highest level U.S. visitor since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Clinton and Jiang have agreed in principle to reciprocal visits but have not set dates for their own travels. The United States is concerned about what will happen July 1 when China regains sovereignty over Hong Kong after more than 150 years of British colonial rule.

Security was tight. Clinton flew in Saturday night amid warnings from U.S. officials of ``possible threats'' to Americans.

After a four-day stay in Australia, Clinton joined leaders of 17 nations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Manila struggling over steps toward global free trade, specifically whether to slash tariffs on computers and high-technology products.

In preliminary talks, the United States failed to win agreement to cut the prices of computers, software, semiconductors and communication equipment by revoking high-tech tariffs by 2000. Even so, U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard said Clinton was satisfied, on grounds that the talks gave a boost to follow-up negotiations in Singapore. But, Hubbard acknowledged, ``All the details are not worked out.''

Clinton also planned talks with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, focusing on perennial trade disputes, and with South Korean President Kim Young Sam to discuss tensions on the Korean peninsula, particularly efforts to contain North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.

Clinton says the stakes with Beijing are high. In a speech in Australia last week, he said, ``The direction China takes in the years to come . . . will help to decide whether the next century is one of conflict or cooperation.''

The president came into office with a tough stand toward China, an Asian economic and military superpower, insisting that trade benefits be linked with concessions by Beijing on human rights.

China called his bluff and didn't budge. Clinton backed down and abandoned the policy in May 1994. His fallback position was that, despite frictions, the United States could not afford to isolate a mushrooming power like China.

Jiang is seeking reciprocal visits to bolster his standing for the struggle over the successor to Deng Xiaoping as China's supreme leader.

Clinton could face tough criticism in Congress if he agrees to exchange visits without progress on human rights. Beijing has taken the position that other nations have no business meddling in China's internal policies.

Already, Clinton faces criticism.

``In his eagerness to announce a U.S.-China summit and tout the strengthening of the U.S.-China relationship as the major foreign policy achievement of his second term, Clinton seems to be on the verge of selling out on human rights,'' Human Rights Watch-Asia said Saturday.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher raised human rights during meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Wednesday.

Increasingly, trade issues are moving to the front of the U.S-Chinese agenda. Perhaps as early as next year, China will replace Japan as the country giving America its biggest trade deficits. Just last week, Washington reported that the U.S. trade deficit with China widened to an all-time high of $4.73 billion in September.

China has its own trade agenda.

For more than two years, China has been trying to join the World Trade Organization, the Geneva-based group that sets rules for global trade. The United States has blocked the effort, arguing that China has not done enough to dismantle its trade barriers.

China also seeks the granting of permanent normalized trading status with the United States and repeal of remaining sanctions imposed after the government's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy forces in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

The award of permanent ``most favored nation'' status would end the yearly battle in Congress over giving China normal trade relations without concessions on human rights.

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Photo

Photo: President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin discuss plans for future presidential visits before the APEC meeting in Manila.

Associated Press