BEIJING (AFP) -
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte headed for talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday as US diplomats pressured Beijing over the arrests of an AIDS campaigner and other activists.




Negroponte arrived in China as the United States expressed concern over the arrest of the high-profile Hu Jia and the detentions of journalists, social activists and lawyers advocating greater rights.


"These actions... appear to be part of an escalating trend to target attorneys, journalists and other individuals who advocate for the rights of their fellow citizens," US embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson told AFP.


"We urge China to cease such arrests and detentions and take steps to release political prisoners already detained or serving sentences."


The United States has also raised with Beijing the detention of Hu and expressed concerns over the house arrest of his wife, she said.


"As the 2008 Olympics approach, we urge China to seize the opportunity to put its best face forward and respect the universal principles of human rights, including freedom of expression," Stevenson said.


She said it was not certain that Negroponte would raise the Hu case again in his talks.


Following Negroponte's meeting with Wen, he was scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, officials said.





He will then hold the "US-China Strategic Dialogue" with Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo in the southwestern city of Guiyang on Thursday, they said.



The dialogue, first held in 2005, covers contentious bilateral issues such as human rights and China's growing trade surplus, as well as a range of broader topics including regional security, the environment, Iran and Darfur.


"Based on the effectiveness of the previous four meetings, the two sides will continue to exchange views on Sino-US relations and important international and regional issues," China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told journalists ahead of the talks.


Last month, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson held "strategic economic" talks to air US concerns over an undervalued Chinese yuan and alleged unfair trade practices that are boosting China's huge trade surplus with the US.


China also voiced concerns that the weakening dollar was having a negative effect on its 1.5 trillion dollars in foreign reserves, much of which is parked in US treasury bills.


Also here on Tuesday, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet Timothy Keating raised concerns over China's military build-up and urged Beijing to clarify its intentions, which appear aimed at retaking Taiwan through force.


"China's military is developing very impressively," Keating told journalists.


"We are concerned about the development of long-range cruise and ballistic missiles, we are concerned about their anti-satellite technology (and) we are concerned about area denial weapons."