TRANSCRIPT: GORE 3/26 PRESS CONFERENCE AT CHINA WORLD HOTEL
(U.S. committed to broadening relationship with China)

Beijing, China -- The United States is committed to broadening and strengthening its relationship with China, according to Vice President Albert Gore.

Environmental issues, non-proliferation, human rights, trade, Hong Kong, and the controversy over illegal campaign donations from Asians were among the topics discussed in his recent meetings in China, Gore said at a March 26 press conference at the China World Hotel.

"This visit is proof positive of the Administration's and President Clinton's personal commitment to our relationship with China. I hope and trust that our Chinese friends and colleagues will view my time here in their remarkable capital city in this country of such historic grandeur and great human and physical potential as a positive step on the road toward partnership, security, peace and prosperity for all of our citizens," he said.

The growing trade deficit with China is a major issue in U.S.-China relations, according to Gore.

"Regardless of whatever differences might exist in the way we measure the deficit, there's no disagreement that it's large and it is growing," he said. "U.S. exports have not been growing very rapidly, even though our exports to other countries have been. Moreover, the exports from many other nations to China have been growing."

The United States is committed to supporting Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization, but on commercially meaningful terms, Gore said. "This is a matter of ongoing discussion, and, I hope, for continued progress."

Gore cited the recent completion of contracts with Boeing and General Motors as a good sign and said that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng have indicated a willingness to take further steps to open the Chinese market more to U.S. goods and services.

Gore also said that the renewal of China's most-favored-nation (MFN) trade status appears to be on track for this year. However, he added, "a lot will depend in the future on Chinese actions to open up the market here on fair terms and to pay attention to the rising deficit with the United States. A lot will depend also on the commercially viable arrangements that are offered and presumably at some point negotiated and accepted in connection with their WTO accession."

On human rights, Gore said "there are clearly differences between the United States and China on this issue, but both nations are finding ways to further the discussion and continue the deepening of U.S. engagement with China, which in turn provides more opportunities to express our point of view and make the points that we believe are very important for them to hear."

"This is an issue of profound importance to Americans," he stressed. "I made clear the seriousness of our commitment to the advancement of human rights, including in the areas of freedom of expression, association, and religion. I repeated President Clinton's message that we seek real progress on human rights, not confrontation. On these issues America's voice would not and will not be muted."

On the campaign finance controversy, Gore said that the United States views the allegations of Chinese influence very seriously.

These allegations "are the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation within our Justice Department, and it is premature to speculate on what the outcome of that investigation is," he said. "The discussion of the controversy, now pending the completion of the investigation, should not affect the relationship between China and the United States. Should the allegations be proven to be true, then, of course, that would be a different matter, and I made it clear that that would be serious indeed."

Following is the official transcript of the press conference as released by the Office of the Vice President:

(begin transcript)

VICE PRESIDENT ALBERT GORE
PRESS CONFERENCE
CHINA WORLD HOTEL
BEIJING, CHINA
MARCH 26, 1997

Let me begin by saying how pleased Tipper and I have been by the very warm hospitality and gracious welcome that China and the Chinese people have shown us. My purpose in coming here to Beijing was to demonstrate the commitment of the United States, and the Clinton-Gore Administration, to our relationship with China, and our determination to strengthen and broaden that relationship. My meetings with President Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng, their Vice President and Vice Premier Zhu Rongji and the NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Tian provided an opportunity to develop the broad strategic dialogue between our two countries.

I just concluded a very productive meeting with President Jiang. It went a good deal longer than expected, and for that reason I apologize for starting this press conference a little bit late. I can tell you that our discussions were productive, friendly, searching, and, above all, wide-ranging. So, too, were my meetings with Premier Li Peng as well as with a number other members of the Chinese Government.

Given the enormous importance that we attach to the U.S.-China relationship, there was naturally a very long list of issues of significance to our nations that I wanted to reflect upon, and to try to narrow differences when they existed, and to find new ways to deepen our cooperation in those areas in which we agree. I would like to try to map out for you the basic contours of my discussions here these past two days on a range of these issues.

