U.S. President Bill Clinton is considering visiting China in June and may come to Japan on his way home, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said March 12 in Tokyo.

"I have been informed that President Clinton is contemplating a return visit (to China), perhaps in June," Carter told the committee for foreign policy and defense affairs in the House of Councilors. Carter, who came to Japan to attend the Common Agenda Open Forum, said that further improvement will be seen in the relationship between China and the United States when Clinton visits Beijing.

Clinton may make a stop in Japan to explain details of possible achievements in his meetings with Chinese leaders, Carter said. Clinton last visited Japan in April 1996, when he discussed with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto the new role of a security alliance between Japan and the U.S. Carter said that for now and the immediate future, he does not see any danger of a military confrontation between China and Taiwan. "My judgment is that leaders in Taiwan and Beijing want to see the relationship between the two honored in a peaceful fashion," he said.

Regarding the Myanmar situation, Carter expressed concern over Japan extending aid for emergency maintenance of Yangon's international airport. He said the U.S. government believes that no developed countries should give non-humanitarian grants to Myanmar, including grants that might be used to build an airport, until it accepts principles of democracy and honors human rights. "I agree with my government that Myanmar should be forced by every possible means to adopt internationally accepted standards of human rights and democratization before it is given non-humanitarian assistance from ODA (official development assistance) or from any other sources," Carter said.

Japan announced March 11 that as an emergency step, it will partially lift its ban on ODA for Myanmar to help maintain the airport. Carter also said that North Korea and South Korea now have an excellent opportunity to resolve their differences and establish a peaceful relationship, partly because South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who assumed the post late last month, is willing to improve relations with North Korea. Carter said the U.S. government should make stronger moves to normalize diplomatic ties with Pyongyang and to lift the economic embargo. He also urged the Japanese government to actively extend humanitarian assistance, namely food aid, to North Korea.

"Not only is it the right thing to do from a human point of view, but I believe it would set a good foundation in the future for more and more normal relations between Japan and North Korea," Carter said. He said that "North Korea has done bad things," but thinks treating North Korean people with respect is the best way to help ensure peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

"I think it is time for powerful nations such as Japan and the United States to reach out a hand of friendship and cooperation as much as possible to North Korea," Carter said.