JOIN USThe US intends to raise a number of issues during the two-day meeting scheduled to be held on May 13 and May 14, including Tibet and internet freedom.
"We raise a number of issues in any discussion that we have with China. We raise human rights in all of our high- level meetings. But in this one, we will be talking about religious freedom, rule of law, and expect to have a candid discussion," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said.
Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner would lead the US delegation while the Chinese delegation would be headed by Chen Xu, Director General for International Organizations in Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The Chinese government should not be intimidating the legal profession or denying the right of counsel to any of its citizens," Crowley said in response to a question.
"I'm sure that the broader topic of Internet freedom and the availability of information to Chinese citizens. You know, we disagree with China as to what that represents. I would expect that to come up, yes," he said.
Corwley said that the US has wrestled with these issues with China ever since its relations were normalised. "We've seen certain progress on some fronts, and we continue to have concerns in other areas. So it is central to our relationship and central to the broad dialogue that we have with China," Crowley said.