U.S., China Agree To Regular Talks
Senior-Level Meetings to Focus on Politics, Security, Possibly Economics
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 8, 2005; Page A14
President Bush has decided the United States and China should begin holding regular senior-level talks on a range of political, security and possibly economic issues, signifying both China's interest in the prestige of such sessions and the administration's efforts to come to grips with China's rising influence in Asia, senior administration officials said.
Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick has been assigned to head the U.S. delegation, and a Chinese vice foreign minister will be his counterpart, officials said. Regular meetings between the two countries have never been held at such a level.
Chinese President Hu Jintao formally asked Bush to consider engaging in what the Chinese call a "strategic dialogue" during an economic meeting in Chile last November. During a visit to Beijing last month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed that the United States is interested in regular senior-level talks, but the administration has chosen to call the meetings a "global dialogue" because, officials say, the phrase "strategic dialogue" is reserved for close U.S. allies.
Bush came to office in 2001 suggesting China was a "strategic competitor," but cooperation between the two nations steadily increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In the past four years, China has emerged as a formidable power in Asia, wielding both economic clout and growing political muscle. China's rapid improvements in its military capabilities -- much of them aimed at the Taiwan Strait -- have greatly concerned Pentagon and White House officials....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35264-2005Apr7.html?sub=AR 
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