Beijing: UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband
on Wednesday said Britain sees China as a partner and not a rival and
London`s perspective is to engage Beijing not to contain it.
"Our perspective is engagement with China, not
containment of China," Miliband said interacting with students
at China Foreign Affairs University before ending his four-day
visit to China.
"There is new opportunity for partnership between China
and the rest of the world on a range of economic, political
and environmental questions where the future of China and the
rest of the world are tied together," he said.
His talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, State Councilor Dai
Bingguo and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi focused mainly on
"what Britain and China can do together," not "how we compete
against each other," official Xinhua newsagency quoted him as
saying.
During his visit Miliband`s main focus was to veer China
around to agree for UN sanctions against Iran for pursuing
nuclear enrichment programme but failed to secure any firm
commitment from the Chinese leaders on it.
Citing climate change as a major aspect of cooperation,
Miliband said both sides agreed the EU-China relationship was
going to be very important for the future.
Responding to students` questions on cooperation in
fighting terrorism, Miliband said Britain and China could
cooperate together to tackle the root causes of terrorism.
He noted that said both countries were trying to help the
development of Pakistan, which is experiencing a series of
terrorist attacks.
Earlier in the day, Miliband also co-chaired the
strategic dialogue between the two countries with Chinese
State Councilor Dai Bingguo.
Elevating the strategic dialogue mechanism as a
"meaningful event" Dai said the mechanism was an important
channel for the two nations to make in-depth communication and
have candid discussion on strategic issues in bilateral and
international relations.
"This will help us to increase mutual trust and respect,
and to promote the stable and healthy growth of China-Britain
ties," Dai said.
Miliband said the dialogue between the two nations "had
always been strategic," and he was vary glad to see the
elevation of the dialogue mechanism.
PTI
