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US, China set broad table for first top-level 'dialogue'

AFP, Washington
The United States and China will hold their first top-level "dialogue" on a broad range of issues in Washington this week that could set the agenda for the two megapowers for years to come.
The US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on Monday and Tuesday is to focus on bilateral, regional and global challenges on economic and foreign policy issues, as well as climate change.
The two biggest developed and developing economies will discuss the global economic and financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, and what further steps are needed for recovery and financial system reform.
On the policy track. North Korea's nuclear program, the war in Afghanistan, governance,
health and infectious diseases are among the array of subjects on the table.
A senior US official said "human rights, of course, will be discussed," citing Tibet and unrest in China.
The United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, and China, the biggest producer of carbon dioxide -- the chief greenhouse gas -- are set to tackle the thorny issues of climate change and energy programs.
More than 180 nations are due to negotiate a new climate change deal at a Copenhagen conference in December to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Launched by President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in April, the joint meeting aims to bring together high-level officials for intensive, in-depth discussions to
SEE PAGE 15 COL 7 FROM PAGE 16 strengthen understanding and cooperation.
The Obama administration says this first meeting also is intended to lay the framework for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) meetings, to be held annually in alternate capitals, and set the stage for future bilateral "cooperative mechanisms."
The S&ED replaces and broadens the Strategic Economic Dialogue established in 2006 by former president George W. Bush's administration and Beijing that had dealt solely with economic affairs.
Obama, who has given China high priority since taking office six months ago, will address the opening of the meeting Monday.
Leading the policy track will be US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan are to chair the economic track.
In addition to the distinct policy and economic talks, the S&ED includes a combined session "to discuss issues of cross-cutting strategic and economic importance." the US Treasury said
Both sides have indicated that long-standing trade and currency frictions will figure prominently in the discussions.
The massive US trade deficit with China, Washington's second-largest trading partner, swelled to an all-time high of 266.3 billion dollars in 2008 and keeps growing.
US critics accuse Beijing of keeping its yuan currency artificially low to gain a trade
advantage and protect its crucial export sector.
And Washington is pressing China to help end the global economic crisis by further opening its domestic markets and easing currency controls.
Chinese officials, meanwhile, have expressed concern about the value of their massive US bond holdings in the face of a growing US budget deficit as Washington pumps hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy to drag it out of a prolonged recession.China is the largest creditor to the United States, with 763.5 billion dollars invested in Treasury bonds, according to June Treasury data. Some Chinese officials earlier this year floated the idea of replacing the dollar as the world's benchmark unit with a basket of currencies.
"Our message to the Chinese is going to be: If you want to achieve youi growth objectives, you're going to have to find a different way of doing it than through export-led growth," a senior US official said ahead of the key meetings.
"US households are raising their savings rates, so this is going to a less consumption-led recovery than what they’re used to."
A senior Chinese official said that China would call on the United States to keep the dollar stable and ensure the safety of Chinese assets.
Ihe Chinese delegation "will make it clear that China hopes the US takes responsible economic policies... to maintain the basic stability of the dollar and ensure the safety of China's assets in the United States," Chinese Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters.