The U.S. - China Senior Dialogue (the Chinese called it Sino-U.S. Strategic Talks) between Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo concluded its meeting on June 21. It was the fourth such dialogue since it was first held in August 2005 in Beijing The meeting discussed issues which include Iran's nuclear ambitions, Sudan's racial violence, Beijing's military spending and human rights. Of course, Taiwan is an unavoidable issue.An editorial in the China Post stated that although no breakthroughs or concrete results have been produced from such dialogue, the relationship between the two sides has become closer as a result and such talks have often made international headlines, giving China a lot of publicity and making the country a major player in the world's arena. It concludes
For the mainland, the dialogue provides an opportunity to cement ties with Washington -- Taiwan's most important ally and supporter. For the United States, the dialogue is useful for it to discuss matters for which it needs China's help: Iran, North Korea and Darfur, for example. In either case, Taiwan is marginalized.. (Source: China Post, Jun 23, 2007).