China and the US need to manage their differences, the leaders of both countries said yesterday at the start of annual talks expected to focus on cybersecurity, maritime disputes, the Chinese currency and an investment treaty.
The two-day talks — called the Strategic and Economic Dialogue — in Beijing will be an opportunity for the world’s two biggest economies to dial down tensions after months of bickering over a host of issues, experts have said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew chair the US delegation, with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (汪洋) and top diplomat Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) leading the Chinese side.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said Sino-US cooperation was of vital importance to the global community.
“China-US confrontation, to the two countries and the world, would definitely be a disaster,” he told the opening ceremony at a government guesthouse in the west of the city.
“We should mutually respect and treat each other equally, and respect the other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect each other’s choice on the path of development,” he said.
Rising tensions between China and some nations in the South China Sea and with Japan in the East China Sea along with US charges over hacking and Internet spying have provoked ire on both sides of the Pacific in recent months.
In a statement released as the talks began, US President Barack Obama said Washington was committed to building a “new model” of relations with China that is defined by cooperation and the constructive management of differences.
“The United States welcomes the emergence of a stable, peaceful, and prosperous China,” Obama said. “We remain determined to ensure that cooperation defines the overall relationship.”
A senior US administration official said discussions between Kerry and senior Chinese officials included candid discussions over human rights, maritime disputes and cyberespionage.
“The secretary made the case to the Chinese for the wisdom of getting back to work in the cyber working group,” the official said, referring to talks which were suspended in May when the US charged five Chinese military officers with hacking.
“He made clear that we are very much of the view that these issues are sufficiently important to warrant us rolling up our sleeves and tackling them,” the official said.
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