U.S.-China relations are "back to normal" after a summer of strife, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said Saturday after talks with Vice President Al Gore.
In meetings with six other leaders before Sunday's Pacific Rim economic summit, Jiang also sought to defuse tensions with the Philippines in the South China Sea, demanded Japan apologize for World War II and promised that China's economic development would make the world safer.Washington has refused Jiang an invitation for an official visit to the United States, saying relations are not good enough to merit one.
But Jiang talked with President Clinton at the United Nations in New York last month and was to meet with him again at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Clinton canceled the Japan trip to deal with the U.S. budget crisis, and Jiang saw Gore instead.
Jiang seemed pleased with his talks with the vice president, according to a summary by spokesman Chen Jian.
Gore said the New York meeting, described at the time as cool, was "a breakthrough," and that U.S. policy toward China was one of "engagement, not confrontation," Chen said.
Jiang told Gore that "the two sides reached consensus on many major issues" in New York, and their relationship has "returned to a normal track," Chen said.
During Saturday's 40-minute meeting, Gore stressed Clinton's view on the importance of China stopping nuclear tests, a senior U.S. official said.