Lieberman warns Beijing to take currency bill as warning
"I think it should be taken very seriously here in Beijing," Lieberman said after meeting with leaders of China's legislature, the National People's Congress.
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved by a 20-1 vote a bill that would require the administration to pursue currency manipulation cases before the International Monetary Fund.
Critics contend Beijing keeps its currency, the yuan, undervalued by up to 40 percent, giving its exporters an unfair price advantage and adding to its multibillion-dollar trade surplus.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other officials are trying to forestall drastic action by Congress. Paulson is leading a "strategic economic dialogue" with Beijing over currency and other disputes, and says it is producing results.
"I said I thought the vote on the currency legislation should be taken as a warning, and to the extent that it is possible to accelerate the appreciation of the currency here, it would be a step in the right direction," Lieberman said after meeting with Chinese legislators.
The communist Beijing government has eased controls on the yuan and says it is pursuing other reforms sought by Washington. But it says moving too abruptly will cause financial turmoil.
Lieberman, an independent who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, was due to meet later with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials. He was not scheduled to meet with Chinese leaders or senior trade officials.
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