Washington: Amid increasing tension between the US and China on cyber security issues, President Barack Obama will host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for an official state visit on September 25, the White House has said. "Obama will host Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, at the White House for an official state visit on September 25, 2015," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. This reciprocates Obama's state visit to China in November 2014, he said.
"Xi's visit will present an opportunity to expand US-China cooperation on a range of global, regional, and bilateral issues of mutual interest, while also enabling President Obama and President Xi to address areas of disagreement constructively," Earnest said. "The President and Mrs Obama will host President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan at an official state dinner on the evening of September 25," he added.
Media reports said that the Obama administration is planning imposing sanctions against China for its alleged cyber espionage and cyber theft issues, which has been refuted by Beijing. During his daily news briefing, Earnest did not rule out imposing sanctions, but reiterated these things can't be discussed in public. "We will obviously continue to monitor this situation, and I think there are a number of steps that the US has taken, including engaging directly between the two Presidents, from President Obama to his counterpart, raising significant concerns about China's activity in cyberspace," he said.
"Last year five Chinese military officials were indicted by the US Department of Justice for their actions in cyberspace. So I think it's quite clear to the public that this is an issue that the US and the Obama administration take seriously," Earnest said. "It's quite clear to the Chinese government that this is an issue that we take seriously, as evidenced by the decision of the Chinese President to send Secretary Meng to the United States to meet with a range of US officials in advance of his visit," he added.
Earnest said it is pretty easily described that there are some areas where the two countries are able to cooperate effectively with the Chinese to advance the interests of their citizens. "And whether it's the climate announcement that you've just cited or trying to build international consensus around confronting Iran of their nuclear program -- you'll recall that China was a constructive partner in the P5+1 efforts," he said. "We even have some effective cooperation with China when it comes to containing the threat that is posed by North Korea and trying to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula," he added.
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