Posted on 07/10/2005 7:07:12 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Rice raises human rights, religious freedom, currency issues with China
Sun Jul 10, 4:48 AM ET
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised with Chinese leaders human rights, religious freedom and copyright piracy concerns and pressed for a more flexible currency regime for the world's most populous nation.
Without elaborating, she listed these concerns to reporters after talks with her Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, and ahead of meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
This is the second visit by Rice to China in some three months. She flew to Beijing late Saturday on the first stop of a four-nation Asian trip that will also take her to Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
In brief remarks, Hu told Rice during a photo opportunity: "I trust your visit will help mutual understanding and cooperation."
Rice, who is scheduled to give a press conference after discussions with Hu, replied that she hoped her visit would "contribute to our continued improvement in relations."
The top US diplomat told reporters on a plane to Beijing that the United States would not stop raising key US concerns with Beijing even though Washington relied on China to help contain the North Korean nuclear crisis.
"We have always believed that the Chinese also have very strong interest in not having a nuclear Korean peninsula," she said.
China helped host talks in Beijing on Saturday between officials from North Korea and the United States that led to an agreement for the resumption of multilateral talks on July 25 aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons drive.
On Sunday, Rice thanked the Chinese government, which the United States had previously criticized for not exerting enough pressure on North Korea, for its "efforts that led to the resumption of the talks."
Rice earlier said that among human rights topics, she wanted to follow up with the Chinese leaders on the first ever talks between envoys of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and Beijing government officials outside Chinese soil.
Five representatives of Tibet's government-in-exile, based in northern India, met Chinese officials in the Swiss capital Berne over two days last week, according to the Dalai Lama's office.
The talks were the fourth between the two sides since direct ties were resumed in 2002. The Dalai Lama, who turned 70 on Wednesday, fled into exile in India in 1959 and direct ties between him and Beijing collapsed in 1993.
Li said bilateral relations had been "very productive" during the second term of US President George W. Bush'a administration.
"Our two sides are now further developing relations between our two countries ... for the benefit of our two countries' peoples and for the benefits of (the) world," he said.
Ping!
and hears NO, NO and NO...
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