Chronologies
US - China
Chronology from Jan 2007 to Mar 2007
: U.S. health officials say that a toxin used in fertilizer in China and to make plastics in the United States has been found in samples of recalled pet food and in imported Chinese wheat gluten used in the food.
: Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announces the adoption of new policy imposing potentially steep tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods on the grounds that its government subsidies of exports are illegal.
: U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds hearing on China’s military modernization and its impact on the U.S. and the Asia Pacific.
: Gen. James Cartwright, commander U.S. strategic command, testifies before the strategic forces subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
: Speaking at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., China’s Ambassador to the U.S. Zhou Wenzhong calls on the U.S. to stop selling advanced weapons and sending to Taiwan.
: United Airlines launches direct flights between Washington. and Beijing.
: Thomas J. Christensen, deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment.
: The Senate Finance Committee holds hearings on U.S.-China trade and China’s currency regime.
: FM Li and Secretary Rice hold a phone conversation about Sino-U.S. relations and promoting the Six-Party Talks.
: Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Glaser arrives in Beijing to discuss with Chinese officials issues related to the transfer of North Korean money from BDA.
: Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives in Beijing for a four-day visit.
: Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Zhou Wenzhong delivers a speech on U.S.-China trade, China’s economic development, and Taiwan at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
: The Six-Party Talks recess with a chairman’s statement reaffirming all parties’ commitment to the Joint Statement of Sept. 19, 2005 and the Joint Statement of Feb. 13, 2007.
: The sixth round of Six-Party Talks begins in Beijing aimed at implementing the Feb. 13 agreement.
: Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Glaser travels to Macau and Beijing to discuss with Macau and Chinese officials issues related to BDA.
: The National People’s Congress (NPC) of China concludes its annual session with the adoption of a properly law and a corporate income tax law.
: U.S. Treasury finalizes a ruling against Banco Delta Asia that prohibits all U.S. financial institutions from maintaining correspondent accounts for BDA and prevents BDA from accessing the U.S. financial system. China expresses deep regret over Treasury’s decision.
: U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab welcomes news that China has announced the termination of one of the subsidy programs the U.S. challenged as a prohibited export subsidy in a Feb. 2 request for WTO dispute settlement consultations.
: Assistant Secretary Hill arrives in Beijing to join working group talks on denuclearization, economic and energy cooperation, and peace and security in Northeast Asia.
: Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier travels to China and holds meetings with Chinese counterparts on issues related to the current WTO round, the Doha Round, and bilateral commercial ties.
: The People’s Bank of China releases a statement that it will gradually increase the flexibility in the exchange rate of the RMB.
: U.S. Navy Adm. Timothy Keating, nominee to head U.S. Pacific Command, says during a Senate hearing that if confirmed, he will pursue robust engagement with China to help defuse tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
: China’s State Council Information Office issues the Human Rights Record of the U.S. in 2006.
: U.S. Adm. William J. Fallon, outgoing chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, testifies to the House Armed Services Committee, noting that U.S.-Chinese military exchanges are “moving forward.”
: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says at a Pentagon press roundtable that he does not view China as a strategic adversary of the U.S. despite Beijing’s growing military budget.
: Treasury Secretary Paulson travels to China. In Beijing, he meets Vice Premier Wu Yi and discusses the planned May meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue and other bilateral issues. In Shanghai, Paulson delivers a speech at the Shanghai Futures Exchange and encourages China to launch capital market reforms more quickly.
: China and the U.S. join in a naval exercise codenamed Aman (peace) with Pakistan and six other countries aimed at consolidating efforts against terrorism.
: State Department releases 2006 Country on Human Rights Practices report. China is included in countries in which power is concentrated in the hands of unaccountable rulers and is one of “the world’s most systematic human rights violators.”
: Chinese Assistant FM He Yafei visits Washington. In addition to meeting officials at State, NSC, DOD, and members of Congress, he delivers speeches at the U.S.-China Business Council and the Council on Foreign Relations.
: China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issues a warning that “Chen Shui-bian’s pursuit of ‘Taiwan’s de jure independence’ and [Taiwan’s] separation from the country through ‘constitutional amendment’ will severely undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait region and even the Asia-Pacific region.” The State Department labels President Chen’s remarks as “unhelpful.”
: The Annual Meeting of the National People’s Congress of China opens in Beijing. China announces an increase in military spending of 17.8 percent in 2007.
: Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian announces “four wants and one have not”: that Taiwan wants independence, a new constitution, name rectification and further development, and there are no rightist and leftist divisions in Taiwan except for the debate on the issue of reunification and independence.
: On his first trip to the region as deputy secretary of state, John Negroponte visits Beijing and meets Vice FM Yang Jiechi, Vice FM Dai Bingguo, FM Li and State Councilor Tang. China-U.S. relations, particularly the upcoming strategic dialogue, Taiwan, North Korean nuclear program, Iran and Sudan are discussed.
