BEIJING - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a fervent pitch Thursday to Chinese President Jiang Zemin to hold at least low-level talks with Taiwan in an effort to defuse tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Albright, who dwelled in her discussions with Jiang and other senior Chinese officials on an invitation by Taiwan's newly elected leader for dialogue, said China had more to gain through talks than through intimidation tactics.
But Jiang, a conservative product of China's bureaucracy, told her in two back-back-meetings that President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan must first acknowledge there is one China, a senior U.S. official told reporters afterward.
As a result, Albright's appeal to Jiang to ''seize the moment'' was turned aside as the 79-year-old Chinese leader held out for an affirmation Chen said he could not provide as a precondition.
On most other fronts, U.S. relations with China appeared to improve. Jiang, for instance, thanked Albright for the Clinton administration's effort to lower trade barriers for Chinese goods.
Together, they discussed the remarkable shift by North Korean President Kim Jong Il toward reconciliation with South Korea. Jiang told Albright that Kim is a logical, energetic and very polite leader, the U.S. official said.
Yet Jiang was quoted as telling Albright: ''The road is still long before they solve their difficulties.''
Albright said it was up to China to choose a level or channel for discussions with Taiwan. ''There are any number of ways this can be done, from a lower level to a summit,'' she said at a news conference.
The officials Albright said she spoke with before her meeting with Jiang have doubts about Taiwan's new leader. ''They are questioning, basically, who he is, what his motives are,'' Albright said.
Chen, taking a cue from a summit meeting between leaders of North and South Korea, sent an invitation Tuesday to President Jiang, saying they should meet ''to shake hands and reconcile in creating a historic moment.''
Albright said lowering tensions between the two sides had top U.S. priority. According to a senior U.S. official, she ''pushed on the notion of a dialogue'' with Jiang, and Taiwan was ''the largest piece of their conversation.''
Chen has refused to recognize the one-China principle as a precondition for talks but has said the issue could be discussed once talks begin.
Albright reiterated long-standing U.S. policy that there is only one China. She also advised Beijing that ''more would be gained through flexibility and shared interests than through efforts to intimidate.''
While Albright was in Beijing, Taiwan's military announced that China began live-fire artillery tests off its southeast coast directly across from Taiwain. Taiwanese officials, however, characterized the exercises as routine and nonthreatening.
On most fronts, Albright described her hastily arranged meetings, on her fifth visit to China as secretary of state, as positive.
She said the Chinese recognized a need to curb exports of missile technology and she outlined the Clinton administration's progress in seeking congressional approval for a permanent lowering of duties on Chinese exports to the United States.
Albright singled out China's human rights record and its activities in Tibet as two areas of sharp disagreement.
Albright's visit provided a chance to accelerate a lowering of tensions in the region, but top aides stressed the administration would not relent in its exploration of a defense shield against a North Korean missile attack.
China, Russia, Germany and other nations are skeptical of an anti-missile program, saying it could prompt a race to develop more potent long-range weapons to pierce the shield.
At a Geneva conference on disarmament, China on Thursday renewed its attack on a U.S. national missile defense, saying the project creates ''an urgent need'' for a treaty to ban arms in outer space.
Even though the United States is set to announce negotiations with North Korea to stop the development and export of missile technology, North Korea's program has progressed to the point that it poses a threat to the United States, American officials said.
If the talks succeed, shipments to Iran, Pakistan and possibly other nations could end. Similarly, Albright is pressing for curbs on Chinese exports, a long-sought U.S. goal.
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On the Net: State Department background on China: http://www.state.gov/www/background-notes/china-899-bgn.html
