US sees progress in cooperation with China

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Washington, Aug 4: US efforts to encourage China to play a more positive international role are having some success, possibly reducing the chances of military conflict with Taiwan, a senior US official said today.

The United States last year urged China to become a responsible stakeholder in the international system. On Thursday, Thomas Christensen, the new deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, described himself as cautiously optimistic about the effect.

''The results of these processes are mixed but the trend lines are good,'' he told the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, mandated by the US Congress to keep a close eye on China.

Christensen cited China's cooperation on Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq and global health, although other US officials have frequently said Beijing could do more, especially on North Korea and Iran.

He said China still had an extremely poor human rights record and there were serious differences over weapons proliferation, trade and economic imbalances.

The United States remains concerned about China's military buildup across the Taiwan Straits from the self-governed island but is ''realistic'' about China's need to modernize its military as its economy and influence expand, the official said.

Asked about possible military conflict between China and Taiwan, Christensen said Chinese officials ''are a bit more confident that stability can be maintained in the near term than perhaps they were'' a few years earlier.

He described the US approach as ''hedging'' the outcome of China's rise rather than trying to contain a rival power, as Washington did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

That means the United States is trying to ''help channel China's growing influence in a positive direction'' while maintaining ''strong US regional capabilities in case China does not eventually move down a path consistent with our interests,'' he said.

REUTERS

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