Chinese state councilor meets Trump on bilateral ties

Visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House's Oval Office on Friday, calling for the two sides to manage disputes and enhance coordination on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

Trump expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation with China to boost bilateral ties.

MANAGING DISPUTES

Sending Trump the sincere regards of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Yang said the two nations should manage and control their disputes and sensitive issues properly, and implement the consensus reached by Trump and Xi during their meeting last November in Beijing.

The two presidents agreed during their Beijing meeting that China and the United States have wide-ranging common interests and the significant responsibilities of securing world peace, prosperity and stability, Yang said.

Yang said Xi and Trump have mapped out the future direction of bilateral efforts in their close contacts via telephone calls and letters, in which the two top leaders said they wanted to accelerate bilateral cooperation in multiple areas.

In the meeting, Yang also urged the two sides to increase coordination on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

The situation on the peninsula has been undergoing positive changes recently as South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are using the PyeongChang Winter Olympics to resume dialogue.

Washington has maintained its so-called "maximum pressure" campaign against Pyongyang, yet so far the strategy has not achieved the expected results.

Yang is on a two-day visit to Washington at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The two top-level diplomats met on Thursday, reaching consensus on holding the four dialogue channels this year to make a bigger cake of cooperation in the economic and trade areas.

The dialogues between the largest developing country and the largest developed country are important, said Joseph Nye, professor at Harvard University, in an earlier interview with Xinhua.

"I think the more the Chinese and Americans have contact with each other and understand each other, the less likely they are to have worst case analysis of the other," Nye said.

STRENGTHENING COOPERATION

For his part, Trump conveyed his sincere regards to Xi, saying U.S.-China relations are very important, and Washington is willing to strengthen cooperation with Beijing to further promote bilateral ties.

Saying his state visit last November to China was a huge success, Trump said he agreed the two sides should fully implement the consensus he had reached with Xi during their meeting in Beijing.

After a year of steady development in China-U.S. ties, boosted by successful face-to-face meetings and frequent phone conversations between Xi and Trump, bilateral relations have been facing several challenges since the end of 2017 after some worrisome moves on Washington's part.

There were also reports that Washington is considering tough protectionist measures against China, one of the largest trade partners of the United States, to address the country's rising trade deficit, triggering widespread worries about a possible trade war from which no winner will emerge.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon said the Trump administration "has to keep his and America's expectations reasonable on the front" of the trade deficit.

"China has done remarkable things, it's a low-cost manufacturer, and it deserves credit for its progress there. You're not going to eliminate the trade deficit in any way, shape or form," he said.