Xi, Mattis meet amid troubled security ties

BEIJING, June 27 (AFP): Chinese President Xi Jinping told US Defence Secretary James Mattis Wednesday the two countries must sustain the "good momentum" of their military relationship, amid US worries about China's projection of power across the Indo-Pacific.

Mattis, visiting Beijing to take the measure of China's global security ambitions, especially in the South China Sea, told Xi he wants to keep the bilateral military relationship on an even keel and find areas to cooperate.

"Ï'm here to keep our relationship on the right trajectory, keep it going in the right direction and to share ideas with your military leadership, as well as look at the way ahead," the Pentagon chief told Xi.

There were no references to rising bilateral tensions, in both military and economic relations, in public remarks ahead of their meeting in the Great Hall of the People.

But Mattis blasted China earlier this month over the militarisation of built-up islets it claims in the South China Sea, and President Donald Trump has sparked a trade war with the country.

In consequence, the deterioration of relations was barely below the surface of Xi's and Mattis's diplomatic remarks.

"The Chinese-US relationship is one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world," Xi said.

"Över the recent years this military-to-military relationship has had good momentum... I would like to hope this momentum of the military-to-military relationship would continue."

The two met after Mattis spent a day in meetings with other top Chinese officials, including Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and Politburo member and former ambassador to the United States Yang Jiechi.

Mattis, on his first visit to China, came in search of a "very open and honest dialogue" about the long-term strategic goals of both countries.

Ahead of the visit he acknowledged the tensions but said he believed he could find areas where the two militaries could cooperate, in hopes of building better communications and reducing the chances of conflict.

"I think the way to address issues between our two nations is to first establish a transparent strategic dialogue: how do the Chinese see the relationship with us developing, how we see it developing," he said before the visit.

But only weeks beforehand he had accused Xi of reneging on a promise not to place weaponry on contested islands in the South China Sea.

Beijing has installed missile batteries and recently landed long-range bombers on some of the reclaimed outposts.

Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea, two major buyers of Iranian oil, are in talks with the US government in a bid to avoid adverse impacts from Washington's reimposition of sanctions aimed at cutting Iran out of international markets.

The United States is demanding countries cut all imports of Iranian oil from November, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on allies to cut off funding to Iran.

Both countries won waivers that allowed them to buy limited amounts of oil from Iran during the previous round of sanctions that ended in 2016, but Washington has this time adopted a more aggressive stance.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Wednesday that Japan and the United States were in talks about the sanctions on Iran, but declined to reveal details.