China’s Ambassador To End D.C. Absence

In another sign of improvement in U.S.-Chinese relations, China has told the United States that it will soon send its ambassador back to Washington after a three-month hiatus, U.S. officials said Monday.

The decision was relayed in the weekend discussions between top Chinese officials and U.S. Undersecretary of State Peter Tarnoff, in which the two sides worked out compromises on several key issues dividing them.

China recalled Ambassador Li Daoyu last June to protest the Clinton administration decision to let Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui make a private visit to the United States - a move that sent U.S.-Chinese relations into a tailspin. Relations were further worsened when the Chinese arrested American human rights activist Harry Wu, whom they had accused of being a spy.