Chronologies

US - China

Chronology from Oct 2002 to Dec 2002

: China releases Xu Wenli, its most prominent pro-democracy prisoner, sending him to exile and medical treatment in the United States.

: Secretary of State Powell calls Chinese Foreign Minister Tang as well as his counterparts in South Korea, Russia, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and IAEA, to discuss the pending crisis on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea moves to dismantle surveillance gear and restart its nuclear reactors.

:   China and the United States hold the 13th Sino-U.S. dialogue on human rights in Beijing.  The last round took place in Washington, D.C. in Oct. 2001.  The delegation also visits the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

: Commander, U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Fargo visits Beijing, Chengdu, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Ningbo.

: Deputy Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrives in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials on Iraq as part of a four-nation Asia tour.

: U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua sign a Protocol Agreement on Cooperation in Civilian Industrial Technology and Scientific and Technical Information Policy. The agreement will create new opportunities for technology-based entities by facilitating technology partnerships between the United States and China.

: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative releases the 2002 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance.

: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman and Minister of Science and Technology Xu Guanhua sign a Protocol on Cooperation in Agricultural Science and Technology.  The protocol expands current areas of cooperation between the United States and China and encourages further cooperation in the areas of agricultural biology and the agricultural environment.

: Senior level U.S.-China defense talks resume with the convening of the fifth Defense Consultative Talks in Washington, D.C.  Deputy Chief of the PLA General Staff Gen. Xiong Guangkai conducts the DCT with Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.

: Long Yongtu, Chinese vice minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, visits Washington, D.C.

: The second meeting of the China-U.S. Military Maritime-Air Safety working group is held in Qingdao within the framework of the Military Maritime Consultation Agreement.

: A Capstone Delegation of the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University leaves to visit U.S. forces and military universities.
Nov. 29, 2002: The U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and its two support ships arrive in Hong Kong for a routine port call.

: China declines to join the International Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (ICOC), an international pact to prevent proliferation of ballistic missiles adopted by 85 nations at an international conference in The Hague.

: The USS Paul F. Foster makes a port call at China’s northern port city of Qingdao, the first visit by a U.S. ship to a mainland China port since the collision between a U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter on April 1, 2001.

: The USS Constellation aircraft carrier and six other warships in its battle group arrive in Hong Kong for a routine port call.

: U.S. Secretary of State Powell briefs Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan by phone on the situation in Iraq.

: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman “resolutely objects” to the Taiwan-related provisions in the U.S. defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2003, claiming that they “wantonly interfere in the PRC’s internal affairs.”

: The U.S. congratulates Hu Jintao on becoming Chinese Communist Party general secretary and declares that it looks forward to working with the new leadership in Beijing.

: Liu Jieyi, director general of the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivers the luncheon keynote address at the Carnegie International Non-Proliferation Conference in Washington, D.C.

: Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly makes his second trip to China in a month for consultations on matters related to the Korean Peninsula as well as other regional and bilateral issues.

:  The First Sino-U.S. Narcotics Control Strategic Intelligence Sharing Conference is held in accordance with agreements China and the United States reached at a meeting on law enforcement cooperation in Washington, D.C. during March 2002.
Nov. 8, 2002:  China votes in favor of U.S.-backed resolution demanding unfettered access for UN inspectors in Iraq.

: President Jiang Zemin visits President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, marking the third summit between the two leaders.  They hold a joint press conference following their talks.

: A State Department spokesman announces that the next round of the China Human Rights Dialogue will be held the week of Dec. 16.

: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft visits China for talks with PRC officials on law enforcement in the war on terror and announces the opening of an FBI liaison office in Beijing.

: President Jiang arrives in the United States for a four-day visit to Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Texas.

: U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Chinese State Development Planning Commission Minister Zeng Peiyan witness the signing of Sino-U.S. commercial cooperative agreements in New York City on projects in petrochemicals, telecommunications, energy, and other sectors.

: China issues new regulations governing the export of military equipment, special production facilities, and materials, technologies, and services for military purposes.

:   Beijing issues new regulations entitled “Administrative Rules on the Export Control of Relevant Chemicals and Related Equipment and Technologies.”

: A symposium of Chinese and American World War II veterans is held in Washington, D.C.

: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is interviewed by Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV on the eve of President Jiang Zemin’s arrival in the United States.

: U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bolton and Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly hold consultations with counterparts in Beijing on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

: China issues new export control regulations governing the export of Dual-Use Biological Agents and Related Equipment and Technologies.

: The China-U.S. Symposium on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Law Enforcement opens in Wuhan.  The symposium is sponsored by the State IPR Bureau in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Commission of Patents and Trademarks.

: U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Paul Gaffney, president of the U.S. National Defense University, heading a delegation of seven officers and academics from NDU, meets Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian during a tour of Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.

: The Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor releases the 2002 Report on International Religious Freedom.  The Chinese government is criticized for harassing and repressing unregistered religious groups and mistreating Falungong adherents.

: The Congressional Executive Commission on China releases its annual report on human rights and the rule of law in China.

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