Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick’s Travel to East Asia

Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick will travel to Laos, Hong Kong, and China July 26th to August 3rd. During Mr. Zoellick’s trip (his second trip to the region in twelve weeks), he will represent the United States at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-Ministerial Conference and the ASEAN Regional Forum in Laos, consult with the new Chief Executive of Hong Kong, and inaugurate a new Senior Dialogue with Chinese counterparts from the Foreign Ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing.

During the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference and Regional Forum in Laos, Deputy Secretary Zoellick will discuss President Bush’s commitment to strengthen our cooperation with ASEAN members on a variety of security, economic, and transnational issues. He will also hold bilateral discussions with several ASEAN ministers on issues of both bilateral and regional concern.

In Hong Kong, the Deputy Secretary will be the first senior U.S. official to meet with Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive, Donald Tsang.

In China, Deputy Secretary Zoellick will take part in a Senior Dialogue that was launched by Presidents Bush and Hu Jintao at last year’s APEC meeting in Chile. This dialogue is intended to assess interests in an integrated fashion, consider points of mutual interest, and discuss how best to manage differences. The discussions with the NDRC will similarly consider the integration of economic topics.

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