US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet senior Chinese leaders in Beijing this weekend at a time of heightened concerns in Asia and Washington over China’s pursuit of maritime claims and shared worries about North Korea, the US Department of State said.
Kerry will be the most senior US official to visit China since many US allies rushed to embrace a new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which some see as a challenge to US leadership of the global financial system.
Kerry is set to spend Saturday and Sunday in the Chinese capital and plans to discuss the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) scheduled to be held in Washington late next month as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) expected visit to the US capital in September.
Photo: AFP
Kerry is also scheduled to visit Seoul on Sunday and Monday for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, including preparations for her planned visit to the US next month.
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it expects to have discussions with Kerry on North Korea and its missile tests.
Pyongyang on Saturday said it had successfully test-fired a missile from a submarine, which, if true, would mark a significant development for isolated North Korea’s military capability.
Kerry plans to visit Seattle on Tuesday to deliver a speech on trade, including a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, to which neither China nor South Korea is party, that Washington hopes to see concluded this year.
The S&ED is a discussion forum that highlights the nations’ economic interdependence as well as their strategic rivalry.
The US Department of State said the discussion would be headed by Kerry, US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (汪洋).
A senior US Treasury official last month said the US emphasis would be on governance standards for the AIIB, exchange-rate policy, climate change and Chinese regulation of information and communications technology.
The US has publicly welcomed the AIIB, but has announced no plans to join and stressed the need for it to ensure high standards. On exchange rates, it has repeatedly accused China of manipulating its currency to give it an unfair competitive advantage.
China last month suspended bank technology rules that Washington and others said amounted to unfair regulatory pressure on foreign firms, but Washington has said further discussion is needed on the issue.
Washington has expressed concern about the speed and scope of recent Chinese land reclamation work on islands in the South China Sea that it contests with Asian neighbors, including Taiwan, and US President Barack Obama last month accused China of “flexing its muscles” to advance its maritime claims.
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