President's wide-ranging agenda will be a challenge

As President Clinton sits down with Chinese officials, many issues important to the U.S. will be on the docket. They include: • More open, balanced trade agreements • Nuclear testing by India and Pakistan • Peace on the Korean Peninsula • China to stop targeting the U.S. with nuclear missiles • Asian financial crisis • No use of force against Taiwan • Strategies to combat air, water pollution in China • International coalitions to battle terrorism, organized crime and drug- trafficking • Piracy of U.S. intellectual property • Improved human rights, including the release of political prisoners, resumed talks with the Dalai Lama, religious freedom

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics) -- Fending off critics of his upcoming trip to China, President Bill Clinton argues that a continued policy of "constructive engagement" toward the world's most populous country "is plainly the best way to advance both our interests and our values."

So, what are the interests and values Clinton plans to press? What does the U.S. want from China?

While the administration is trying to lower expectations for the summit, Clinton's agenda for the nine-day trip is wide-ranging. It includes more open and balanced trade agreements; Asian economic and political stabilization; new environmental strategies; international coalitions to battle terrorism and drug trafficking; the protection of intellectual property; and increased human rights and freedoms.

In all these areas, "the role China chooses to play will powerfully shape the next century," Clinton said in a speech this month defending his trip and policy.

Walking a Delicate Line

Thorny U.S.-China relations and lingering questions about China's role in Democratic fund-raising will force the American president to walk a delicate line between promoting stronger economic and political ties while pressing for democracy and open markets.

Trade concerns were originally expected to dominate the trip. But recent events, including the Asian financial crisis and escalating tensions over nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, are likely to refocus the discussions on security issues and regional stabilization.

Consequently, two new issues have surfaced as priorities for Clinton. Aides say the Clinton hopes to win commitments from Chinese President Jiang Zemin to stop targeting the United States with nuclear missiles and not to devalue the Chinese currency.

Jiang Zemin is to meet with Clinton in Beijing

The missile pledge would be both symbolic and substantive: symbolic because the Chinese could quickly retarget those missiles; substantive because it would protect the U.S. in the event of an accidental missile launch as the nuclear warhead would land in the ocean rather than on U.S. soil. The White House refuses to disclose whether U.S. nuclear missiles are aimed at China.

The currency promise could also have a very real impact on the U.S. economy as any Chinese devaluation would almost certainly spark additional currency devaluations through Asia, probably worsening the economic crisis and prospects of a global recession. With Japan's yen falling in value steadily in recent weeks, China is under pressure to let its currency drop as well.

Security Issues High on Agenda

The leaders are also expected to work toward a common strategy for avoiding a South Asian nuclear arms race. "Because of its history with both countries, China must be a part of any ultimate resolution of this matter," Clinton said earlier this month.

Clinton praised China, which has signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, for condemning both India and Pakistan's tests and for hosting an emergency United Nations summit on the subject last month.

Working toward a peaceful and stable Korean Peninsula is also a priority for both countries. China's role in Korean peace talks and convincing North Korea to freeze its nuclear program was cited by Clinton as a successful cooperative effort by the two nations.

In addition to issues of regional stabilization in Asia, other security, economic and social concerns will be on the table:

Trade: With the U.S. trade deficit with China climbing, Clinton will encourage China to open its market further to U.S. exports and business, but expectations for a deal on this front are not high.

Clinton has recommended that the U.S. Congress renew most-favored-nation trade status for China, which would allow normal trade relations between the two countries. "Trade is a force for change in China, exposing China to our ideas and our ideals, and integrating China into the global economy," Clinton said.

Intellectual Property: Growing copyright infringement of U.S. products such as CDs, movies and computer software has been a sharp point of contention in U.S.-Sino relations. The issue almost prompted a multi- billion trade war last summer as Clinton threatened economic sanctions against China if officials did not work to combat the piracy. The U.S. wants "decisive" action from China to comply with an accord reached in February 1995 protecting U.S. intellectual property.

Environment: The environmental consequences of rapid industrial growth are catching up to China as 80 percent of its major rivers are too polluted for fish to live in -- although much of that water is still being used by people. Air pollution is even worse, contributing to the emergence of respiratory diseases as China's number one killer. And five of the world's 10 most polluted cities are in China.

The magnitude of the problem could have worldwide repercussions, and the U.S. wants to help China develop environmental strategies. Last year, Vice President Al Gore launched a dialogue on the subject, and Clinton will talk to Jiang about how U.S. technologies could help improve air quality and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Taiwan: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure urging Clinton to push Beijing to renounce any use of force against Taiwan. The resolution said China's refusal to rule out the possibility threatened peace and stability in the region. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China and has agreed to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing has regarded as a renegade province since it drove the Chinese Nationalists to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949.

International Crime: Clinton hopes to strengthen its partnership with China to combat international drug trafficking and terrorism. A special liaison group was set up last month by Clinton and Jiang, bringing together leading U.S. and Chinese law enforcement officials. The group will work together to fight organized crime, counterfeiting and alien smuggling. China will also allow the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to open its first office in China next month.

Human Rights: While in China, Clinton plans to deliver a major human rights speech at Beijing University. And some of his aides are looking at Ronald Reagan's playbook in dealing with the former Soviet Union, when the former president issued his challenge in Berlin: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

But White House officials do not expect the president to go that far. They say they're more interested in results than in theatrics, which means Clinton will be careful in publicly lecturing the Chinese. Clinton has even agreed to follow protocol and be received in Tiananmen Square, the site of the 1989 massacre of student protestors.

Behind closed doors, the president has said he would lobby Chinese leaders to release the thousands of political prisoners still in China's jail, resume talks with the Dalai Lama and promote religious freedoms.

The question of Clinton meeting with Chinese dissident leaders is still up in the air. Before leaving Wednesday, the president said "I am going to see a number of people from different elements of Chinese society, and I am going to do what I think is best to promote the cause of human rights."

The White House has been wary of Clinton meeting with dissidents for fear that Chinese authorities might harass them after the trip.

The only way the U.S. is going to have any influence with Beijing on sensitive subject is through engagement, Clinton argues. "I have told President Jiang that when it comes to human rights and religious freedom, China remains on the wrong side of history," he said.

"Complacency or silence would run counter to everything we stand for as Americans. It would deny those fighting for human rights and religious freedom inside China the outside support that is a source of strength and comfort. Indeed, one of the most important benefits of our engagement with China is that it gives us an effective means to urge China's leaders, publicly and privately, to change course," Clinton said.

The scope of substantive topics at issue may be enough to push aside pestering questions about China's connection to the Democratic fund-raising probe or Clinton's waivers for China to launch U.S.-made satellites.

As all of these objectives are discussed during the China summit, another goal of president's will always be in the background: the White House hopes to be able announce enough progress to silence the naysayers back home, who criticized Clinton for embarking on this trip with so much political baggage.

Clinton would like to prove to the American public that he was right to go.