China VP warns against US military focus
'We welcome a constructive role by US in promoting
peace, stability':
US: China's likely next leader Xi Jinping warned the United
States against plans to boost its military strength in Asia as he
prepared for a closely watched visit to Washington starting Monday.
China's vice president, who is tipped to rule the rising Asian power
until 2023, called on the United States to prioritize economic growth
and promised anew that Beijing would address foreign concerns about its
currency's value.
In a written interview with The Washington Post, Xi said that the
Pacific Ocean had “ample space” for both China and the United States but
insisted that Asian countries were concerned foremost with “economic
prosperity.” “At a time when people long for peace, stability and
development, to deliberately give prominence to the military security
agenda, scale up military deployment and strengthen military alliances
is not really what most countries in the region hope to see,” Xi said.
“We welcome a constructive role by the United States in promoting
peace, stability and prosperity in the region. We also hope that the
United States will fully respect and accommodate the major interests and
legitimate concerns of Asia-Pacific countries,” he said.
US President Barack Obama, while seeking to trim vast military
spending in response to budget pressure, has vowed to boost power in
Asia where a number of nations have voiced concern at what they charge
is a more assertive China.
The United States has moved in recent months to send troops to
Australia and the Philippines. It has also sought to increase military
ties with Vietnam and Singapore, while maintaining longstanding bases in
Japan and South Korea.
The Obama administration has nonetheless tried to build personal
bonds with Xi in hopes of future cooperation. China starts its power
transition later this year, with Xi widely expected to succeed President
Hu Jintao in 2013.
Xi arrives Monday and will enjoy a welcome Tuesday at the White
House, including a meeting with Obama. He will also stop at the Pentagon
for talks billed by US officials as significant in building military
trust. Xi will Wednesday visit Iowa -- where he paid a formative first
visit to the United States in 1985 as a low-ranking official -- and Los
Angeles.
White House officials have said that they want a positive
relationship with Xi but that they will press key US concerns, some of
which may grow in prominenceas November elections approach.
US lawmakers accuse China of devastating US industry by keeping its
renminbi currency artificially low to boost imports and of failing to
protect the intellectual property of US companies.
Xi said that Americans have benefited from China's rapid economic
growth. Repeating a figure offered by Hu on a state visit to Washington
last year, Xi said that US consumers have saved $600 billion by buying
Chinese goods. “We have taken active steps to meet legitimate US
concerns over IPR(intellectual property rights) protection and trade
imbalance, and we will continue to do so,” Xi said.
“We will continue to press ahead with the reform of the RMB (renminbi)
exchange rate formation mechanism and offer foreign investors a fair,
rule-based and transparent investment environment,” Xi said.
But Xi also repeated calls for the United States to ease restrictions
on exports of sensitive technology to China and to “provide a level
playing field” for Chinese businesses in the US market.
China has let its yuan appreciate since 2010 -- largely in response
to inflation concerns.
Michael Froman, a White House deputy national security adviser, on
Friday cited progress on the currency valuation and other economic
issues but said that “there's a lot more to be done.” The United States
has said it will also voice concern about human rights in China, amid a
clampdown on domestic dissent and Tibetan areas, along with China's
recent veto with Russia of a UN Security Council resolution that would
have pressured Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over escalating
violence.
AFP |