U.S. trip to China latest bid for shield support

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BEIJING, China -- A senior U.S. diplomat is due in Beijing to explain America's missile defense plans to China, one of the world's most strident opponents.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is due to arrive Monday, one of three delegations of U.S. envoys who have fanned out across the globe seeking support for the missile shield.

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President George W. Bush has proposed a new shield system designed to thwart missile attacks by so-called "rogue states" such as North Korea and Iraq.

But Kelly, who is expected to talk about Taiwan and other issues in the troubled U.S.-China relationship, will get little more than a polite hearing on the missile shield plan, a leading Chinese security scholar has predicted.

"China's stand is very firm: We will not support the U.S. plan to build a National Missile Defence system or a Theatre Missile Defence system," said Yan Xuetong, executive director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University.

"I think (Kelly) knows he cannot expect cooperation from China on this," he said.

China is strongly opposed to the missile shield plan, which could erode the effectiveness of its nuclear arsenal and may cover Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland.

Asia skeptical

Kelly's trip to Beijing follows jaunts by U.S. envoys to India, Pakistan and Australia to speak about the proposed plan.

Chinese spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters in Pakistan she thought many nations visited by the envoys shared China's skepticism about the plan.

"I believe that everywhere the delegations go there are many questions raised and, as far as I can see, there are more questions than answers," Zhang said.

Zhang, traveling in Islamabad with Premier Zhu Rongji, spoke after Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf was quoted by the official APP news agency as opposing the missile shield.

India has praised Bush's vision of nuclear disarmament but stopped short of endorsing his missile program during a visit to New Delhi by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

And Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has said he believes the U.S. defense system would go ahead with broad international support, despite misgivings expressed by a range of nations, including Russia, China, Germany and France.

"It will proceed," he told reporters after meeting with Kelly. "The more people understand what is being talked about here, the more they think it makes sense," he said.

Spy plane shows complexity

Kelly, on his first trip to Asia in his new job, said at his confirmation hearing last month the "Sino-U.S. relationship features few blacks and whites, and a considerable range of gray."

He described a key U.S. challenge as handling contradictions in a China that embraces globalism while encouraging intense nationalism.

U.S. difficulties with Beijing during the spy plane standoff "show very clearly that there are troubling aspects to our very complex relationship with China," Kelly said.

China has rebuffed U.S. requests to be allowed to fly out its EP-3 spy plane that has been grounded on Hainan Island since an April 1 mid-air collision with a Chinese fighter.

China detained the spy plane's 24 crew members for 11 days, releasing them after the Bush administration said it was "very sorry" for the loss of the Chinese pilot and for the U.S. plane's landing in China without permission.

Ties are also strained by China's detention of four Chinese-American academics and over Bush's decision to sell Taiwan a hefty package of advanced weapons and his recent vow to do "whatever it took" to defend Taiwan if China were to attack.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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U.S. Defense department
Chinese government

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