HOUSTON -- Former US Secretary of State James Baker said Thursday that those people in the United States who see the rise of China as a threat are "dangerously wrong."

The United States and China have broad fields to cooperate in, including trade, energy, regional security in Asia, among others, he said while receiving the Roy M. Huffington Award for Contribution to International Understanding granted by the Asia Society.

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Baker, who served as secretary of state under George Bush, gave a speech focusing on US-China relations, stressing that the two countries have more common interests than differences.

Cooperation between the two countries is set to expand, he said, noting that it is important to keep communication channels open and sometime to make compromise when differences occur.

Y. Ping Sun, a native of Shanghai who currently serves as representative of Rice University and also holds leading positions in a number of Houston community organizations, received the Asian American Leadership Award.

Former US President George Bush and his wife Barbara Bush, through a video footage, congratulated the two award recipients and praised their work.

The Asia Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1956 and headquartered in New York, focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world.

Last year, the Asia Society Texas Center presented the Asian American Leadership Award to Chinese basketball star Yao Ming.