: FM Li calls Rice and expresses China’s condolences over losses caused by a tornado in the U.S. Southeast and Midwest.
: U.S. Department of Defense announces that it plans to sell Taiwan more than 400 missiles worth $421 million, which would include 218 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, 235 Maverick missiles, as well as spare parts and maintenance equipment. China voices strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the U.S. plan.
: Assistant Secretary Hill testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stating that one of the benefits of the six-party process has been the development of U.S.-China relations.
: Michael McConnell, new director of National Intelligence, tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that China’s military modernization is aimed at achieving parity with the U.S. and is not limited to its drive for reunification with Taiwan.
: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says in Australia that China’s recent anti-satellite weapons test and rapid military buildup are “not consistent” with its stated aim of a peaceful rise as a global power.
: U.S. and China mark the 35th anniversary of President Nixon’s visit to China.
: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill says that the six-party agreement to end North Korea’s nuclear program has strengthened the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and China.
: President Hu Jintao talks to President Bush on the phone and exchanges opinions on China-U.S. relations and the North Korean nuclear issue.
: Third phase of the fifth round of Six-Party Talks ends in Beijing. The six parties reach an agreement under which North Korea promises to shut down its main nuclear reactor in return for fuel aid. The six parties agree to hold the sixth round on March 19.
: Chinese Councilor of the State Council Tang Jiaxuan meets the heads of delegations attending the Six-Party Talks in Beijing.
: Chinese DM Cao tells a visiting Japanese delegation that China has no plans to carry out further anti-satellite missile tests.
: U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs James Swan says in a speech at Columbia University that the U.S. does not regard China’s emerging interest in Africa as a security threat.
: The fifth round of the Six-Party talks resumes in Beijing.
: Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin Lavin tells a U.S. steel industry gathering that the Bush administration is concerned about state-supported expansion of the Chinese steel industry and problems created by China’s rapid growth.
: FM Li calls Secretary Rice over the phone and expresses China’s condolences over the losses caused by the thunderstorm and tornado in Florida.
: The U.S. files a trade case against China at the WTO charging that China unfairly subsidizes its steel, information technology, wood, and other industries.
: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds a hearing on economic and security issues in the U.S.-China relationship. Among those testifying are U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Thomas Christensen.
: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tells the Senate Banking Committee that the administration will continue to press China to accelerate currency reform.
: A U.S. transportation delegation travels to Beijing to restart talks with Chinese counterparts on a bilateral open skies agreement.
: A Chinese delegation led by Ma Chaoxu, director of the MFA’s Department of Policy Research, visits Washington, D.C. for talks with Stephen Krasner, director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Bureau.
: A senior PLA delegation headed by Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Ge Zhenfeng visits Hawaii, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., and meets U.S. Pacific Commander William J. Fallon and Pentagon officials.
: In a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, 23 U.S. senators appeal to impose duties on Chinese imports in response to a request for public comment on whether the U.S. countervailing duty law should apply to imports from China.
: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Kristen Silverberg visits Beijing and meets FM Li, Assistant FM Cui Tiankai, Director of Department of International Affairs Wu Hailong, and Director of Department of Policy Research Ma Chaoxu.
: Chinese FM Li and Secretary Rice exchange views over the phone on promoting a constructive China-U.S. relationship and on the North Korean nuclear issue.
: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman confirms that China fired a missile to destroy an orbiting satellite, China’s first confirmation of the ASAT test.
: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill visits Beijing and talks to Chinese Foreign Ministry officials about his meeting with DPRK officials in Berlin.
: Chinese Vice Minister of Taiwan Affairs Office Sun Yafu travels to the U.S. to discuss developments in cross-Strait relations with U.S. officials and scholars.
: U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes and Public Diplomacy Envoy Michelle Kwan visit Beijing to promote people-to-people exchange.
: China and Russia cast vetoes in the UN Security Council to stop a U.S. draft resolution condemning human rights abuse in Myanmar.
: China successfully tests an anti-satellite weapon, destroying an aging Chinese weather satellite.
: Andrew Natsios, the U.S. president’s special envoy to Sudan, visits Beijing and meets State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
: The U.S. Embassy spokesman in Beijing says that the U.S. has urged China to reconsider a reported multibillion dollar natural gas deal between the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) with Iran amid international efforts to sanction Tehran for its nuclear programs.
: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says that China strongly opposes U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies selling sanctioned weapons to relevant countries.
: China protests a planned stopover in San Francisco by Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian.
: While visiting Africa, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing exchanges views on issues of common concerns over the phone with Secretary Rice.
: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attends the funeral ceremony of former U.S. President Gerald Ford. He meets Deputy National Security Advisor David McCormick, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Treasury Henry M. Paulson, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns.