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Jiang, Clinton meet in Hong Kong


Clinton will meet Jiang as a private citizen, his spokesman says

HONG KONG, China -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin and former U.S. President Bill Clinton are meeting on the sidelines of a business conference in Hong Kong, a spokesman says.

"There is a meeting this morning between the (former) President and President Jiang Zemin," Clinton's spokesman P. J. Crowley said.

He refused to give further details.

Crowley also said the former U.S. president would be meeting as a private citizen and declined to comment on what areas the meeting at Jiang's harbor-front hotel might cover.

The U.S. consulate in Hong Kong also has said that Clinton was traveling as a private citizen.

The men arrived on Tuesday for the Fortune Global Forum, which involves some 700 business leaders, including many from major U.S. corporations.

The U.S.-China relationship warmed up after then-president Clinton made a visit to China in 1998.

"We want China to be successful, secure and open, working for a more peaceful and prosperous world," Clinton once told the students of Peking University.

However, some critics accused the Clinton administration of putting trade relations with China ahead of issues such as religious or political freedoms in the communist country.

Tense relations


Jiang steers clear from making any direct comment on the spy plane incident

Under the new administration, Beijing-Washington relations have been tense since April 1 when a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter collided in international airspace off the south China coast.

U.S. President George W. Bush last week ordered a review of all U.S. government contacts with China following the 11-day standoff that came before 24 U.S. aircrew members were released by China.

A Chinese pilot went missing after the incident and is presumed dead.

Jiang refrained from making any direct comment on the air incident in an address to the forum on Tuesday night.

However, he noted, without elaborating: "Nobody should be allowed to cause tension or armed conflict against the interests of the people. There are still in this world a few interest groups which always want to seek gains by creating tension here and there."

Jiang focused his speech on the growth potential of China and Beijing's determination to push reforms and open its markets.

The Fortune Global Forum is organised by Fortune magazine, a unit of AOL Time Warner. CNN is also a division of AOL Time Warner.

Reuters contributed to this report.