By John Pomfret
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 16, 1999; Page A13

BEIJING, March 15—Premier Zhu Rongji today denied allegations that China pilfered U.S. nuclear weapons secrets, calling the notion a "tale from 'The Arabian Nights,' " and said he expects his U.S. visit next month to be difficult because of tensions between Washington and Beijing over that issue and others.

Speaking with reporters at the conclusion of the annual meeting of China's parliament, the 71-year-old Soviet-trained engineer said he felt "an uneasy heart" at the prospect of facing American accusations that China obtained information from sources in the United States in the late 1980s that allowed it to create a generation of smaller nuclear weapons.

"Of course it will not be an easy task to visit the United States," Zhu said. "The media has predicted my forthcoming visit will not be successful, but I will go anyway. . . . I must go there to let you vent your spleen."

Overall, however, Zhu said his goal in making the trip, scheduled to begin April 8, is to "resume the good momentum" in U.S.-China relations. He said that, in general, he expects a warm reception from the Clinton administration. In Washington, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the espionage allegations were certain to come up during Zhu's visit "as part of the broad relationship we have with China."

Zhu echoed a line common in China today -- that the problems between Washington and Beijing are caused by an "internal struggle" in the United States and that a small group of Americans are plotting to ruin U.S.-China ties. But on her visit to Beijing earlier this month to prepare the way for Zhu's trip, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright told Zhu, President Jiang Zemin and other senior officials just the opposite -- that American criticism of China on issues ranging from alleged espionage to human rights abuses reflects a bipartisan political consensus.

Exactly what U.S. and Chinese officials hope to achieve during Zhu's visit is unclear. Today, Zhu was frank in his opinion that the time had come for China and the United States to agree on terms of China's entry into the World Trade Organization -- apparently the only possible area of breakthrough between the countries.

"Thirteen years have passed since China began its negotiations," he said. "Black hair has turned white. It's time to conclude such negotiations."

But while "the gap between China and its [trading partners] is narrowing, there remain considerable differences," he noted. The United States and the European Union must still make concessions on China's entry into the WTO, he declared; should they do so, he said, China, too, would "make the biggest concessions within its ability."

Speaking about allegations of Chinese spying to acquire U.S. nuclear weapons secrets, Zhu said that Americans who believe this are guilty of two "underestimations." The first, he said, is underestimating the security systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico that stands at the center of allegations of Chinese espionage. "As far as I know," he said, "the security is very tight."

Second, Zhu said, China's own scientists are gifted enough to develop sophisticated weapons. "China is fully capable of developing any military technology," he said, citing work here on long-range missiles, nuclear warheads and satellites. "It's only a matter of time."

Summing up, he said: "I think the question of China's theft of military secrets from the United States is a tale from 'The Arabian Nights.' "

Zhu also chided Albright on her remarks about China's seeming disregard for human rights. He said that during Albright's recent visit to China, he told her that when she was still in high school he was already risking his life, fighting for human rights against the Chinese Nationalist government.

"She said, 'Is that so?' That showed she didn't quite agree with me."

Zhu said he shares many views about human rights with Westerners. "But I can't say that China is perfect in human rights," he added, blaming thousands of years of feudal history and 150 years of colonial interference for China's rocky record. "We welcome foreign friends to criticize our work, but don't be too impatient. Actually, I'm more impatient than you."

Zhu also poked fun at U.S. fears about presumptive North Korean plans to develop nuclear weapons. "All of the advanced weapons are developed by the United States," Zhu said, charging that Washington is exaggerating the threat from North Korea. "So what really are you so afraid of?"

In both tone and content, Zhu's news conference today differed markedly from the unprecedented spectacle of his first meeting with reporters as premier a year ago. Then, Zhu issued a series of bold promises, declaring that in three years China would have a new housing system, a new banking system and a rejuvenated state-owned sector.

Today, Zhu was much more tentative. While he scoffed at some Western reports claiming a major economic crisis is brewing in China, he acknowledged that the East Asian recession had affected China more seriously than expected.

Citing Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," Zhu asked foreign banks not to demand a "pound of flesh" -- or early repayment -- of loans taken out by Chinese financial institutions. He also pledged that China's telecommunications and banking sectors would be opened further to foreign investment, but he did not say when.

Zhu also a touched briefly on a number of other topics. Moderating recent Chinese rhetoric on Taiwan, he declared that China would never target its missiles against its "brothers and sisters" on the island. On his performance in office over the past year, he was apologetic, saying his biggest disappointment was that "I did not do a good job." And, on a personal note, he complained that his photograph on a recent cover of Business Week magazine made him look like "a corpse."

In mixing his trademark plain-spoken humor with a bit of wise-guy semantics, Zhu seemed to be gearing up for his forthcoming U.S. trip. The former Shanghai mayor is not unaccustomed to the task of selling China to uncertain buyers; in 1990, 13 months after China's crackdown on student-led democracy demonstrations around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Zhu -- as a Shanghai official -- traveled to 12 U.S. cities on a trip hailed at the time as a major success.

"Perhaps President Clinton and I will not necessarily hug each other," he quipped, recounting how he and Russian President Boris Yeltsin had kissed during his visit last month to Russia, "but we could shake hands warmly, and that would have the same meaning."