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US, China Vow to Improve Cooperation
BEIJING — Jul 9, 2014, 1:23 AM ET
By BRADLEY KLAPPER Associated Press
The United States and China vowed Wednesday to improve their economic and security cooperation, saying they wouldn't let persistent differences over maritime claims, cyberhacking and currency hamper a relationship critical to global peace and prosperity.
Opening this year's "Strategic and Economic Dialogue," Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to avoid confrontation between nations accounting for a quarter of the world's people and a third of the global economy.
His theme was largely echoed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, leaders of an American delegation that also included Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and three other Obama administration Cabinet members.
Nevertheless, the next two days are a test of whether the annual high-level talks can produce tough compromises or just serve as a venue to talk about greater cooperation.
Washington hopes to secure closer coordination with China against climate change, an end to Chinese industrial cyberespionage against American companies and stricter rules governing territorial claims in Asia's contested, resource-rich seas.
Xi made clear China wouldn't be pushed around.
"The vast Pacific Ocean has ample space to accommodate our two great nations," he said through an interpreter.
Differences between the U.S. and China, he said, were "natural." Yet he said the only path forward was respect for each other's sovereignty and to "refrain from imposing your will or model on other side." And in a reference to China's territorial disputes with its neighbors, he said the U.S. must respect Chinese "territorial integrity."
American allies Japan and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have become increasingly worried by Chinese efforts to drill for oil or assert authority in waters they consider their own. China also has tried to enforce control over contested airspace.
For its part, the U.S. says it takes no sides on whose claims are valid. But its effort to establish rules for settling the disputes has gained no ground with Beijing.
From Washington, President Barack Obama released a statement hailing the 35th anniversary of U.S.-Chinese diplomatic relations and referenced a pledge he made with Xi at a summit last year in California to establish a "new model" of superpower cooperation.
In Beijing, in the Diaoyutai guest house where former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret talks in the 1970s laid the groundwork for today's relationship, Kerry emphasized "a new model is not defined in words."
"It is defined in actions," Kerry said. "The new model will be defined by the choices we can make together."
All told, U.S. and Chinese officials will canvass 60 topics through Thursday. Economic friction centers on the valuation of China's currency and claims by American companies of unfair market restrictions in China — issues raised by Lew in his opening remarks. Strategic discussions include the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea.
On climate change, the world's two biggest carbon emitters announced eight new projects aimed at capturing and storing carbon, and setting up more efficient energy grids.
They also agreed to stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and to study gas use in industrial boilers.
US, China Vow to Improve Cooperation - ABC News
Bad news for our Vietnamese friends. LOL
BEIJING — Jul 9, 2014, 1:23 AM ET
By BRADLEY KLAPPER Associated Press
The United States and China vowed Wednesday to improve their economic and security cooperation, saying they wouldn't let persistent differences over maritime claims, cyberhacking and currency hamper a relationship critical to global peace and prosperity.
Opening this year's "Strategic and Economic Dialogue," Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to avoid confrontation between nations accounting for a quarter of the world's people and a third of the global economy.
His theme was largely echoed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, leaders of an American delegation that also included Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen and three other Obama administration Cabinet members.
Nevertheless, the next two days are a test of whether the annual high-level talks can produce tough compromises or just serve as a venue to talk about greater cooperation.
Washington hopes to secure closer coordination with China against climate change, an end to Chinese industrial cyberespionage against American companies and stricter rules governing territorial claims in Asia's contested, resource-rich seas.
Xi made clear China wouldn't be pushed around.
"The vast Pacific Ocean has ample space to accommodate our two great nations," he said through an interpreter.
Differences between the U.S. and China, he said, were "natural." Yet he said the only path forward was respect for each other's sovereignty and to "refrain from imposing your will or model on other side." And in a reference to China's territorial disputes with its neighbors, he said the U.S. must respect Chinese "territorial integrity."
American allies Japan and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, have become increasingly worried by Chinese efforts to drill for oil or assert authority in waters they consider their own. China also has tried to enforce control over contested airspace.
For its part, the U.S. says it takes no sides on whose claims are valid. But its effort to establish rules for settling the disputes has gained no ground with Beijing.
From Washington, President Barack Obama released a statement hailing the 35th anniversary of U.S.-Chinese diplomatic relations and referenced a pledge he made with Xi at a summit last year in California to establish a "new model" of superpower cooperation.
In Beijing, in the Diaoyutai guest house where former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret talks in the 1970s laid the groundwork for today's relationship, Kerry emphasized "a new model is not defined in words."
"It is defined in actions," Kerry said. "The new model will be defined by the choices we can make together."
All told, U.S. and Chinese officials will canvass 60 topics through Thursday. Economic friction centers on the valuation of China's currency and claims by American companies of unfair market restrictions in China — issues raised by Lew in his opening remarks. Strategic discussions include the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea.
On climate change, the world's two biggest carbon emitters announced eight new projects aimed at capturing and storing carbon, and setting up more efficient energy grids.
They also agreed to stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and to study gas use in industrial boilers.
US, China Vow to Improve Cooperation - ABC News
Bad news for our Vietnamese friends. LOL
