BOSTON >> The U.S. and China pledged Saturday to overcome mistrust, manage their differences and cooperate on key issues like combatting terrorism and the spread of the Ebola virus as President Barack Obama prepares to travel to the Chinese capital next month.
Meeting
in Boston, Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese State Councillor
Yang Jiechi said the relationship between the two countries is mature
enough to discuss disagreements while building on areas of shared
interest.
"There
are many issues that China and the United States are cooperating on,
even as we have some differences that we try to manage effectively,"
Kerry told reporters as he began a second day of talks with Yang.
Yang, noting that Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping had made improved relations a priority, agreed.
"We
believe that we should continue to work together to deepen our mutual
trust and to put our efforts to major areas of cooperation while, on the
basis of mutual respect, we can properly handle many kinds of
difference between us," he said.
Washington
and Beijing have recently clashed over matters including territorial
disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea,
pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, alleged Chinese cyber spying and
human rights.
A senior
State Department involved in the meetings said those issues were
discussed in a noncombative but direct and candid way in which Kerry
believed Yang had given him a "full and careful hearing." The official
said any progress in those areas would likely be incremental. The
official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized
to discuss the diplomatic exchange by name.
Kerry
noted that the two countries are working together on efforts to rein in
nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea and have a common goal in
curbing Islamist extremism, climate change and Ebola.
China is
among several countries the Obama administration has implored to step up
efforts to fight the Ebola virus by contributing more to the
international campaign to stop its spread from the source in West
Africa.
Kerry is
hosting Yang in his hometown for two days of discussions ahead of
Obama's trip to Beijing for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in
November. On Friday, Kerry opened his home in Boston's tony Beacon Hill
neighborhood to Yang for a dinner. Kerry and Yang finished their talks
with a tour of the Adams' family home in nearby Quincy, where the second
and sixth presidents of the United States, John and John Quincy Adams,
lived.
The
senior State Department official said the informal nature of the
discussions allowed for a more robust discussion than the formally
structured dialogue that the sides normally have.
The
meetings follow talks in Washington earlier this month between Kerry and
China's foreign minister during which they aired differences over Hong
Kong.
After his
meetings with Yang on Saturday, Kerry will travel to Indonesia for the
inauguration on Monday of its new president, Joko Widodo, who won a July
election.
On Tuesday, Kerry will go to Berlin to meet with Germany's foreign minister before returning to Washington.
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