US' engagement with China useful for its national interest: White House

WASHINGTON: The US' engagement with China and its desire to have a constructive relationship with the Communist nation despite the differences is useful in protecting and advancing the American national interest, the White house has said.

"US engagement with China is useful in protecting and even advancing the interest of the US. It doesn't mean we're going to always agree, but it does mean it's worth preserving a constructive working relationship," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday, ahead of the Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the US next month.

"It's rooted in the (US) President's desire to have that kind of constructive, effective, productive relationship with China that he has decided to invite (Chinese) President Xi for a visit later this fall," he added.

"But there's no doubt that even for all those areas where we can cooperate, at least some portion of that meeting will be dedicated to some of the differences that exist between our two countries as well," Earnest said.

Acknowledging that there are differences between the two countries on a number of issues, Earnest said, the US has raised its concern about China insufficiently protecting intellectual property and the concerns about some of their destabilizing activities in the South China Sea.

"At the same time, however, the United States has been able to work effectively with China to advance the mutual interests of our countries. There are a couple of good examples of that on high-profile issues," he said.

Earnest said President Obama traveled to China last fall and stood next to President Xi and announced that both countries were taking historic steps to curb carbon pollution.

"I'll remind you that China was an active participant in the P5+1 negotiations, alongside the US and our international partners, to reach a diplomatic agreement with Iran to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon," he said.

"Neither of those is an insignificant issue. Both of those are examples where the US and China have been able to effectively work together in ways that we could make progress for the citizens of our countries that may not have been possible had we been working alone," Earnest said.