BEIJING (Reuters) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a day of top-level talks on improving China-U.S. relations roiled by a series of security and human rights spats in the first half of this year.Powell, the most senior Bush administration official to visit China, flew in from Seoul after Beijing removed one obstacle to better ties by freeing three U.S.-linked Chinese scholars convicted of spying for Taiwan.
Their release this week after months of U.S. lobbying reflected a clear Chinese desire for smooth meetings between Powell and President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.
Powell's meetings during a tour of Asian and Pacific nations are designed to prepare for a visit to China in October by President Bush. His first meeting of the day is with Tang, the second talks with the foreign minister in four days.
Hours after Powell and Tang held talks in Hanoi on Wednesday, China said it would give medical parole to two scholars, permanent U.S. residents Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang. They had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for Taiwan.
The expulsions began that day when academic Li Shaomin, a U.S. citizen convicted of spying for Taiwan, was put on a flight to San Francisco just before the Powell-Tang talks on the sidelines of a regional security meeting.
BROAD HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA
Bush got off to a bad start with China because of the scholars and the April 1 collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet, which led to an 11-day diplomatic standoff that inflamed nationalist sentiment in both countries.
Powell has said he would look into the cases of a handful of other Chinese scholars with links to the United States -- and raise wider human rights issues with Beijing, including the system under which the academics were arrested.
Tang and Powell emerged from their one-hour talks in Hanoi, sounding upbeat, with Powell declaring an ``upswing'' in relations and Tang speaking of ``new opportunities for progress.''
The Hanoi meeting discussed non-proliferation, but did not cover Bush's plan to build a missile defense shield, which China stridently opposes. Powell told reporters he would explain the controversial U.S. program in Beijing.
NON-PROLIFERATION CONCERNS, TAIWAN
One potential irritant emerged on Friday when the Washington Post reported that the United States believed China continued exports of missiles and related technology to Pakistan and other countries in violation of a pledge it made to the United States.
Asked about the allegations at a news conference in South Korea, Powell said he had not yet seen the report but that Chinese compliance with the November 2000 accord had been ''mixed -- some success and some areas that need improving.''
Asked about the non-proliferation issue in Hanoi, a Chinese official said Beijing was willing to discuss it but also wanted talks to cover U.S. sales of advanced arms to China's rival Taiwan.
In April, Bush riled China by announcing a robust arms sales package for Taipei and vowing to do ``whatever it takes'' to defend the island in the event of an attack by China.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened military action against the island if it declares independence or drags its feet on reunification talks.
PHOTO CAPTION:
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (L), is greeted by Chinese ambassador to Washington Yang Jiechi, at Beijing airport, July 28, 2001. Powell arrived for a one-day visit to help mend ties hurt by recent detentions of U.S.-based scholars and the April 1 collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet. REUTERS/Pool/Greg Baker
- Jul 27 9:39 PM ET