Senator Joseph Biden, who is leading a four-member senate delegation to Shanghai after a one-day visit to Taiwan, said the delegates would meet President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji today at Beidaihe. He said issues, including relations with Taiwan and the US missile shield plan, would be discussed.

Senator Biden expressed confidence that the two sides would resolve their differences as they expand economic and trade links.

"China is not our enemy," he said. "There's nothing inevitable about China and the United States not being as co-operative as other nations."

Accompanying Senator Biden are fellow Democrat Paul Sarbanes and Republicans Fred Thompson and Arlen Specter.

The delegation also met Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi and discussed political and economic liberalization, World Trade Organization accession and its implications for China's social stability.

"We have to decide if we can continue . . . to support them with regard to WTO and permanent trade," Senator Thompson said. The Shanghai visit got off to a rousing start as the senators met 200 graduate students and professors at Fudan University, dubbed "China's Stanford".

Senator Biden characterized the more than two-hour session as "a lively discussion on a range of issues including human rights, Taiwan and the role of the US in the internal affairs of China".

On Taiwan, Senator Biden emphasized that trust among the parties involved in discussions between Taiwan and Chinese mainland was the key to any future agreement.

Both sides want to put relations - which have been severely strained in recent months over the spy-plane incident - in a positive light ahead of US President George W. Bush's visit to Shanghai in October to take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum meeting.

(Chinadaily.com.cn 08/08/2001)