Clinton meets China’s foreign minister ahead of Hu visit
By DPA, IANSWednesday, January 5, 2011
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Wednesday with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to prepare for this month’s visit by President Hu Jintao.
President Barack Obama will host Hu at the White House Jan 19 for a prestigious state visit, but important issues will be lingering in the discussions between the two leaders.
Those will include the global economy and US concerns that China artificially devalues the yuan. Also on the agenda will be global warming and North Korea’s nuclear activities. The US has urged Beijng to use its influence to rein in Pyongyang.
“We are preparing diligently for the upcoming state visit by President Hu Jintao. Its very much anticipated and looked forward to,” Clinton said before sitting down with Yang. “And both the minister and I feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that it continues the positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship between our two countries.”
“It is in the best interests of China and the United States and the world for us to continue to work better so that our relationship will bring more benefits to both our two peoples and to the people of the world,” Yang said of the two economic powerhouses.
Yang met Tuesday with White House national security advisor Tom Donilon. Obama dropped in briefly on the meeting.
