Associated Press / Elaine Kurtenback, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) -- China's premier dived into talks Wednesday with the EU on Beijing's joining the World Trade Organization, while putting the U.S. on notice over renewed Taiwan tensions.
Premier Zhu Rongji met for over an hour with European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy, on the second day of new talks on opening China's long-closed markets.
Though the EU billed the meeting as a positive sign, officials sought to dampen expectations for a speedy agreement.
"The fact that we met Zhu this early on in the process is a reflection of the importance that both sides attach to what we're doing," said Anthony Gooch, Lamy's spokesman.
Also today, Zhu told President Clinton's top security adviser, Sandy Berger, that the election of a new, independence-minded leader in Taiwan had placed U.S.-China relations at an "important, if not critical, juncture."
Chinese leaders have grown suspicious of Washington's intentions toward Taiwan and are particularly worried about possible sales of sophisticated warships and anti-missile defenses to the island as well as proposed U.S. legislation to formalize ties with Taiwan's military.
China sees unification with the island, which split off 51 years ago amid civil war, as a cherished national goal.
Berger was in Beijing for two days of meetings to appeal for Chinese restraint following the election of Shui-bian, whose party advocates formal independence for Taiwan. Ahead of the March 18 election, Beijing threatened to use force against Taiwan, fueling tensions with Washington, which maintains close, though unofficial, ties with the island.
Reunification with Taiwan and WTO entry are key, though potentially conflicting, goals of the current Chinese communist leadership. U.S. lawmakers friendly to prosperous, democratic Taiwan, have warned that Chinese threats against the island may prompt them to block moves vital to implementing Washington's agreement with Beijing on WTO entry.
After 14 years of trying, China has made joining WTO this year a priority. It hopes the rules-based WTO regime will bring in foreign investment and force long-protected state industries to make reforms they have resisted.
Zhu intervened at critical moments during China-U.S. negotiations in November, helping forge a market-opening deal that cleared Beijing's biggest hurdle to joining the WTO. China still needs to reach separate agreements with eight WTO members, the 15-nation European Union foremost among them.
Lamy joined the talks in Beijing this week to help deal with thorny political issues blocking a final agreement that the sides say they hope to reach during the talks.
He opened Tuesday's session with Chinese foreign trade minister Shi Guangsheng and the pair met again for nearly two hours today, following the Zhu meeting. They were to meet again Thursday morning, Gooch said.
Both sides have started to discuss the "nitty gritty of the political issues," Gooch said.
Neither side has publicly detailed the obstacles to the agreement. EU officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said Europe wants greater access to China's automobile, insurance and telecommunications markets and more licenses for insurers.
Negotiators are pushing for more concessions than China granted the United States last November, although Chinese officials have hinted they would be hard-pressed to allow that.
The U.S. pact gives foreign companies the right to own up to 50 percent of Chinese telecommunication companies and secures wider access for foreign insurers and bankers, who are now limited by tight geographical restrictions and an erratic licensing process.:
