Miliband stresses strategic relations with Beijing
- Source: Global Times
- [02:20 March 16 2010]
- Comments
By Zuo Xuan
London aims to foster a strategic relationship with Beijing, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday during a visit to China.
"All Britain wants to have is a strategic relationship with China – whether on foreign policy, economic policy or environmental policy," the foreign secretary said, dismissing the idea that London and Beijing had a "conflictual relationship."
Miliband is in China for a three-day visit amid strained ties between the two countries over climate change issues and China's execution in December of a Briton for drug smuggling.
When asked to comment on current climate-change outlook, Miliband said, "I think what is striking is that, in many countries, including China, there are a lot of domestic actions to curb emission and promote low-carbon technology. What the world has yet to do is to turn the domestic action into the international consensus."
Miliband said that he will bring this topic to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in upcoming talks.
He also denied that Britain has allegedly abandoned the Kyoto Protocol.
"Kyoto required a 12 or 13 percent reduction in UK's emissions. What we are going to achieve between 1990 and 2010 is 23 or 24 percent reduction – almost double the requirement … We are in a strong position to say that we will live by our domestic commitment," the foreign secretary said after visiting a UN Peacekeeping center in the city of Langfang, a prefecture-level city close to Beijing, in Hebei Province.
Miliband arrived late Sunday in Shanghai.
After visiting the UK Expo site and speaking to university students in Shanghai, he moved to Beijing Monday and is due to hold talks today with Chinese leaders, including Wen, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Dai Bingguo.
During his speech at Shanghai International Studies University, he urged developing nations to refrain from protectionism, warning it could derail global economic recovery.
"It is ... essential that those with an interest in open trade create a bulwark against protectionism," he said in the speech. "It is worrying that we are seeing more reports of foreign investors in emerging economies encountering new barriers to investment."
"This not only increases protectionist pressures in Europe and the US. It also deprives China and other emerging economies of cutting edge technologies that in turn raises their own competitiveness," he added.
Another topic he'd like to address during his visit is the Iran nuclear issue, as the West has been pressing China to give green light on tougher sanc-tions against Tehran.
Miliband said that all the permanent UN Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – agreed on a dual-track strategy.
"It means, on the one hand, engagement with Iran, and at the same time, pressure," Miliband told reporters after the Langfang tour.
AFP, Xu Pinting contributed to this story
