Chinese leader: US-China relations stable

BEIJING – China’s relations with the United States remain stable, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday, as he sought to defuse tension over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has pitted Washington against Beijing.

“I look forward to continuing to develop this relationship with President Obama and to bring China-US relations to a new height along a track of a new model of major country relationship,” Xi told US Secretary of State John Kerry at the end of Kerry’s two-day trip to China.

Kerry’s trip has been dominated by deepening security concerns about Beijing’s maritime ambitions in the South China Sea. China’s rapid reclamation effort around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has alarmed claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

On Saturday, Kerry urged China to take action to reduce tension in the South China Sea. His call was rebuffed by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said Beijing’s determination to protect its interests in the area is “as hard as a rock.”

Kerry’s trip is intended to prepare for the annual US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue next month in Washington and Xi’s expected visit to Washington in September, a trip that Xi said he looked forward to.

Xi has repeatedly told Obama of his desire for a “new model of major country relationship,” in which China would be viewed as an equal global player.

But the model also outlines a respect for “each other’s sovereign and territorial integrity as well as political system and development path.”

“In my view the China-US relationship has remained stable,” Xi told Kerry at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People at a session open to reporters. –