Foreign and Military Affairs

US must act with more caution: Yang

By Qin Jize and He Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-31 09:10

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to creat a better atmosphere ahead of the upcoming G20 Summit and President Hu Jintao's visit to the US in January 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

HANOI - Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi has called on the United States to stop making irresponsible remarks and to act with caution on the Diaoyu Islands issue.

While meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, Yang urged Washington to respect Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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He reaffirmed China's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and urged the United States to exercise caution on a highly sensitive issue.

Yang said China would like to work with the United States to better Sino-US relations along a positive, cooperative and comprehensive track.

Both Yang and Clinton pledged to create a favorable atmosphere for the upcoming meeting at the G20 Summit in Seoul, and President Hu Jintao's scheduled visit to the US in January.

AFP quoted US sources as saying the two officials also discussed China's export of rare earth.

The meeting came amid flare-ups between Beijing and Washington on a number of issues, the latest of which was the US inclusion of the Diaoyu Islands into a US-Japan security treaty.

Later on Saturday, Clinton had reportedly scheduled a stop in South China's Hainan Island to meet State Councilor Dai Bingguo and discuss a number of issues. But there was no further confirmation by press time.

Analysts said both sides have an interest in cooling critical rhetoric, as Sino-US relations have entered a phase where common interests surpass divergence.

The current rows over security and economy fit a consistent pattern of the complicated ties, said Jin Canrong, a professor of Sino-US relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

"China and the US are able to keep the ties on track because the relationship is that of competition, not hostility," said Jin.

"Major problems such as economic recovery, anti-terrorism, non-proliferation and climate change will require the coordinated efforts from both sides."

State Councilor Dai Bingguo's planned meeting with Clinton in Hainan reflected a joint effort to make the relationship more flexible, said Niu Xinchun, a US studies specialist at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

"China and the US were inept at resolving disputes in the past. That is why they used to solely rely on multilateral mechanisms for exchange of views," Niu said, "but now both sides are able to sit down and talk when necessary, which is a clear sign the relationship is on the upswing."

The key to a benign Sino-US relationship is, therefore, to resort to a "soft-landing" on sensitive issues that might undermine the bilateral ties, said Gong Li, a researcher on US studies at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.