Biden raises currency, Xi acknowledges human rights issues
- 12 years ago
At a State Department lunch to honor Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke of the critical ties between the U.S. and China while noting areas of disagreement.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, SAYING:
"The United States and China have much to do together, quite frankly because our relationship is literally going to help shape the 21st Century."
Biden also spoke of China's currency, which some in the U.S. say gives China an unfair trade advantage.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, SAYING:
"But cooperation, as you and I have spoken about can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair. That's why in the meetings we had in this morning, were essentially a continuation of the multiple meetings we had in your country in August. And we spent a great deal of time discussing our areas of greatest concern; including the need to rebalance the global economy; to protect intellectual property rights and trade secrets to address China's undervalued exchange rate; to level the competitive playing field; to prevent the forced transfer of technology and to continue a constructive dialogue on policies that would benefit our citizens, and the world."
The Chinese Vice President acknowledged the issue of human rights -- a lingering thorn between the two countries.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT XI JINPING SAYING:
"We also had a candid exchange of views on human rights and other issues, I stressed that China has made tremendous and well recognized achievements in the field of human rights over the past 30 plus years, since reform and opening up. Of course, there is always room for improvement when it comes to human rights."
Chinese officials have carefully choreographed Xi's U.S. trip as a rite of passage in China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition. Xi is expected to become head of the ruling Communist Party later this year before taking over the presidency in March 2013.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, SAYING:
"The United States and China have much to do together, quite frankly because our relationship is literally going to help shape the 21st Century."
Biden also spoke of China's currency, which some in the U.S. say gives China an unfair trade advantage.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, SAYING:
"But cooperation, as you and I have spoken about can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair. That's why in the meetings we had in this morning, were essentially a continuation of the multiple meetings we had in your country in August. And we spent a great deal of time discussing our areas of greatest concern; including the need to rebalance the global economy; to protect intellectual property rights and trade secrets to address China's undervalued exchange rate; to level the competitive playing field; to prevent the forced transfer of technology and to continue a constructive dialogue on policies that would benefit our citizens, and the world."
The Chinese Vice President acknowledged the issue of human rights -- a lingering thorn between the two countries.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT XI JINPING SAYING:
"We also had a candid exchange of views on human rights and other issues, I stressed that China has made tremendous and well recognized achievements in the field of human rights over the past 30 plus years, since reform and opening up. Of course, there is always room for improvement when it comes to human rights."
Chinese officials have carefully choreographed Xi's U.S. trip as a rite of passage in China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition. Xi is expected to become head of the ruling Communist Party later this year before taking over the presidency in March 2013.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters