US Secretary of State to hold talks in Beijing amid concerns over China’s maritime claims
China-led international development bank also likely to be among range of issues discussed during talks this weekend
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior leaders in Beijing this weekend at a time of heightened concerns in Asia and Washington over China’s pursuit of maritime claims and shared worries about North Korea.
Kerry will be the most senior US official to visit China since many American allies rushed to embrace a new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which some see as a challenge to US leadership of the global financial system.
Kerry will spend Saturday and Sunday in the Chinese capital and will discuss the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue scheduled to be held in Washington in late June as well as President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to Washington DC in September.
Kerry will also visit Seoul on May 17-18 for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, including preparations for her planned visit to the United States in June.
On his way home, Kerry will stop in Seattle on May 19 to deliver a speech on trade policy, including a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, to which neither China nor South Korea is party, which Washington hopes to see concluded this year.
The US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue is a discussion forum that highlights the countries’ economic interdependence as well as their strategic rivalry.