Clinton to press wary China in Beijing

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met China's president Wednesday, seeking to tone down friction with the rising power and press Beijing to make progress on bitter disputes across the region. Clinton told President Hu Jintao the relationship between the two global powers was strong enough to allow them to "explore areas of agreement and disagreement" as the two met in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. "We believe the US-China relationship is on a strong and solid base," she said. "We are able to explore areas of agreement and disagreement in a very open manner, which I think demonstrates the maturity of the relationship and the chance to take it further in the future." Clinton's visit comes at a time of rising tensions between the two nations over the South China Sea in particular, and a US official said China's vice president and likely next leader Xi Jinping had cancelled his meeting with her. The US official gave no reason for Xi's move, but China has in the past cancelled meetings with visiting dignitaries to show its displeasure. China's state media has repeatedly accused the United States of using its vaunted new strategic focus on Asia as a cover to contain Beijing. Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said ahead of Clinton's arrival that China hoped the United States would "do more to promote regional peace and stability, instead of the opposite." Clinton has voiced hope that China, which claims virtually all of the strategic waterway, will agree to work out a code of conduct on the disputes and has encouraged Southeast Asian nations to stand united. Opening her talks in Beijing on Tuesday, she sought to reassure China. "We are committed to building a cooperative partnership with China. It is a key aspect of our rebalancing in the Asia-Pacific," Clinton said as she entered a dinner Tuesday with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. Yang, who will hold a rare joint news conference with Clinton on Wednesday, said that China "stands ready to work" with the United States. "Maintaining the healthy and steady development of our relationship serves the fundamental interests of our two countries and two peoples and is conducive to stability, peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond," Yang said. The conciliatory tone was at sharp odds with the state-run Xinhua news agency, which on the same day called on Washington to "stop its role as a sneaky troublemaker" in Asia. The Philippines and Vietnam have accused China of intimidation of its ships in the South China Sea, the gateway for half of the world's cargo trade and where six nations or territories hold sometimes overlapping territorial claims. China recently established a remote garrison in the South China Sea, angering Vietnam and the Philippines. Hanoi in June passed a law proclaiming its jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly islands. In response to the tensions, President Barack Obama's administration has stepped up military ties with Southeast Asia, furthering its goal of nurturing relations with the economically dynamic and largely US-friendly region. Clinton, asked in Indonesia about China's garrison, did not fault Beijing directly but called on all nations to avoid "steps that would increase tensions or do anything that would be viewed as coercive or intimidating to advance their territorial claims". Beijing has also been in dispute with Japan, a close US ally, over a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea. Clinton will also be looking to coordinate with China on hotspots around the globe. China, which wields veto power on the Security Council, has rejected US-backed UN efforts to step up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over mounting violence, although Beijing is seen taking a backseat to Russia. Clinton's last visit to China, in May, was overshadowed by a row over dissident Chen Guangcheng, who escaped what he said were beatings under house arrest for the safety of the US embassy. China agreed to allow Chen, who enraged authorities by exposing corruption in the country's one-child policy, to move to New York as a student. Clinton's trip comes two months before elections in the United States, where Obama's Republican challenger Mitt Romney has vowed a tougher stance on China over its currency rate and its military build-up.