Senior Dialogue

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Chinese and U.S. diplomats met on June 20 - 21, 2007 in Washington, D.C. to convene the fourth round of the Senior Dialogue - bilateral talks between the U.S. and China ongoing since August 2005.

Senior Dialogue leaders Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo met in 2007 for closed-session talks to discuss U.S.-China relations, and a range of global issues from Northeast Asian regional security, to Iran and Darfur.

Before the fourth round of talks began, the two leaders warmly exchanged welcomes and hopes for an optimistic outcome.

"This is part of the Senior Dialogue between ourselves and China," Negroponte began. "It's the first one that I'm having an opportunity to lead from the United States side. We look very much forward to our discussions over the next day and I'm delighted to welcome my counterpart from China, Mr. Dai Bingguo here to the Department of State."

Mr. Dai thanked the mostly Asian news organizations in attendance before replying in Chinese, "This is also the first time that I will be meeting Mr. Negroponte and I hope we achieve a satisfactory result."

The Senior Dialogue was conceived at a 2004 APEC meeting, after a suggestion made by the Chinese President Hu Jintao to U.S. President George H. W. Bush to create a forum where the global superpower and emerging global player could come together and discuss issues of mutual concern. The typically two-day rounds help establish a framework for bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and give the U.S. an opportunity to shape China's impact on the world as its economy continues to industrialize.

The first round, co-chaired by former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Dai on Aug. 1 – 2, 2005, addressed issues such as trade and economic issues, energy security, cooperation against terrorism, democracy, and human rights.

The second round took place three months later, on Dec. 7 – 8, 2005, between Zoellick and Dai, and addressed Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Africa, terrorism, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy security, and the risks of pandemic disease. Human rights, democracy, and the U.S.-China trade imbalance were also discussed.

The third round of talks concluded on Nov. 8, 2006, between former Undersecretary of State Nicolas Burns and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Issues of discussion included North Korea, Iran, Darfur, Burma, APEC, and UN reform.

Integrating China into the world's security, economic and political systems continues to be the U.S.'s current policy in dealing with China's rise on the global sphere. However, China's current international economic policies are increasingly rankling American workers and businesses, among others around the world who consider China's trade practices unfair.

On June 13, 2007, four U.S. senators introduced a bill that would pressure China to allow its currency to rise in value, which would help close the huge U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a record $233 billion in 2006. However, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson believes in pursuing a less confrontational and non-protectionist approach.