WASHINGTON: The United States and China approach high-level talks in Washington this week on a more even footing reflecting the Asian giant's rising economic power, but a bumpy road lies ahead. At the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting, senior officials are expected to discuss the way forward as well as stumbling blocks, like human rights, trade imbalances and China's undervalued currency. The two-day talks that open Monday come amid a round of sparring between the world's largest economies that augurs little chance of a sudden snap into much closer ties. The United States made no tangible progress during an annual human rights dialogue with China in late April in Beijing, in which the US envoy, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, accused China of “serious backsliding” on human rights. But China set down a red line. Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai saying Beijing was “willing to have an exchange of views with the US and have dialogue with them on the basis of equality and mutual respect”. The third annual dialogue will be led on the US side by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Their Chinese counterparts are Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. In a sign of warming defense relations, military representatives will take part in the talks for the first time. The United States said it would press China again to allow its undervalued currency, the yuan, to appreciate, a politically sensitive issue that has long haunted talks. “Next week, we are going to press China to let its exchange rate adjust at a faster pace to correct its still substantial undervaluation,” said David Loevinger, a senior Treasury Department official.
