In his first visit to China as Secretary of State earlier this month, Secretary John Kerry emphasized that building a cooperative relationship between the United States and China will contribute to greater global security and economic stability. “A constructive partnership that is based on mutual interests benefits everybody in the world,” Secretary Kerry said.
In his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Secretary Kerry said there was opportunity “to talk about a large number of bilateral, regional, and global security issues, beginning…with North Korea.”
On North Korea, the United States and China remain fully committed to the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and to its core goal of the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner. “And we say to Kim Jong-un and to the government of the DPRK,” said Secretary Kerry, “that they have an obvious choice…to join us in an effort to try to find a negotiated resolution…That’s our priority; that’s the best way to proceed.”
In his meetings with Chinese leaders, Mr. Kerry said they also discussed their “shared interest in preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon and agreed on how valuable close cooperation between our countries is in the accomplishment” of that goal.
Talks also covered continued bi-lateral engagement in the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, human rights concerns, energy and climate change, cyber security, regional maritime disputes, and the importance of people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China.
“We are not only building a relationship between governments,” said Mr. Kerry, “but we’re building a relationship between people, between families, between friends, between entrepreneurs, students, scholars, artists and others…The United States wants a strong, normal, but special relationship with China…because China is a great power with a great ability to affect events in the world. And we need to work together to do that.”
In his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Secretary Kerry said there was opportunity “to talk about a large number of bilateral, regional, and global security issues, beginning…with North Korea.”
On North Korea, the United States and China remain fully committed to the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and to its core goal of the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner. “And we say to Kim Jong-un and to the government of the DPRK,” said Secretary Kerry, “that they have an obvious choice…to join us in an effort to try to find a negotiated resolution…That’s our priority; that’s the best way to proceed.”
In his meetings with Chinese leaders, Mr. Kerry said they also discussed their “shared interest in preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon and agreed on how valuable close cooperation between our countries is in the accomplishment” of that goal.
Talks also covered continued bi-lateral engagement in the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, human rights concerns, energy and climate change, cyber security, regional maritime disputes, and the importance of people-to-people exchanges between the United States and China.
“We are not only building a relationship between governments,” said Mr. Kerry, “but we’re building a relationship between people, between families, between friends, between entrepreneurs, students, scholars, artists and others…The United States wants a strong, normal, but special relationship with China…because China is a great power with a great ability to affect events in the world. And we need to work together to do that.”
