Chinese, American and Soviet mountaineers plan to scale Mount Everest and clean up some of the 2 tons of discarded tents, oxygen bottles and other garbage left by generations of climbers on the world's highest peak.
The expedition - a new kind of superpower summitry - is China's biggest joint cultural undertaking with any foreign country since June, when its violent crackdown on protesters strained ties with many countries.Jim Whittaker of Port Townsend, Wash., who organized what he is calling the Everest Peace Climb, tried to emphasize the political implications.
Will the friendly climb affect tense Chinese-American relations?
"We hope it will; we hope there's peace," Whittaker answered quickly. "One Chinese, one Soviet and one American will stand on the summit with our arms around each other, demonstrating that with cooperation, high goals can be reached."
For several hours, Chinese, American and Soviet officials mingled at the residence of U.S. Ambassador James Lilley and heard speeches about friendship and cooperation - a scene common in Beijing before June but rare since.
China has accused the United States of seeking to undermine its socialist system and privately has labeled the Soviets "revisionist" for political reforms that have weakened the role of the Communist Party.
All three countries appeared in agreement, however, on the need to clean up Mount Everest. The team of 17 Americans, 17 Chinese and 12 Soviets plans to bring down as much as it can of the estimated 2 tons of garbage left at camp sites on the Himalayan peak on the Nepal-Tibet border.
"We want to leave no trace of humans on the mountain," said Whittaker, 61.
The 29,028-foot mountain was first scaled in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.