Print

Mail

wiki links

US, China talk about the future

The US and China have begun a series of high-level meetings trying to map out the two powers' future relations on the world stage.

Robert Zoellick, the US State Department's No. 2 official, and China's Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo (戴秉國) were to meet through today to discuss how to "manage differences and to help China develop its newfound power in constructive and positive and mutually reinforcing ways," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Wednesday.

Relations between the US and China have been tense of late as US critics slammed China's military buildup and its human rights record.

When US President George W. Bush visited Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last month in Beijing, Bush reported no breakthroughs toward reducing China's massive trade surplus, overhauling its currency system or protecting US intellectual property rights.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has complained about a lack of progress on a months-old US request for action by China on specific human rights cases.

Tensions also flared this week, when the State Department said that the US believes "the people of Hong Kong are ready for democracy, and that the sooner that a timetable for achieving universal suffrage is established, the better."

Beijing bluntly told Washington to stay out of the Chinese territory's affairs.

The US, Ereli said, wants this week's meetings between Zoellick and Dai to avoid "being prescriptive -- `We want you to do this; we don't want you to do that.'"

Instead, he said, they provide a chance to show that the two countries "have a shared interest in discussing and coordinating and working together on common issues."
This story has been viewed 1937 times.