President Bill Clinton will be pleased to be officially welcomed next to Tiananmen Square when he visits Beijing this month, US Ambassador to China James Sasser said yesterday. Mr Sasser also insisted there was no concrete evidence that China's launches of American satellites had violated United States law. Mr Sasser told Xinhua many differences between China and the US had been 'talked about too much or even exaggerated'. There has been uproar in the US Congress over allegations that China tried to influence the 1996 US presidential election and Congressmen have urged the President to refuse a welcoming ceremony at Tiananmen Square. But Mr Sasser said the visit would be the longest single-country trip by Mr Clinton in six years and he 'will be pleased' to be officially welcomed at the east gate of the Great Hall of the People, next to the square. Human rights and the South Asian nuclear crisis would be issues to be discussed between Mr Clinton and Jiang Zemin , he said. Recalling Mr Jiang's visit to the US last autumn, Mr Sasser said American people saw a 'smiling and friendly' President who represented a new China. He said the trip by Mr Clinton would further the concept of a 'strategic partnership' between the countries. The recent co-operation between China and the US over the South Asian nuclear crisis and on North Korea indicated that Beijing and Washington shared mutual interests and could work closely on international issues, Mr Sasser said. Last week, China and the US proposed a conference in Geneva for UN Security Council members to discuss the nuclear issue. Mr Sasser brushed aside the hostile position by the US Congress, saying more than 100 Congressmen visited China last year and the majority had left with a positive impression. Chinese State Councillor Wu Yi met visiting former US president George Bush yesterday. Xinhua quoted Mr Bush as saying most Americans had become aware of the importance of Sino-US relation and supported Mr Clinton's visit.
