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Discussions continue today in Washington D.C between high-level government officials from the United States and China. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner joined with their Chinese counterparts Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo for the two-day session deemed as a “Strategic and Economic Dialogue.” Clinton opened the gathering yesterday morning with remarks outlining an encompassing agenda that included issues of shared interest for the two governments such as the global economic downturn, climate change, and nuclear proliferation. President Barack Obama followed in a statement saying, “The relationship between the United States and China will shape the 21st century, which makes it as important as any bilateral relationship in the world.” A continuation of talks first initiated by the Bush administration, this week’s Security and Economic Dialogue is not likely to produce formal policy agreements. Serious concerns and how best to go about them surround the U.S. trade deficit with China, the largest between any two nations, as well as Chinese holdings in U.S. Treasury debt.

GUEST: Robert Weil, author of Red Cat, White Cat: China and the Contradictions of ‘Market Socialism