First of all, as you know my trip here was designed, in part, to help set the stage for an exchange of visits by President Jiang and President Clinton later this year and next year. I'm pleased that I was able to re-affirm our agreement to hold these visits. President Jiang is expected in Washington this autumn, and planning will now begin in earnest in both capitals to develop specific dates and work programs.

Let me review some of the other issues I discussed with China's leaders.

First, the environment. I came at the invitation of Premier Li Peng to launch a joint Forum on the Environment and Development, and I'm pleased our governments were able to agree to take this important new step on behalf of protecting the environment. No two countries are more important to solving international environmental problems than China and the United States. We are the two largest sources of greenhouse gases, and our cooperation is critical to efforts on global climate change. As you know, negotiations will take place in Kyoto, Japan, in December of this year. China's rapid economic development has presented it with major environmental degradation problems and very large energy requirements. By engaging our governmental and non-government experts and specialists, and the private sector, in joint efforts to find solutions, we are benefiting not only ourselves but the world as a whole.

Second, on non-proliferation. Both sides re-affirmed their commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and I conveyed President Clinton's personal commitment to working with Congress to insure its ratification in time for the United States to be a founding member. And, in fact, just today we got some positive news about the scheduling of a vote in the United States Senate. We reviewed progress in the areas of curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, including the results of the latest round of expert talks on nuclear, missile, and chemical non-proliferation. On each of these matters, the people I spoke with listened very carefully and attentively, and, I trust, with open minds.

Third, on human rights. This is an issue of profound importance to Americans. I made clear the seriousness of our commitment to the advancement of human rights, including in the areas of freedom of expression, association, and religion. I repeated President Clinton's message that we seek real progress on human rights, not confrontation. On these issues America's voice would not and will not be muted.

Fourth, on trade. I expressed the need for greater access to China's markets for American goods and services, all the more critical as our annual trade deficit with China has reached $39,500 million. The Chinese have disputes over our method of accounting, but by any accounting, China's surplus with the United States is large and continues to grow. That is why I was very pleased to join with the Chinese in participating in the signing of two very important commercial agreements: one with Boeing for the sale of five 777's to a rapidly expanding Chinese aviation market, and the other with General Motors for the creation of a plant in Shanghai to produce cars for sale in China. These transactions, of course, are important; good for American jobs and good for American business, and I am very pleased and happy that they were completed. But as my conversations this week with American businessmen and women serving in the front lines of this market attested, there are still serious and systemic obstacles to greater access for American companies. That is why I did not pull any punches in my conversations on these issues with the Chinese. I insisted that differences still remain in our approaches, and these need to be systematically addressed. We can do this in concert with our other trading partners. That is why we are committed to supporting Chinese membership in the World Trade Organization on commercially meaningful terms. This is a matter of ongoing discussion, and, I hope, for continued progress.

Fifth, on Hong Kong. We had an extensive discussion on Hong Kong, where the United States has important interests. The reversion of Hong Kong to China's sovereignty, 97 days from today, will be watched closely around the world. We expect China to honor its commitments to the preservation of Hong Kong's way of life and of a high degree of autonomy and to insure a smooth transition. I was very pleased that we were able to sign yesterday an agreement on the maintenance of our Consulate General in Hong Kong that will assure continuation of our official presence, operations, and assistance to American citizens.

In sum, I believe that this visit is proof positive of the Administration's and President Clinton's personal commitment to our relationship with China. I hope and trust that our Chinese friends and colleagues will view my time here in their remarkable capital city in this country of such historic grandeur and great human and physical potential as a positive step on the road toward partnership, security, peace and prosperity for all of our citizens.

Q: Mr. Vice President, I guess maybe to add one more subject to your list. We know you raised the issue or discussed the issue of fund-raising, and obviously the Chinese were concerned. Just wondering, did you discuss that at today's session? And also, as you know, there have been some varying descriptions of just what you said and promised. Could you give us a detailed explanation of that?

