China says wants reconciliation in Myanmar

SYDNEY, Sep 7 (Reuters) China wants reconciliation and an improvement of conditions in army-ruled Myanmar, where scores of people have been arrested during weeks of protests, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today.

While Myanmar's biggest trade partner shuns interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, China welcomed international efforts to help stabilise the situation in Myanmar as long as it is done with a "constructive attitude and on the basis of mutual respect", spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma," Liu told reporters on the sidelines of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Sydney.

"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all the relevant sides, including the the United States." In a sign Myanmar may even be testing Beijing's patience, earlier this year China's Foreign Ministry published an unflattering account of Myanmar's new jungle capital, complaining it was remote, isolated and barren.

Myanmar did not come up in various bilateral meetings that Chinese President Hu Jintao has held in recent days, including one with US President George W Bush yesterday, Liu said.

The United States has long standing economic sanctions against Myanmar, while energy-hungry China has cultivated a relationship with Myanmar for access to its gas and other natural resources, such as timber.

Liu said Beijing was in "very close touch" with Myanmar's ruling military junta.

Reuters ARB DB1054