WASHINGTON, Dec 9: The United States and China are eying possible cooperation on such diverse issues as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea, the State Department said after talks among senior officials.
“Without always pursuing the same policies, we can still pursue the same policy goals with complementary approaches,” Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said after the second round of the so-called US-China Senior Dialogue.
Mr Zoellick, who led the US side, said they discussed ‘how China could work with the United States and others on challenges such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea’.
They dwelt on ‘overlapping interests’ in fighting terrorism, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, building energy security, and reducing the risks of pandemic disease, he said.
“We noted that by anticipating challenges and discussing problems openly, including in those areas where we may not agree, we are more likely to advance our mutual interests and manage our differences,” he said in a statement.
Mr Zoellick said the two-day discussions were ‘constructive’ in helping to enhance bilateral cooperation ‘for a more secure and prosperous world that respects human rights and the rule of law’.
Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo led China’s delegation at the meeting, following up on the inaugural strategic talks launched in August in Beijing.
The dialogue arose from a suggestion by Chinese President Hu Jintao to President George Bush a year ago amid US suspicion over China’s rising military might and economic clout, and fierce competition among the two powers for depleting natural resources.
Mr Zoellick said the dialogue could guide cooperation between the United States and China in a number of fields.
On Iran’s disputed nuclear program, a State Department official said although both sides acknowledged that current negotiations with Tehran was ‘the right way to go’, they could not totally agree on how to resolve the issue.
“Now, do we agree on every single aspect of how to implement policies to achieve these goals (on Iran)? Well, not surprisingly, no,” the official said.
China, Russia and, for a while, India have been cool to US moves to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions for its nuclear program.
“But I think it was notable that the goals were similar and that China wants to be seen as acting responsibly with regard to the important issue of nuclear proliferation,” the official said.
Mr Zoellick also said that recent discussions on how the two sides could cooperate in Africa, and ‘on the dangerous mix of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction’, would be expanded to cover other regions — Latin America and South and Central Asia.—AFP