GORE: I'd be happy to. It was not discussed in today's meeting. It was discussed in yesterday's meeting with Premier Li Peng. I began the extensive discussion of human rights -- I referred to that earlier -- and at the conclusion of that discussion, as I was prepared to raise the issue of the ongoing investigation, Li Peng raised it first. And he repeated the strong denials by China that the allegations are true. I then said that the United States views these allegations as very serious. However, they are the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation within our Justice Department, and it is premature to speculate on what the outcome of that investigation is. The discussion of the controversy, now pending the completion of the investigation, should not affect the relationship between China and the United States. Should the allegations be proven to be true, then, of course, that would be a different matter, and I made it clear that that would be serious indeed.

Q: You did actually explain to him that if the investigation finds this to be true that it will be...

GORE: Yes, by distinguishing between the seriousness of the allegations and the fact that it's an ongoing investigation, and, on the other hand, the fact that the investigation has not been completed yet.

Q: Mr. Vice President, two of the issues you mentioned, trade and human rights, have significantly soured the political environment back in Washington regarding the Administration's relationship with China. Can you talk to us about what you specifically asked from the President and the Premier -- of commitments from them on those two issues and whether they reciprocated in any way and made any specific promises?

GORE: Yes, I'll tell you what happened with respect to both of them.

On trade: first of all, we actually went into some significant detail about the differences in their way of accounting for the trade deficit and our way of accounting for it, and I made the point that, regardless of whatever differences might exist in the way we measure the deficit, there's no disagreement that it's large and it is growing. U.S. exports have not been growing very rapidly, even though our exports to other countries have been. Moreover, the exports from many other nations to China have been growing. So the completion of the two contracts with Boeing and General Motors represent a good sign, and both President Jiang and Premier Li Peng made it clear in their comments that they intend to take further steps to open the Chinese market more to U.S. goods and services exported to China. Of course, the multilateral negotiations underway right now on China's WTO accession offer the principal forum within which further negotiations will take place, and we talked about that in some length.

With respect to human rights, I raised that in each meeting. I also spoke about the need for political freedom here in China in the public speech at Qinghua University on Chinese television, and the response was, I think, a more receptive response than I have had in previous discussions with China's leaders on this topic. There are clearly differences between the United States and China on this issue, but both nations are finding ways to further the discussion and continue the deepening of U.S. engagement with China, which in turn provides more opportunities to express our point of view and make the points that we believe are very important for them to hear. I thought that the reception was better than it has been in the past.

Q: When you planned this trip originally, the campaign finance questions weren't on the radar screen. Do you feel that those questions have somehow marred your visit here and what you intended to do?

GORE: No, I take a longer term view. I think we have done some good work here, on behalf of the United States and on behalf of the relationship between the United States and China, and I think that this kind of work has to continue. China is growing very rapidly. It is, as everyone knows, the most populous nation on earth. Our relationship with China is important to us, and we have to continue our efforts to further engage with China, open doors, and with the opening, communicate with them about all of the issues that we believe are important to deal with, including human rights, including the other issues that I have discussed here.

Q: Mr. Vice President, what led you to think that the Chinese were more receptive on the question of human rights? Could you be more specific about that? And did you present them with a list of political prisoners and ask either for their release or better treatment as some other past American leaders have done?

GORE: Specific cases were raised during the course of my visit. I am not going to specify individual names for you, because I believe that the accumulated experience that we've had in the United States in dealing with this issue shows very clearly that our prospects for success are enhanced by taking the approach that I'm taking here. As to why I thought they were more receptive, it has to do with the language that was used, the muted tone of the response compared to some previous conversations that I've had with these leaders on this topic. I don't want to imply that they don't express strong disagreement on some points. They do. But I think that we are finding ways to communicate more effectively with China's leaders on this topic. We talked, for example, about the recent round of village elections in China, quite a remarkable set of elections. The Carter Center participated in observing these elections, and the Chinese official who is in charge of this process recently stated just last week that he can now anticipate a time in the not-too-distant future when direct elections will move from the village level up to the county level. Their counties are a lot larger than ours, they have about 2,500 compared to our 3,000, and of course with 1,200 million people -- you can do the math on that one -- if they move direct elections up to that level, then you're talking about a significant advance in the process of democracy here in China.

