China and US discuss ways to fight terror

Senior diplomats from China and the United States met in Beijing on Tuesday for the second China-US consultation on anti-terrorism issues as the world's two largest economies vowed to boost cooperation in anti-terror information sharing and law enforcement.

Terrorism struck China recently when a suicide bombing hit a hotel housing the Chinese embassy in Somalia in July, killing one and injuring four embassy staff members.

Both sides agreed that "the China-US efforts in enhancing bilateral and multilateral anti-terror cooperation serve the shared interests of both countries", according to a release on Tuesday by the Chinese Foreign Ministry following the second China-US counterterrorism consultation.

They said Tuesday's talks were helpful in creating a positive atmosphere for the next stage of interactions, and agreed to hold a third round in the US "at an appropriate time".

Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping and Tina Kaidanow, coordinator for counterterrorism at the US State Department, co-chaired the talk.

In July last year, Cheng and Kaidanow co-hosted the first consultation in Washington, and the two sides achieved broad consensus.

China stressed the terrorist nature of the "East Turkestan Islamic Movement" and urged Washington to "energetically support and coordinate China's efforts in fighting against ETIM terrorist forces".

According to a news release on June 24, Chinese government officials and industry experts accepted a US invitation to discuss best practices on stemming the illicit flow of chemical precursors and dual-use bomb components used by terrorists worldwide in improvised explosive devices.