Diplomacy

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin expects Chinese President Jiang Zemin to visit Moscow in April for a summit that will set the seal on a new level of relations between the two giant states, the Kremlin said Friday. The visit was agreed upon during a 50-minute meeting between Yeltsin and Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng. It was the Russian leader's first conference with a foreign official since returning to work this week after a heart bypass operation Nov. 5.

President Clinton took a high-profile step toward repairing U.S.-China relations Monday, receiving Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian at the White House as part of the administration's new effort to reduce confrontations between the two countries. David Johnson, Clinton's spokesman for national security affairs, said the president only briefly mentioned long-contentious issues such as the Chinese record on human rights and the proliferation of weapons technology in the 20-minute session.

White House National Security Advisor Anthony Lake acknowledged in an interview Wednesday that the Clinton administration has shifted its approach to China by trying to avoid confronting the Beijing leadership head-on over human rights or other issues. Sitting in his office on the first day of his return to Washington from a trip to Asia, Lake indicated that the administration is now trying to avoid setting conditions or drawing lines in its dealings with China.

Carl Bildt learned a painful lesson over the weekend: Be careful what you ask for. You may get it. The Swedish diplomat, who is in charge of civilian aspects of the Bosnian peace accord, twisted arms for months to get Radovan Karadzic to relinquish his powers as the Bosnian Serbs' president. After a lot of tough words and threats of a Monday ultimatum, Bildt got his wish: Karadzic signed a document, prepared by Bildt's office, formally transferring his duties to a trusted deputy.

In an unusually severe move, the Clinton administration Thursday revoked the U.S. visa of Colombian President Ernesto Samper, accusing him of knowingly aiding narcotics traffickers in his country by accepting money from them in exchange for lenient policies.

President Clinton has decided to send his former peace negotiator for Bosnia, Richard C. Holbrooke, back to the Balkans to pressure Serbia to remove two Bosnian Serb leaders from power, a U.S. official said Saturday. Holbrooke plans to fly to Belgrade to meet with the president of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, to warn him that the United States is serious about implementing all parts of the Dayton, Ohio, peace agreement, the official said.

After a stormy stretch in U.S.-China relations, U.S. National Security Advisor Anthony Lake met with top leaders here this week to put matters back on track. Their talks echoed discussions that began 25 years ago today, after a planeload of U.S. officials had arrived on a secret mission to Beijing to open relations with China. On the agenda both times: a presidential visit and the gift of a pair of pandas. The two visits encapsulate the cyclical nature of the U.S.-China relationship.

In a reminder of how quickly heroes in the war against drugs can become villains, a former Colombian prosecutor once considered a drug-fighting champion confirmed Thursday that his U.S. visa has been revoked because he is accused of having ties to narcotics traffickers. Gustavo de Greiff, known for his stand against Medellin cocaine cartel baron Pablo Escobar, was notified of the revocation last week by the U.S. Embassy here, he said.

Senior Taiwanese officials served notice Tuesday that they are prepared to upgrade relations with Beijing after the March 23 presidential election here--but only if China ends a series of war games directed against this island. "This cannot happen under military threat," Foreign Minister Fredrick Chien said in an interview. ". . . The first thing they have to do is stop" the exercises. Once that happens, he indicated, Taiwan is ready for talks with Beijing.

A U.S. proposal to hold joint military exercises with Mexico has caused an uproar south of the border, with the government declaring firmly Monday that it will not permit such an unprecedented step. "Bilateral cooperation in no way includes joint exercises between the armed forces of the two nations," the Foreign Ministry said in a communique. In comments that grabbed headlines here, U.S. Defense Secretary William J.