ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95071205.POL
DATE:07/12/95
TITLE:ADD STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, WEDNESDAY, JULY 12

TEXT:
(Asia trip, U.S./China) (750)

NEWS BRIEFING -- Spokesman Nicholas Burns discussed the following
topics:

VIETNAM, ASEAN HIGHLIGHTS OF CHRISTOPHER'S ASIAN TRIP

Secretary of State Christopher will visit Vietnam August 5-6, the
first U.S. official of his rank to do so since 1970, the spokesman
announced.

The secretary will first travel to Brunei July 31-August 3 where he
will lead the U.S. delegation to the annual ministerial meeting of the
ASEAN (Assocation of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum and Post
Ministerial Conference. Regional security, economic and political
issues of regional and global importance will be on the agenda, Burns
said.

Christopher will fly to Malaysia August 3 for talks with Malaysian
leaders on bilateral, regional and global issues. From there he will
travel on August 4 to Cambodia where his talks with government leaders
will assess Cambodian efforts to consolidate democracy. He will be the
first American secretary of state to visit Phnom Penh since John
Foster Dulles in 1955.

In Vietnam, the secretary will formalize the establishment of
diplomatic relations by opening the United States Embassy in Hanoi. He
also will stress the continuing importance of a full accounting of
U.S. POWs (prisoners-of-war) and MIAs (missing-in-action) from the
Vietnam war.

"He will engage the Vietnamese leadership in discussions on many
issues, including the POW-MIA issue, economic relations, regional
security issues, human rights and counter-narcotics," Burns said. He
also will pay tribute to the Americans who lost their lives in the
Vietnam war.

CHRISTOPHER HOPES TO CONFER WITH CHINESE MINISTER

The United States has proposed a meeting between Secretary of State
Christopher and Chinese Foreign Minister Qichen Qian when the two
officials attend the ASEAN Regional Forum ministerial meeting in
Brunei in about three weeks.

However, the spokesman said he was not aware of any "feedback" from
the Chinese government concerning the request, although he said "we
fully expect" the meeting to take place. Christopher last met with
Qian in New York on April 17.

"Of course, it's well-known that we have some difficulties with the
Chinese now," Burns said, "and we think that a meeting would be a good
way to work through some of those difficulties. It's always been our
view throughout the time of troubles that we're experiencing with
China over the last couple of months that the way to address problems
is to discuss them directly and so therefore the secretary is looking
forward to a meeting with Foreign Minister Qian," he said.

Since President Li Teng-hui of Taiwan was issued a visa for a private
visit to the United States to attend a reunion at Cornell University
in New York State, Chinese authorities have canceled a series of
scheduled trips and meetings -- both in China and the U.S.

Asked about reports of Chinese sales of M-11 missiles or missile parts
to Pakistan and Iran, Burns told reporters "we do not have the
compelling information, the certain information, the specific
information to make a determination that China has violated" the
Missile Technology Control Regime or U.S. law that would require
imposition of sanctions.

On another matter, officials from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing have
been pressing Chinese Foreign Ministry authorities for renewed access
to Harry Wu, an American citizen who was detained June 19 after
crossing into China from Kazakhstan. The U.S.-China consular
convention stipulates a minimum of one visit per month.

"We'd like to have a greater number of visits, certainly in the next
couple of weeks," Burns said. A consular official met with Wu July 10
at a pretrial detention facility in Wuhan, in Central China. But the
official was not permitted to discuss possible charges that Chinese
authorities may bring against him. These include allegedly entering
China repeatedly using a false name, stealing state secrets, and
disseminating those secrets to organizations outside of China.

Formal charges have not yet been filed against Wu, Burns said, and no
defense attorney will be permitted to consult with Wu until the end of
the period of pretrial investigation, which began with his formal
arrest on July 8. The spokesman reiterated the U.S. government's call
for Wu's immediate release.

The consular official provided Wu with some books and a list of
Chinese attorneys. "We think it's very important that he have the
ability to choose his own attorney," Burns said.
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