TEHRAN, Jul 1 -The Chinese Foreign Ministry says Beijing and Washington should avoid falling into traps of “conflict and confrontation” as they are involved in a wide-ranging area of cooperation and share mutual interests.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - "The two countries have highly integrated interests and extensive cooperation areas, and they should avoid falling into the so-called traps of conflict and confrontation, but should realize mutual promotion and common development," the ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
"We believe that as long as the two sides follow the principles and directions determined by the two heads of state, expand cooperation based on mutual benefit, manage differences on the basis of mutual respect, and properly settle all the problems that exist or are likely to crop up in bilateral relations, there is hope of a long-term and steady growth of the China-US relations, and of more benefit to the two peoples and the people of the world," he added.
Geng also pointed to a draft open letter addressed to US President Donald Trump and the US Congress by some 80 Asian specialists, including former US diplomats and military officers, saying Beijing acknowledged the viewpoints and voices expressed in the letter.
The letter calls on Trump to reconsider policies that “treat China as an enemy.”
Geng’s comments on Monday came after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart held ice-breaking talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka and agreed to a trade war ceasefire as well as a return to bilateral negotiations on resolving tariffs disputes.
During the Saturday meeting in Osaka, the US president pledged not to levy more tariffs on Chinese goods as trade negotiations continued and also softened his stance on the Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Xi, for his part, agreed to increase purchases of American agriculture goods during the negotiations.
Trump had earlier threatened to expand existing US tariffs to cover almost all imports from China into the United States if the Osaka meeting brought no progress.
Trump initiated the trade war with China last year, when he first imposed unusually heavy tariffs on imports from the country. Since then, the two sides have exchanged tariffs on more than 360 billion dollars in two-way trade.
Beijing and Washington have also held talks to settle the issue, but to no avail so far.
Source: Press TV
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