China appeared keen yesterday to avoid a brawl with the US over trade and currency stances, brushing aside US President Barack Obama’s criticisms and stressing that the world’s two biggest economies share a stake in stable ties.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin (劉振民) did not directly address Obama’s comment on Sunday that Washington was fed up with China’s trade and currency practices.
“The meaning of President Obama’s comments is a question that you should ask the White House and the State Department spokespeople,” Liu told a news briefing.
Photo: EPA
“China and the United States are also economic partners, each of which is important to the other,” Liu told a briefing about Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s (溫家寶) attendance at ASEAN and East Asia summits in Bali, Indonesia, this week.
The East Asia Summit will be the first attended by a US president. Obama will meet Wen during the meetings, Liu said.
“I think that along with the development of economic globalization and the development of Asia-Pacific regional cooperation, China and the United States have massive potential to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation,” he said.
Tension had been building in the lead-up to the annual APEC forum gathering over a proposed US-led free-trade deal that Washington wants as a counterbalance to Chinese influence, but which China sees as an attempt to force it to play by US rules.
A day after talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during the APEC summit in Hawaii, Obama used some of his toughest language yet against Beijing. He urged it to take on the responsibilities of a “grown up” economy and stop “gaming the system.”
Meanwhile, ASEAN nations yesterday backed away from establishing a united front against China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, as Beijing warned against the initiative.
The Philippines is pushing for a joint stand on the issue among ASEAN leaders meeting on Bali this week, according to an internal document obtained by reporters.
China has caused disquiet in Washington and Asian capitals with its claim to all of the South China Sea, a region that encompasses vital shipping lanes and which is believed to sit atop vast oil and mineral reserves.
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