CHINA-US: REMARKS OF CHINESE AMBASSADOR CUI TIANKAI

China's Ambassador to Washington said on October 30, in Washington, that US President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing from November 8 was a "historic opportunity" to boost cooperation, but warned against attempts to "contain" Beijing. Cui Tiankai also stressed the urgency of efforts to find a negotiated solution to the crisis over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and warned of a "more dangerous" situation if tensions between the United States and Pyongyang continued. He sought to play down differences over China's massive trade surplus with the United States, saying Beijing was looking for ways to cut this and he was confident of "significant outcomes" from Trump's Nov. 8-9 visit on the trade and economic fronts. Cui Tiankai said relationships should not be seen as a "zero-sum game" and "I don't think it will really serve the interests of these countries if their aim is to sort of contain China ... I don't think anybody would be able to contain China." He added Washington should not try to "interfere" in regional efforts to resolve disputes in the South China Sea saying "Maybe it would be better for the US to let the regional countries ... find a way a way of managing the situation." Commenting on a call on October 27, by a senior US State Department official for revival of four-way dialogue between the United States, Japan, India and Australia to deepen security cooperation and coordinate alternatives for regional infrastructure financing to "predatory" Chinese options, Cui Tiankai said "I don't think any attempts to form exclusive clubs in the region ... would help anybody. When people are saying these things about China, they might just look into the mirror...it might be describing themselves."







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