Q: Mr. Vice President, I'm confused by how this whole question of "possible" Chinese influence buying will be resolved by the U.S. government. You've made it clear now that if these were shown to be true, it would have serious consequences for the relationship. You've said that the proper authorities -- the FBI -- are investigating. Yet on other occasions, you've said that the FBI is constrained, and properly so, in what it can share with the White House about the ongoing investigation. How does this then get resolved? Shouldn't President Clinton be the one making the judgments about whether this evidence is troubling enough to have an impact on U.S.-China relations, rather than the FBI Director Freeh? And also have you gotten assurances from the FBI that they will bring this to conclusion in a timely matter so that the whole relationship isn't in limbo while it's happening?

GORE: Well, that's up to them. But the difference between an investigation in a preliminary stage and a conclusion that there's probable cause or reason to proceed to a trial or some other later stage of the criminal process is a very clear distinction, and there's no constraint on the FBI sharing that kind of results, so it's premature to speculate. We just don't know.

Q: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. To follow up John's question, have you been given any specific information by your Chinese host this week beyond a simple denial that they are involved in all of this, and given the fact that there seems to be some evidence talked about by congressional investigators and Justice Department investigators to the contrary. Do you believe that these denials are credible?

GORE: Oh, I'm not in a position to judge. The answer to the first part of your question is that they vigorously denied the allegations, and their statements speak for themselves.

Q: There's no other specificity than non-denial?

GORE: No, no, not really. Further elaboration on the denial, but, you know, no specifics.

Q: Given this investigation, as well as what some Americans would have reason to believe as sort of the equivocal ties that the two nations have had, do you have any, can there be any downside in your political life to you being on this mission, to having this toast yesterday? Whose campaign will that picture appear in?

GORE: That's for others to judge. I'm not looking at it in that context.

Q: Mr. Vice President, you said that the investigation into the campaign finance question should not affect the U.S.-China relationship while it goes on until you have a conclusion. But you have a long experience in Washington and in American politics, and I wonder if you think it, in fact, casts a sort of shadow over the relationship and makes it more difficult for the Administration to move ahead on other areas in the relationship and to make all the gestures or take all the steps that the Administration would like to take?

GORE: No, I really don't think so. I understand why you would ask the question, but I really don't think so. It shouldn't, and I don't think it has to at all.

Q: Mr. Vice President, given your close working relationship with your Russian counterpart, Viktor Chernomyrdin, do you expect to have a similar relationship now with your Chinese counterpart, Li Peng? Are you going (to) reciprocate his invitation by inviting him to the United States, and if not, why not?

GORE: Well, he's already visited the United States, and I talked with him when he was there. He is term-limited, and his term is up, I believe, shortly after the turn of the year. The next meeting of this forum is not until a year from now, so all that remains to be determined. I'm not an expert on Chinese constitutional law, but it's my understanding that there will be a new premier sometime early next year. Yes, from the Beijing press?

Q: There seems to be an emerging coalition between...

GORE: Wait a minute, what was that? Go ahead.

QUESTION: There's an emerging coalition between the left wing of the Democratic party and the right wing of the Republican Party against China...

GORE: This is a typical "Beijing press" question.

Q: ...against the China policy. My question is, do you think you have a solid bipartisan consensus on your China policy? How serious is this opposition? And is the MFN trading status of China imperiled this year? Thank you.

GORE: On the last part of your question, I wouldn't think so, but I don't know. I wouldn't think so. A lot will depend in the future on Chinese actions to open up the market here on fair terms and to pay attention to the rising deficit with the United States. A lot will depend also on the commercially viable arrangements that are offered and presumably at some point negotiated and accepted in connection with their WTO accession. As for the first part of your question, I really believe there is a strong consensus in the center of the American political system that supports what's clearly in America's national interest, and that is furthering our dialogue with the largest nation on earth, and engaging with China in a constructive way that allows us to communicate effectively, not only on these commercial issues, but on issues like human rights, as well. I think that there is a lot of support for that kind of common sense approach in the United States.

Thank you very much.

(end transcript)