The US on Thursday said it would not “paper over” differences between it and China when top officials of the world’s two largest economies meet to discuss financial and political strategy in Washington next week.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Russel set the scene for contentious exchanges at the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue by stressing that differences over the South China Sea, cybersecurity and human rights would be high on the US agenda.
Speaking after revelations of massive cyberattacks on US government computers in the past two weeks, which US officials have blamed on Chinese hackers, Russel said cybersecurity issues would be raised throughout the talks from Monday to Wednesday in Washington.
The US would also stress human rights, including the issue of democracy in Hong Kong, China’s “very problematic” law on non-govermental organizations, and its restrictions on media and civil society, he told a media briefing.
China has indicated a desire to avoid acrimony at the talks, looking to set the stage for a successful visit to Washington by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in September.
Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zheng Zeguang (鄭澤光) yesterday told a forum in Beijing that China would seek to “constructively handle and control” differences with the US on maritime disputes, cybersecurity and human rights.
“On these issues, our attitude is to not evade and to resolutely defend China’s interests,” Zheng said.
Russel said maritime disputes in the South China Sea were “not fundamentally” between the US and China, and that the US had “an unwavering determination ... to avoid military confrontation, including with China.”
However, he said the principles of freedom of navigation and overflight were at stake and maritime claims had to be consistent with international law.
“It’s an issue of China’s future and of China’s choices,” Russel said.
He called this week’s announcement by China that it planned to continue and expand the construction of facilities on reclaimed outposts in disputed waters troubling.
“Neither that statement, nor that behavior, contributes to reducing tensions... We consistently urge China to cease reclamation to not construct further facilities and certainly not to further militarize outposts in the South China Sea,” Russel said.
This year’s meeting comes amid heightened tensions, not just over Beijing’s increased territorial assertiveness and the allegations of cyberspying, but China’s expanding economic influence across the Pacific Rim at a time of growing doubts over US leadership after last week’s congressional rebuff of US President Barack Obama’s landmark Asia-Pacific trade pact.
US officials are also to press China on currency policy, a senior US Treasury official said.
The meeting is to be chaired on the US side by US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, while China’s delegation will be led by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (汪洋).
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique