A high-powered US delegation was due to converge on China yesterday for landmark talks on economic cooperation but faced mounting pressure back home to wring trade concessions out of their hosts.
Meanwhile, ahead of the visit, US retailer Home Depot Inc signed an agreement yesterday to buy a chain of Chinese home improvement stores and GE Aviation announced a jet engine sale.
The deals were signed at a ceremony attended by US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
PHOTO: AP
Such deals are frequently announced ahead of US-Chinese meetings as Beijing tries to mollify American critics of its soaring trade surplus with the US.
The two-day meeting in Beijing commences a new twice-yearly "strategic economic dialogue."
But the initiative, aimed at heading off future bumps in the bilateral economic relationship, starts amid a host of existing US concerns over China's trade policies.
In a measure of the weight attached to the meeting by Washington, one-third of the 15 US Cabinet secretaries plus other top officials are due in the Chinese capital for the meetings that begin today.
The US delegation's leader, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, arrived in Beijing yesterday and will be joined by his fellow secretaries of commerce, labor, energy and health and human services and the head of the US central bank.
The US officials will hold talks with Vice Premier Wu Yi (
Paulson unveiled the initiative in September as an opportunity for regular communication on trade and energy issues and other challenges attending China's economic rise.
He warned last week that China's economic reforms have not kept pace with its rising influence on world markets, singling out Chinese controls on its yuan currency, which are blamed for boosting Chinese exports and its trade surplus with the US.
"It might be easier for [China] to say `we're in transition, give us more time,' but they're a global economic leader and the rest of the world isn't going to give them a lot more time," Paulson said.
New US data published on Tuesday showed its trade deficit with China grew 6.1 percent to a record US$24.4 billion in October, representing a whopping 41 percent of the total US gap of US$58.9 billion for the month.
The figures also showed China has surpassed Mexico as the US' second-largest trading partner behind Canada and led some US economists to predict the full-year bilateral trade deficit would soar to US$240 billion, up from last year's record US$202 billion.
"Needless to say, that will create some pressure to get things done, especially with a not-so-friendly Democratic Congress about to exert its unhappiness," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economics in the US.
Meanwhile, China on Wednesday announced a new crackdown on pirated goods, a key source of tension with Washington, ahead of talks with Paulson on currency and other irritants in their thriving trade ties.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
RSS