In a joint statement after a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the United States and China said that they would hold their next human rights dialogue this summer in Washington.
The United States and China "affirmed their commitment to continuing constructive bilateral dialogue on human rights on the basis of equality and mutual respect," the statement said.
The United States and China have been holding such talks each year. Some activists criticise the meetings, saying they have shown no concrete results and allow Beijing to say it is discussing human rights while keeping the issue on the margins of its relationship with the United States.
Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner were visiting Beijing for the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the main forum for talks between the world`s two largest economies.
The long-planned meetings were overshadowed by a row over activist Chen Guangcheng, who took refuge in the US embassy last week but left Wednesday in a controversial deal between the United States and China.
US officials said that China agreed to ensure Chen's safety and that he never requested asylum. But the activist has since said that he does not feel safe and wants to go to the United States.
China and the United States started the human rights dialogue in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square clampdown in 1989, in which authorities killed hundreds if not thousands of protesters.
China suspended the dialogue in 2002 in anger over US criticism at the United Nations of its rights record. But it resumed the talks in 2008 ahead of the Beijing Olympics and has been holding them annually since 2010.
(H-RN)Â
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
