US, China to manage rifts ahead of Obama visit

BOSTON — The United States and China pledged on Saturday to overcome mistrust, manage their differences and cooperate on key issues, like combatting terrorism and the spread of the Ebola virus, as President Barack Obama prepares to travel to the Chinese capital next month.

Meeting in Boston, Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi said the relationship between the two countries is mature enough to discuss disagreements while building on areas of shared interest.

“There are many issues that China and the United States are cooperating on, even as we have some differences that we try to manage effectively,” Kerry told reporters as he began a second day of talks with Yang.

Yang, noting that Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping had made improved relations a priority, agreed.

“We believe that we should continue to work together to deepen our mutual trust and to put our efforts to major areas of cooperation while, on the basis of mutual respect, we can properly handle many kinds of difference between us,” he said.

Washington and Beijing have recently clashed over matters including territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea, pro-de- mocracy protests in Hong Kong, alleged Chinese cyber spying and human rights.

A senior State Department involved in the meetings said those issues were discussed in a noncombative but direct and candid way in which Kerry believed Yang had given him a “full and careful hearing.”