BEIJING (AP) -- Soccer may be joining "ping-pong diplomacy" as the latest sport to help smooth China-U.S. ties.
In a bright note in the battered relations between their two countries, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and President Clinton have exchanged letters of congratulations on the performance of their soccer teams in the Women's World Cup, Chinese media said Wednesday.News of the exchange came as a U.S. diplomat arrived for two days of talks on compensation for the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.
Susan Shirk, a deputy assistant secretary of state, avoided reporters at her Beijing hotel. A second U.S. official was to arrive later.
The May 7 NATO bombing killed three Chinese journalists, injured more than 20 other people and plunged U.S.-China ties to their lowest ebb in decades.
U.S. officials have said the bombing, which took place during NATO air attacks on Yugoslav military installations, was an accident.
China said Tuesday that the compensation talks would not cover payment for damage to U.S. diplomatic offices, which were stoned and in one case set afire by Chinese protesters angry over the bombing.
But a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Bill Palmer, said Wednesday that they believed "the Chinese will discuss with us the issue of damage to U.S. property in China."
In the soured U.S.-China atmosphere, some Chinese soccer fans were hoping for a win in Saturday's final to restore some national pride. But the U.S. team won 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the match ended after 120 minutes in a scoreless tie.
In moves reminiscent of the "ping-pong diplomacy" of 1971 -- when China and the United States used a table tennis competition to help bridge their Cold War gulf -- political leaders used the soccer championship to try to create new common ground.