BEIJING, Sept. 11 (UPI) — Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said the United States should not get involved in the territorial dispute over the South China Sea and the two countries should stay in “close touch” despite cybersecurity and other conflicts.
Yang, a former foreign minister, said in an interview with state-owned China Daily that President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to Washington, D.C., should “further chart the course of the China-U.S. relationship.”
Xi and U.S. President Barack Obama have met four times since Xi assumed office in March 2013, and Obama is expected to offer a full state welcome during the Chinese leader’s visit Sept. 24-25.