China, US chief trade negotiators hold phone talks

09:13, November 17, 2019

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  Kissinger hopes US-China trade negotiations would succeed

  (Photo: Xinhua)BEIJING, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, said Thursday that he hoped the trade talks between China and the United States would succeed.The negotiations are of "a small beginning" which would lead to deeper-level discussions carried out by the two sides in the future, Kissinger said while attending the ongoing New Economy Forum in Beijing.To maintain the stability of the international system requires equilibrium, and China, as an integral part of the system, cannot be ignored, Kissinger told the forum.Kissinger also expressed his disagreement with the implication that China, by its own development of capacities, should be treated as "a greater threat" to the United States or to the world.For the mutual benefits of both sides, China and the United States should work to limit the negative impact of the trade tensions, the 96-year-old said.To manage disagreements, it requires "explicit effort" to understand each other and commitment from both sides, he added.

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  Foreign ministers of S.Korea, US hold phone talks over GSOMIA, defense cost-sharing

  SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of South Korea and the United States held phone talks Thursday night over the soon-to-expire military intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, and how much South Korea would pay for U.S. troops stationed here, the Seouls foreign ministry said Friday.U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to U.S. troops based in Osan Air Base, South Korea June 30, 2019. (Photo: VCG)South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exchanged opinions on the issues of mutual concern, including the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the defense cost-sharing for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), the ministry said in a statement.The two ministers agreed to continue close communications on various issues in every level, sharing the need for them to sit down face-to-face for in-depth discussions in a foreseeable future.The phone talks came ahead of the scheduled expiration on Saturday of the GSOMIA, which was signed by South Korea and Japan in November 2016 to share military intelligence on nuclear and missile programs of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK).South Korea decided in August to terminate the military accord in response to Japans tighter control in July over its export to South Korea of three materials, vital to produce memory chips and display panels that are the mainstay of the South Korean export.Japans export curbs came in an apparent protest against the South Korean top courts rulings that ordered some of Japanese firms to pay reparation to the South Korean victims who were forced into hard labor without pay during the 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.Negotiations on the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) to decide how much South Korea would pay for the stationing of about 28,500 U.S. soldiers here were cut short on Tuesday.The United States reportedly demanded around 5 billion U.S. dollars from South Korea for nex...

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  US provokes China with Taiwan Straits transit, pressures trade talks: expert

  The amphibious dock landing ships Changbaishan (Hull 989, R) and Wuzhishan (Hull 987, L) attached to a landing ship flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command steam in formation in waters of the South China Sea during a three-dimensional amphibious landing operation from May 29 to June 3, 2019. (Photo: GT)The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said the US guided-missile cruisers transit through the Taiwan Straits was kept under surveillance and Chinese experts said that China should strengthen its military capability as the US increases its military provocations targeting Chinas sovereignty over Taiwan, which could increase potential risks of a military conflict.All movements of US vessel and aircraft are kept under surveillance by the Chinese military, Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, spokesperson of PLA Eastern Theater Command said on Wednesday while responding to the transit of US guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville through the Taiwan Straits."We urged the US side to abide by the one-China principle and Three Joint Communiqués, and cautiously handle matters related to Taiwan, and avoid damaging the China-US relationship and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits," said Zhang.The Chinese military will remain on high alert at all times, and will resolutely safeguard Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhang noted on Wednesday.A US warship transited the Taiwan Straits on Wednesday, the ninth time this year and the first since September, Fox News reported.The warships presence in narrow waters between the island of Taiwan and the Chinese mainland is seen as a provocation given the Taiwan question, and adding interference inHong Kong riots, the US wants to pressure China to make concession on other issues such as the ongoing trade war, said Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator."Guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) conducted a r...