White House dismisses anti-China campaign rhetoric

China and the United States should foster good habits of cooperation, Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai wrote on Wednesday, less than a month before Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to pay a state visit to the US.

Writing in the magazine National Interest, Cui said good habits of cooperation need to be fostered. "Never lose focus, stick to shared goals and interests, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, benefit from each other's wisdom, overcome obstacles that hold us back - and most importantly - prevent our differences from dominating the agenda of the bilateral relationship," he wrote.

Cui cited the expansion of WTO's Information Technology Agreement in July following an agreement reached last November during President Obama's visit to Beijing, the landmark climate change deal and the deal on Iran's nuclear negotiations as good examples of bilateral cooperation.

"As each other's second-largest trading partner and the two most important trading countries in the world, what really matters to China and the United States is not who has the privilege to write trade rules, but how to write rules together with other countries in a bid to jointly promote open, transparent and rule-based economic cooperation that benefits all," he said.

Even on those controversial issues, the ambassador emphasized that cooperation, instead of confrontation, is key to finding solutions.

"The United States admits that it has no territorial claim in the South China Sea and basically shares the same goal as China - keeping sea-lanes safe and open for business. We hope the United States will play a constructive role in creating a supportive atmosphere for the peaceful settlement of the disputes through negotiations by the countries directly involved," he said.

On the sensitive issues of cyber security, Cui said China is a major victim of cyber attacks. "Unfounded accusations or megaphone diplomacy will be nothing but counterproductive. If we work together rather than separately on these issues, there is certainly a lot more to achieve," he said.

Cui hoped that the upcoming meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Obama will give further guidance to the building of a new model of major country relations between the two nations, and bring greater benefits to the two peoples.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Obama believes engagement with China to be an effective way for the US to advance its interests around the world.

He was responding to questions regarding Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's anti-China rhetoric in which the Republican presidential candidate on Monday called for canceling the upcoming state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Earnest cited Obama's trip to China last November in which the two governments announced a historic climate change agreement on carbon emissions.

"There was lot of skepticism among the chief critics of the president's place and priority on climate policy that China would never take any sort of meaningful steps towards that goal," Earnest said, clearly pointing at many Republicans who are climate-change deniers.

"By engaging China at a variety of levels, including at the highest level, the president was able to advance our interests by conducting engagement. So that is just one example of why it's important, particular in this case, for the US president to engage with his Chinese counterpart," Earnest said.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that Secretary of State John Kerry is very excited about the visit. "Very much looking forward to it, and I think everybody is - shares the same, again, sense of purpose about making sure it's a successful visit," he told a daily briefing.

Both comments came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday that US National Security Advisor Susan Rice will visit China from Aug 28-29 to discuss a range of issues with Chinese officials.

Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, told China Daily on Wednesday that Rice's trip will be to discuss with Chinese officials the specific agenda of Xi's trip. In Li's view, the US would like to discuss a range of issues including cyber security, maritime security, human rights and civil society.

The recent stock market plunge and yuan devaluation have triggered much concern around the world, but Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, argued in an op-ed piece in the New York Times on Wednesday that it does not signal at all a meltdown, but rather long overdue corrections.

Li of Brookings said that while the stock market and currency are concerns, things could change in the next few weeks leading up to Xi's trip. "Compared with the economy, security issues will be more important," he said.

chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com