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).
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,