BEIJING--China wants to quell tensions with the United States through quiet talk, not shouting matches, senior officials told White House advisers on Tuesday, saying the two powers should focus on repairing the global economy.
The Chinese officials made the conciliatory public comments in meetings with visiting U.S. National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and Deputy National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon.
Washington and Beijing are drawn together by economic and diplomatic interests, but this year has brought bouts of friction over Internet policy, Tibet, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, China's currency and Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. The gaping U.S. trade deficit with China, worth $226.9 billion in 2009, also causes rancour in Washington.
U.S. officials have said Chinese President Hu Jintao is likely to visit the United States early next year--an important but tricky political trophy for him--and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo stressed hopes for an amicable atmosphere. "Quiet and in-depth dialogue is better than loud haranguing," Dai told Summers and Donilon, in remarks made in the presence of reporters as the two sides sat down for talks.
As a State Councillor, Dai advises leaders. His ranking in the ruling Communist Party makes him more powerful within the government than Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
Later in the day, China's head of government, Premier Wen Jiabao, told the two advisers to President Barack Obama that the two countries should focus on reviving the world economy. "The pressing task now is overcoming the hardships and damage brought by the international financial crisis and promoting global economic stabilisation and recovery," Wen said, according to Chinese radio news. "China and the United States must strive together to appropriately settle the related problems. The dominant current in China-U.S. relations is one of dialogue and cooperation."
Summers and Donilon also took an upbeat public tone. Summers told Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Monday that Obama "has emphasised for us the importance he attaches to a very strong relationship between the United States and China and to President Hu's upcoming visit to the United States."
The conciliatory comments from Chinese officials indicated that Beijing wants to keep friction in check, even if deep differences remain.