Beijing: Reacting to a proposal by the Trump administration for a working-level quadrilateral meeting with India, Japan and Australia, China said on Sunday that it hoped that the move would not target or damage a "third party's interest".


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The State Department had said last month that the United States was looking to offer countries in the Indo-Pacific region an alternative to predatory financing or unsustainable debt.


State Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice G Wells had said, "As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values - freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency - obviously, Australia would be a natural partner in that effort as well."


The freedom of navigation is mostly referred to unhindered movement of ships and flights in the disputed South China Sea as China claims most of the busy trade route through which goods worth over USD 5.3 trillion pass every year.


Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter-claims over the resource-rich area.


"China hopes the collaboration among relevant countries could comply with the trend of times, which refers to peace, development, and cooperation and shared benefits, and also conform to the prospects of the regions and nations for common security and development," the Chinese Foreign Ministry told PTI.


"We hope it would be beneficial for improving the mutual trust among countries and regions, at the same time safeguarding and promoting peace, tranquillity, and prosperity within the area, without targeting or damaging a third party's interest," it said.


Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter-claims over the resource-rich area.


China calls for stronger cooperation with US in next-gen nuke tech:


Meanwhile, China wants joint cooperation with the US in developing next-generation nuclear power technology, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said, ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing this week.


In his meeting yesterday with Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and chairman of TerraPower, Li has called for closer China-US cooperation in developing the next-generation nuclear power technology.


Speaking highly of the China-US partnership in this field, Li said companies of the two countries have set up a joint venture with each holding half of shares and agreeing to share the intellectual property rights, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.


TerraPower, LLC signed a joint venture agreement with China National Nuclear Corporation to form the Global Innovation Nuclear Energy Technology Limited. The two companies plan to work together to complete the Travelling Wave Reactor (TWR) design and commercialise the TWR technology.


Trump will be in China from Wednesday to Friday. He would hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.


(With PTI inputs)