The two-day China-US human rights dialogue starting today in Washington offers a chance for both countries to improve relations.

Despite skepticism from some critics, talks are the most effective way for the two governments to address human rights and other issues.

"Dialogue is better than resistance," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Thursday. "China would like to talk to the US on the basis of equality and mutual respect and I hope this opportunity will increase the understanding of the two nations."

He said the two sides will exchange views on human rights achievements, multilateral cooperation on human rights and other issues.

The US has long taken a harsh stance on China's human rights issues, characterized by lecturing, imposing sanctions, proposing bills to condemn China at UN human rights conferences and linking human rights with trade. But this confrontational approach has not worked well.

"I have seen a lot of stuff in the past that seemed to me to be unproductive and ineffective. When it comes to issues of human rights, I think you have to prioritize effectiveness, because people are suffering when you aren't effective," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a member of the Brookings Institution think tank and senior director for Asia on the US National Security Council from 1998 to 2000.

Liang Shuying, an international law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, said the talks suggest China is ready and willing to show the US how it has specified human rights protection in the Constitution and protected human rights through administrative litigation - although problems still exist in Chinese society.

The US has started to see that its approach is unproductive. It stopped condemning China's human rights record at UN conferences in 2005 and Congress approved permanent normal trade relations status for China in 2000.

The Obama administration clearly favors "principled pragmatism" on China's human rights issues, as outlined by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Georgetown University last December. Clinton said "our principles are our North Star, but our tools and tactics must be flexible and reflect the reality on the ground wherever we are trying to have a positive impact."

Even Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker and a fierce critic of China's human rights record, became more pragmatic by paying a visit to China in early 2009.

The talks are being led by Michael Posner, the US assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and Chen Xu, China's Foreign Affairs Ministry director general for international organizations.

The talks were scheduled for February, but were postponed due to US arms sales to Taiwan and Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama early this year.

Since 1990, the two governments have held 14 rounds of dialogue on human rights, the last in May 2008.

Such talks were suspended for six years from 2002 to 2008 after the US criticized China at a UN human rights conference.

These official talks, as well as unofficial ones involving academics and experts, lay the foundation for solving differences.

China is still a developing country, where rights to basic subsistence, education and medical care are the foremost concern, while the US often tends to focus on political rights.

Law professor Zhu Wenqi of Renmin University of China said disparities in the concept and principles of human rights between the two countries will remain unchanged despite the talks. But they show China is constantly making efforts and progress to promote its transparency on human rights reform.

Despite these differences, US critics of China's human rights, such as Bill Schulz of the Center for American Progress, have also acknowledged the enormous progress China has made in people's social and economic rights, individual freedom, access to information, its tolerance of nongovernmental organizations and its handling of protests.

Yet both China and the US are not perfect when it comes to human rights.

The US, which champions human rights, has shocked the world with abuses in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and its invasion of privacy in the name of the war on terror.

China, which is going through dramatic social and economic changes, has met problems in many fields, including in human rights.

It is wise for both governments to realize that talking with each other in the spirit of equality and mutual respect is the best way to deal with human rights issues.

For China, a more open mindset towards the human rights issue is critical.

"As a major power, China should become more open to accept criticism and supervision from international media not only in its economic arena, but also of its political system," said Sun Zhe, director of the Center for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University.