China heads off US questions on human rightsOn eve of official visit, President Hu Jintao says that the two states should not interfere in each other's domestic agenda
Ewen MacAskill in Washington guardian.co.uk, Sunday 16 January 2011 20.42 GMT Article history
The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, acknowledged in a rare interview that there were 'issues' between his country and the US. Photograph: Darren Whiteside/Reuters
The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, has held out the prospect of a clash with President Barack Obama over human rights when the two meet at the White House on Wednesday.
Hu, in a rare interview with the western media, told the Washington Post that the US and China should respect each other's route to development – code for not interfering in each other's domestic agenda. The White House said last week that Obama would raise the issue of China's poor human rights record at the meeting.
Hu arrives in Washington for the start of a four-day visit to the US on Tuesday. Since Obama became president in January 2009, he has pivoted US foreign policy to make Asia in general and China in particular his main priority.
For the first time in US history, Washington now regards Asia as more important than Europe, a recognition of Beijing's increasing influence in the Pacific and round the world.
But relations have been strained over the last year, with the US angry over what it sees as China's failure to use its influence over North Korea to prevent repeated confrontations with South Korea, and its unwillingness to tackle the discrepancy between the Chinese currency, the yuan, and the dollar. Washington accuses China of currency manipulation that is impacting on US jobs.
In an interview conducted under strict terms, with questions put by the Post and the Wall Street Journal in writing and with written answers in return, Hu acknowledged there were problems.
"There is no denying that there are some differences and sensitive issues between us. We both stand to gain from a sound China-US relationship, and lose from confrontation," he said. But he added the two countries should "respect each other's choice of development path".
Hu said there must be political reform in China to "meet people's growing enthusiasm for participating in political affairs", but he added: "We will define the institutions, standards and procedures for socialist democracy, expand people's ordinary participation in political affairs at each level and in every field, mobilise and organise the people as extensively as possible, and strive for continued progress in building socialist political civilisation."
Hu is to be met on arrival in Washington by the vice-president, Joe Biden, and will hold a joint press conference with Obama at the White House on Wednesday after the talks. It is a state visit, in contrast with a relatively low-key affair in 2006 when President George W Bush limited the occasion to lunch.
On the sensitive issue of currency, Hu offered no hint of compromise, other than to say the international community should now work to "move toward the establishment of a fair, just, inclusive and well-managed international financial order" and "build a new and more equal and balanced global partnership" that would address the disparities between the developed world and poorer countries, which he called "the north and the south".
On North Korea, he insisted China had "made relentless efforts" to calm tensions on the Korean peninsula and there have been signs of relaxation.
At a White House briefing on Friday, the national security adviser, Tom Donilon, said Obama and Hu would discuss security and political issues, such as North Korea, Iran and Sudan, as well as economic issues.
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