The next installment of the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) will be held in Beijing sometime "around late May," according to a US Treasury Department spokeswoman. The US delegation will be led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vice Premier Wang Qishan headed up the Chinese team in last year’s talks. Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday that he hoped the SED will be "very important" in defusing tensions between the two nations, Reuters reported. The Obama administration is under pressure to label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury Department report on April 15. On Tuesday, US Senators Charles Schumer and Lindsay Graham said they wanted a vote by the end of May on a bill aimed at making China raise the value of its currency regardless of the outcome of the Treasury Department report. Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming earlier warned that Beijing "won’t turn a blind eye" to US sanctions over the renminbi.
Categories