国内英语新闻:China calls on U.S. to properly handle Taiwan, Tibet issues

BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday repeated its request for the United States to respect its core interests and major concerns, and to pay particular attention to handling sensitive issues such as those regarding Taiwan and Tibet.

This was one of the seven proposals China made at the on-going second round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogues (S&ED), said Ma Zhaoxu, spokesman of the Chinese delegation attending the strategic track of S&ED.

He told a press briefing that China proposed to fully put into practice the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and take substantial steps to steadily build a partnership to address common challenges.

The second round of S&ED opened in Beijing on Monday morning, and was attended by 50 representatives from more than 40 departments of both countries.

"China believes both sides should abide by the three joint communiques between the two countries and the joint statement issued during U.S. President Obama's visit to China last November," Ma said.

The Chinese side hopes to explore cooperation with the United States in new areas such as highway infrastructure construction, civil aviation and space exploration, and continue to cement cooperation in areas of trade, energy and anti-terrorism, according to Ma.

On the global stage, China calls for enhanced coordination with the United States on macro-financial and economic policies and major global and regional issues, and closer bilateral exchanges among parliaments, academic institutions and youth, he said.

The Chinese side also proposes to create favorable press environment for the growth of bilateral ties, according to Ma.

President Hu's special representatives, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, co-chaired the economic and strategic tracks of the SE&D with U.S. President Barack Obama's special representatives, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, respectively.

The strategic track dialogue touched on five topics including bilateral relations, cooperation in the areas of public health, customs, energy, environment and climate change, as well as military ties, said the spokesman.

The two countries agreed in the dialogue that they enjoy increasing common interests, face increasing common challenges and shoulder more and more common responsibilities in the transformation of international situation, Ma said.

The two-day S&ED will conclude on Tuesday afternoon.