Full Text

April 1, 2009: President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama meet in London on the margins of the G20 financial summit. April 2, 2009: Vice Premier Wang Qishan meets with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in London after the closing of the G20 financial summit. April 5, 2009: Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi talks by phone to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss North Korea’s missile launch. April 7, 2009: The U.S. Treasury bans the Chinese firm LIMMT Economic and Trade Company, Ltd. and six Iranian companies from doing business in the U.S. on the grounds they were suspected of collaborating on a scheme to transfer nuclear technology from China to Iran. The Treasury also ordered their assets to be frozen. April 8, 2009: Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo meets Sen. John McCain in Beijing. April 9, 2009: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman denies Chinese cyber-spies are hacking into America’s electrical grid. April 9, 2009: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says that China opposes U.S. sanctions on a Chinese company that allegedly supported Iran’s nuclear programs. April 11, 2009: Chinese State Councilor and Politburo member Liu Yandong leaves Beijing for an official visit to the United States. She meets Education Secretary Anne Duncan and signs a ∗ Chronology by CSIS interns Gao Dexiang and Lyle Morris U.S.-China Relations 34 July 2009 Joint Statement on Exchange and Cooperation in Higher Education and a joint bilateral work plan. Liu also meets Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. April 15-16, 2009: U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke visits China. April 15, 2009: In its semi-annual report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies, the U.S. Treasury Department says that China is not manipulating its currency to increase its exports. April 18, 2009: Premier Wen Jiabao meets former President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province. April 19, 2009: U.S. missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrives in Qingdao to attend an international fleet review on April 23 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. April 21, 2009: U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead meets his counterpart Adm. Wu Shengli and Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie in Qingdao. April 27, 2009: A White Paper on the State of American Business released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China calls for the U.S. government to carry out a review and revision of "antiquated export control regulations." April 27, 2009: Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan summons Deputy Chief of Mission Dan Piccuta to protest the filing of two U.S. trade cases against China. April 27, 2009: Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming meets U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in Washington DC for an in-depth exchange of views on the further development of Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations. April 28, 2009: Chinese and U.S. firms, including China Mobile, Lenovo, Amway, Cisco, Dell, Emerson, EMC, Ford, Freescale and Hewlett-Packard, sign 32 trade and investment contracts worth some $10.6 billion at the end of the China-U.S. Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum. April 29, 2009: The U.S. Department of Commerce launches anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into specific types of Chinese steel pipes used in oil and gas drilling. May 1, 2009: The U.S. surveillance ship USNS Victorious is involved in a confrontation with Chinese fishing boats in the Yellow Sea. The Pentagon claims the ship was engaged in routine operations in international waters but China insists that the activity was illegal. May 1, 2009: Secretary Clinton voices concerns about gains made in Latin America by Iran and China, including strong economic and political connections with many of the region’s leaders. U.S.-China Relations 35 July 2009 May 4, 2009: Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that China’s buildup of sea and air military power appears aimed at the United States. May 6, 2009: President Hu and President Obama discuss bilateral relations, North Korea, South Asia, and the H1N1 flu epidemic during a telephone conversation. May 14, 2009: Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei and Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg hold political consultations in Washington DC on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual concern. May 15, 2009: U.S. lawmakers from the U.S.-China Working Group unveil four bills to “invest in America’s economic future” that are aimed at fostering closer relations with China on matters like trade, climate change, energy, and to boost Chinese language teaching in the U.S. May 16, 2009: President Obama nominates Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to be the new U.S. ambassador to China. May 19, 2009: Foreign Ministry spokesman protests the “Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 and 2011 (H.R.2410)” introduced by U.S. Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saying that it meddles in China’s domestic issues of Taiwan, Tibet, and Hong Kong. May 23, 2009: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departs for Beijing, leading a delegation composed of four Democrats and one Republican, all members of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. May 23, 2009: Scott Gration, the US president’s newly appointed special envoy on Sudan, begins a visit to China and other countries. May 27, 2009: President Hu meets House Speaker Pelosi in Beijing. May 30, 2009: Lt Gen. Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the General Staff of the PLA, meets Secretary Gates on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. May 31-June 2, 2009: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visits China to prepare for the first round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in July. He meets President Hu. June 2, 2009: General Motors agrees to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong – a heavy industrial machinery company based in Chengdu, China – as part of its financial restructuring program. The deal is reportedly worth over $500 million. June 3, 2009: Anne-Marie Slaughter, director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Department travels to Beijing for consultations with MFA counterpart Le Yucheng and also meets Deputy Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying. U.S.-China Relations 36 July 2009 June 3, 2009: Presidents Hu and Obama hold a telephone conversation. They both commit to strengthening bilateral ties and discuss the situation on the Korean Peninsula. June 4, 2009: On the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Secretary Clinton calls on China to “reflect upon the meaning of the events that preceded that day,” and “provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.” June 5, 2009: Deputy Secretary Steinberg meets Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, State Counselor Dai Binguo, and Vice Foreign Ministers Wu Dawei and He Yafei, on a trip to discuss policy toward North Korea in the aftermath of its nuclear test. June 7, 2009: Todd Stern, U.S. special envoy for climate change, arrives in Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua. Stern is joined by joined by White House Science Adviser John Holdren and Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow. June 9, 2009: PRC state media publicizes a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology regulation requiring “Green Dam-Youth Escort” Internet-filtering software to be “pre-installed” on all personal computers sold in China as of July 1. June 9, 2009: China’s National People’s Congress and the U.S. House of Representatives wrap up their 10th meeting in Washington DC under a parliamentary exchange mechanism. June 10, 2009: The U.S. releases four of the 17 Uighur prisoners being held in Guantanamo Bay to Bermuda and strikes a deal with Palau to resettle more of the Chinese Muslims. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman demands that the Uighurs be returned to China. June 11, 2009: A Chinese submarine collides with an underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS John S. McCain off the coast of the Philippines. A U.S. military official calls the collision an “inadvertent encounter.” June 11, 2009: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission holds hearings on the implications of China’s naval modernization for the United States. June 12, 2009: Special Envoy for Climate Change Stern says his recent trip to Beijing to discuss U.S.-China climate change issues was “productive” but did not achieve any “breakthroughs.” June 19, 2009: The Chinese government disables some search engine functions on the Chinese-language website of Google, saying it was linking too often to pornographic and vulgar content. June 22-23, 2009: Minister Wang Yi, head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, visits Washington DC for consultations with U.S. officials about Taiwan. June 23-24, 2009: Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and Deputy Chief of the PLA General Staff Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian hold the Defense Consultative Talks in Beijing. U.S.-China Relations 37 July 2009 U.S.-China Relations 38 July 2009 June 23, 2009: The U.S. and European Union file a petition with the WTO accusing China of unfair trade practices, saying it is restricting exports of raw materials to give Chinese manufacturers a competitive advantage. June 25, 2009: The U.S. lodges a formal complaint with the Chinese government over its plan to require all computers sold in China to have web-filtering software, called "Green Dam-Youth Escort," preinstalled by July 1, 2009. June 26, 2009: Kurt M. Campbell is confirmed as United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. June 29, 2009: Sichuan Tengzhong says its plan to buy General Motors Corp.'s Hummer unit is “still being examined,” saying regulatory and governmental approval have not been secured. June 29, 2009: In its annual report on financial stability, the People’s Bank of China reiterates its call for the creation of a new international currency that could replace currencies such as the dollar in countries’ official reserves. June 30, 2009: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announces China will delay mandatory installation of the controversial “Green Dam-Youth Escort” filtering software on all computers sold in China. June 30, 2009: Ambassador Philip Goldberg heads an interagency delegation to Beijing and other countries for talks on implementing UN sanctions against North Korea.