Washington: Describing as "very complicated" the Sino-US ties, the Obama administration on Friday said the two countries need "intense interaction" on a regular basis, including on issues like climate change, financial crisis and controversial nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea.
"No one is under any illusions about how challenging the US-China relations will be over the course of the next several years," Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, told reporters.
"But I will say there is also, I think, a recognition on both sides that it is incumbent on us to work as closely and as well together as possible," he said.
Certainly a recognition at the beginning of the Obama administration was that there were going to be a number of issues that required closer consultation and cooperation -- climate change, issues on the Korean Peninsula, the necessary work to help sustain a fragile economic and financial recovery and hopefully assistance on problematic issues like Iran and Afghanistan, he said.
"I think over the course of the last several months, there has been a deepening dialogue on these issues. The truth is that this is a very complicated relationship. Much of it is cooperative based on mutual interest. But the truth is that this requires intense interaction on a regular basis," Campbell said.
"I think we can fairly say that the United States is going to be committed to a strong, durable relationship between our two countries. But inevitably there will be issues that crop up now and then," Campbell said.
"And our goal is to put in place enough mechanisms, enough consultative procedures that the unintended crises, the mishaps and mistakes can be dealt with in a responsible and professional way," he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 08, 2010, 15:57