Press Release

June 5, 2013
Cardin Urges President Obama To Engage Chinese President Xi Jinping In A Constructive And Honest Dialogue During Upcoming Summit

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) has written to President Barack Obama in advance of the President’s meetings June 7-8 in California with President Xi Jinping of China. Senator Cardin visited Beijing, as well as Seoul and Tokyo, during the Memorial Day work period for his first trip to Asia as Chairman of the SFRC Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.

 

“I am pleased to see that you and President Xi have committed to building a positive bilateral relationship, which will allow the United States and China to pursue cooperative solutions to regional and global challenges,” Senator Cardin wrote.  “The United States and China are well poised to work together on global climate change and environmental issues…; to promote positive progress on North Korea denuclearization; and to ensure robust implementation of sanctions against Iran.”

 

Senator Cardin noted the June 4th anniversary of the violent crackdown on political dissidents at Tiananmen Square and encouraged dialogue on China’s respect for universally accepted human rights norms.  Senator Cardin said: “I am hopeful that your summit with President Xi will usher in a new era of U.S.-China engagement and cooperation, while also fostering constructive and honest dialogue on human rights and civil liberties issues.” The Senator urged President Obama to “encourage President Xi to make meaningful progress on his proposed reforms, and to take further steps to abolish China’s most egregious policies.”

 

The full text of the letter follows.

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