Beijing: British Foreign Secretary will
hold discussions with Chinese leaders to smoothen rancour with
Beijing and push it to drop its opposition to sanctions on
Iran over its nuclear ambitions during a key visit here.
David Miliband's four-day visit aims to persuade China
to drop its opposition to a fourth round of sanctions to step
up pressure on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment
programme.
Miliband, who arrived in Shanghai yesterday, said that
the two countries were on the same page to resolve the Iranian
nuclear issue.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Miliband will
hold the strategic dialogue on Tuesday.
"To further strengthen communication on the strategic
level between China and Britain, the two sides have decided to
lift the strategic dialogue mechanism to a higher level," said
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang here on Monday.
Miliband said he would discuss steps to resolve
Iranian issue during his talks with Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and other officials.
Britain in the past accused China of "hijacking" the
global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December and the
same month Britain summoned China's ambassador in protest at
the execution of a Briton for drug smuggling.
In a speech at a think tank in Shenghai, he said the
two countries' relationship had difficulties but they wanted
to be partners, not competitors. "Our future and China's
future are linked together," BBC quoted him as saying.
"The world needs China to play a responsible role but
China needs the world as well," he said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 15, 2010, 18:51