The United Nation's three-day Millennium Summit, starting on Wednesday, will be China's best chance yet to champion widespread world opposition to American plans for a missile shield.
President Jiang Zemin will address one of the largest ever gatherings of world leaders and Chinese foreign ministry officials say he will use the opportunity to attack US plans for a National Missile Defense (NMD).
"Jiang Zemin's visit to the UN is good PR for China," a Western diplomat in Beijing commented.
According to a Chinese foreign ministry official, Jiang, who left Beijing on Monday and is scheduled to meet President Bill Clinton on the summit sidelines, will introduce his audience to a new post-Cold War security outlook.
Especially since the NATO air campaign in Kosovo last year, China is concerned about what it sees as a US practice of throwing its weight around in the world.
Jiang is likely to be applauded for criticising the American plans, also opposed by Russia and in Europe, analysts say.
Clinton said on Friday that he will leave the decision of whether to go ahead with the missile defense system to his successor as US president.
(China Daily)
