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Kerry visit to help “eliminate doubts between two countries”: Chinese FM
January 27, 2016, 6:39 am

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 27, 2016 [Xinhua]

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 27, 2016 [Xinhua]

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks in Beijing on Wednesday morning.

Kerry is on a two-day visit to Beijing beginning Tuesday. Wang said he hoped Kerry’s visit would help “eliminate doubts between the two countries”.

“As two permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States and China, the largest developed country and the largest developing country, should work for consensus on a lot of issues,” Wang told Kerry.

In his opening remarks, Kerry said that China and the United States have been able to find a level of new cooperation with respect to a number of issues, including the Iranian nuclear issue, climate change, Afghanistan and Ebola.

The two sides also have several important issues that they need to move forward on, Kerry added, including North Korea’s nuclear program and the South China Sea issue.

“Clearly we have several important issues that we need to find the way forward on”, Kerry told Wang.

China had last week criticised remarks by US State Department officials urging China to do more on the North Korean tests as “irresponsible”, saying Beijing has made great efforts to achieve denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

Samantha Power, Washington’s envoy to the UN has said China and the US have not yet reached an agreement on the UNSC draft resolution against Pyongyang.

China and the US are locked in competition over trade and over military and diplomatic influence in the region

Before his China tour, Kerry visited Laos and Cambodia.

 

TBP and Agencies