BEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) – A delegation of U.S. senators visiting Beijing has called for stability and peaceful cooperation between the world’s two largest economies a week before the countries’ leaders meet.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to the Chinese capital to meet President Xi Jinping on May 14 and 15.
“I strongly believe that we want to de-escalate, not decouple. We want stability, we want mutual respect,” Senator Steve Daines, who is leading the bipartisan delegation, said in opening remarks at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday.
The Republican senator said he hoped the leaders’ meeting would result in Boeing jet orders, even as he warned of both countries facing trade issues.
“It’s been about nine years since there was a purchase made of Boeing aircraft here,” he said, according to a media pool report.
China has yet to announce Trump’s visit, saying the two sides maintain communication regarding the trip. Relations between the two powers remain generally stable after striking an uneasy trade truce last October following their leaders’ meeting in South Korea.
Speaking to Daines, Wang said China and the U.S. should be partners rather than rivals, despite their differences, and called on Washington to view Beijing objectively and establish a rational understanding.
“It is hoped that the U.S. could truly respect China’s core interests, properly manage differences, join hands to do more major, practical and good things that are beneficial to the two countries and the world,” Wang was quoted in a statement by his ministry.
In a separate meeting with the U.S. delegation in Beijing, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said China stood ready to enhance exchanges and cooperation with the U.S. side in various areas and expand practical cooperation, according to a pool report.
A stable and predictable China-U.S. economic and trade relationship was in line with the fundamental interests of both countries, Li told Daines, according to state broadcaster CCTV, while also warning that the Taiwan issue was “the first red line in China–U.S. relations that must not be crossed”.
The issue of Taiwan will top Beijing’s agenda for the expected leaders’ meeting this month, a stark departure from the South Korean meeting last year.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and regularly describes it as the most sensitive and important issue in its relations with Washington. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
(Reporting by Liz Lee, Shi Bu and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Sonali Paul, Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)
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